My first ride. 8 miles.. for your reading pleasure..

[bYuPride]

So we start out on a pretty level road for a couple miles and then the road starts to incline for a long time, probably about a mile, and I'm starting to get fatigued. At this point I think my father in law is getting fatigued as well and he says as soon as we get to the top of the hill we should stop and figure out which route we want to go. (I think he just wanted to stop and rest for a second). So I pedal ahead and get to the top of the hill... as I'm coming to a stop, I pull my left foot out of the pedal and I'm trying to pull my right foot out, but it wouldn't and at a nearly complete stop, I fall to the right on my right side! ha ha! As if that weren't funny enough. Some soccer mom type in a mini van who is stopped at the intersection with her kids in the back seat yells to me, "Are you alright?! Do you need some help?" I quickly waved her off and started busted up laughing. My father in law comes up behind and is concerned that I'm super embarrassed... Of course I was embarrassed, but I all I could think of was how funny it would have looked from behind. My leg was all bloody and cut up but didn't hurt. After my father in law found out I was okay, he unzips his jersey and lays flat on his back and he's looking kind of green. He had a pork taco and beans and rice and soda just before he came. After that, we went another 5 miles or so and I had a total blast!

I've decided cycling is definitely not for whimps! I have to admit however, at this point, I'm a total whimp, but I'm excited to get better! I kind of feel like how Austin Collie feels when he said he feels at the bottom of the barrel in conditioning and so far behind all the other athletes. He's working his butt off though and he's getting better and better which is what my goal is as well.

On a side note, when I got home, I found my front tire was flat. What the hell? It didn't look like there was a hole or anything, how do I diagnose the problem? Another question... I'm totally pissed that some of my componentry has some war wounds... anyway to buff those out? They aren't big.. Final question... What is best to eat before a ride? Do power bars really give you extra energy?