So many stories, so little time

I have a lot that I want to talk about, but just not enough time to get all the posts done so here is the key synopsis of everything I want to talk about

Occasionally check the cleat screws in you cycling shoes! - I had one fall out and couldn't get my shoe uncleated without taking it off. Luckily, I was in a position that I could do that will out falling over.

I'm re-riding the Silver Strand tonight - I guess I won't get the great sunset this time because of the time change, but I am confident I will make the ferry. Hopefully I'll be able to post a summary tonight.

Couple of new blogs on the Blogroll - Bike commuters is an excellent read!

Bought a new light - I'll post a review after I've used it more than once.

Tomorrow Morning's Weather will be off for a week - off the bike too. Heading to Vegas for the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament. Still haven't got a folding bike so looks like I'll be using the shuttle if I care to make it over to the strip from our hotel.

To tide you over here are some bike safety tips from The Onion:

• Always use hand signals when turning at intersections. There's nothing motorists pay more attention to than hand signals from bicyclists.
• Leaving your bike out in the ice and cold all winter may cause serious damage. But it makes a nice subject for the cover illustration of a short-fiction quarterly.
• Always wear a helmet. If this makes you uncomfortable, think of the helmet as a crown and yourself as King Dorko.
• Placing your feet firmly on the pedals of the bike will help reduce the "Wheee" sound emitted from your mouth while going downhill.
• Insist on a bicycle made of solid matter. Liquid and vapor bikes are a passing fancy; argon frames are particularly shoddy.
• Taking your bike in for a professional tune-up is a great way to waste $25.
• Be sure to wear your seatbelt, even if just biking down to the corner store.
• Fat-bottomed girls may be riding today, so look out for those beauties, oh, yeah.
• Visibility is crucial when biking. Ride with a lit highway flare in each hand.
• Every three to four weeks, lightly oil the chain. Then dip it in flour and fry it for a real taste treat.
• As soon as you buy a bike, talk to your friends about how great Shimano crank sets and STX hubs are.
• Does your city have adequate bike paths? If not, consider bitching about it to your local government for the next 40 years.
• If rich, spoiled Francis Buxton steals your bike, go on a hilarious and heartwarming journey through the American Southwest to get it back.
• Bike safety can never be stressed enough. If you doubt this, try stressing it as much as you possibly can. It won't be enough–guaranteed.

Learning My Lesson

Yesterday’s ride was a doozy. I left work with high hopes of a great ride and got home four hours later tired and cranky. My plan was to ride to Imperial Beach up the Silver Stand to the Coronado Ferry and then catch the bus home from downtown. Unfortunately, I did several things wrong which made the ride more difficult than it should have been.

What I did wrong
My first mistake was made in the morning when I forgot to grab a packet of GU to use as back up food. I’ve found that lately I’ve underestimated how much food I will want to eat during the ride and have been fortunate that I generally pack some extra, ‘just in case.’ This time I did not. I also decided to try out an ‘energy’ drink mix that a good friend gave me. This mix created a caffeine based energy drink, and I wanted to see how caffeine would affect my riding. (Some cyclists use caffeine to help keep them alert and focused.) Also, because I was auditioning this caffeine beverage, I did not have a place for my usual Gatorade bottle, so I did not have that source of calories either. Finally, I failed to check the bus and ferry schedules so that I could ensure a minimum of waiting.

What went wrong
The main thing that went wrong was that the caffeine beverage failed the audition. Miserably. On top of not actually providing any energy that I could use to power my bike, it interfered with the digestion of the one source of calories I did have (a fantastically delicious peanut butter granola bar). Once I ate the granola bar, my stomach knotted up around it and I had to ride the rest of the route with a cramp that impeded my breathing. As if only to top that, the ferry left the dock while I was purchasing my ticket. This left me with an hour to sit on dock waiting for the ferry to return. Once I disembarked downtown (at 8pm) I stopped at the first stop where I could get on a #15 bus. After a 20 minute wait, I jumped on the #2 bus which would get me within 10 blocks of home. Had I been more patient, the #15 was just a few more minutes and would have gotten me home quicker with less cycling.

The good news from all of this is that I learned a lot about riding and commuting. First, caffeine is not good for me so I will just stay away from it. Second, always check to see when busses and ferries run. And finally, even if I’m dead tired, sporting a stomach cramp and not really feeling that great, I can still finish my planned ride, which will be useful knowledge when I ride my first century.

Despite the seemingly bad experience I did enjoy myself and plan on making the ride again. I achieved my mini-goal of getting to the strand before sunset so that I could watch the setting sun as I rode along the beach. I got in a total of 27 miles on the day and I got to catch up with an old friend on the phone while I waited for the ferry. Looking at it from that angle, it wasn’t a bad commute at all.