Back on Two Wheels

I ride a Jamis but the sentiment is the same

After approximately 2 years of not having ridden my beautiful road bike I finally worked up the nerve to join a group ride last Sunday.  Not one to do things in half measures I ended up cycling approximately 60 miles...yes, that was not the way to get back into it! By about mile 40 my saddle was starting to feel like this:

Image via Loving the Bike who credited Bicycling Magazine

To be honest I've been quite fearful of riding here in the UK especially going it alone.  Different road layouts, roundabouts, behaviours, rules and the list goes on, I am not happy to admit to this fear and even less so that I've allowed it to keep me from pursuing something I love so much.  This extended layoff showed up mostly in my low-speed manoeuvering like through the narrow canal path gates and while working my way up along the line of cars at traffic lights.  Hard to believe that at one time I could do the rolling dismounts while entering duathlon transition areas!    

Waiting to meet up with Catherine

I did discover a new US/UK difference though! While a mate was giving the bike a once over for me (the derailleur was slightly out of adjustment) he discovered that the rear brake on my bike is controlled by the right lever. I had no clue that the brakes controls were reversed here until he asked were mine supposed to be that way--guess he learned something new as well. 

Our lovely ride leader

We also had a bit of an off-road adventure on Sunday's ride, what appeared to be a road on the gps app ended up being a dis-used track instead! Lots of fun and ended up being something to laugh about afterwards although the muddy bit we walked through made clipping in and out a challenge for the remainder of the ride.  Regardless I survived Sunday's ride despite my skill deterioration and have been bitten by the bug all over again. The fear of riding solo is still there however and I think it is going to take a while to work through. 

Current *want* from Wiggle

While I'm on the subject of cycling please go check out the Taxing Rides Cyclists series from Treehuggery.  Jackie does amazing work, these are awesome gifts for cyclists!

This is the piece of art we own from the series

food, cars, and stuff

Today was my first long drive in the Mini mobile on a route that took us through Milton Keynes--lots and lots of traffic with seemingly endless roundabouts in heavy rain.  Talk about getting thrown in, at least I had someone to talk me through it and it wasn't the dreaded Magic Roundabout.  The trip ended up being a washout since the car dealer we were making the trip down to view a couple of Land Rover type products was apparently not interested in selling any cars today.  Yes, it was drizzly but no one came out to say hello while we wandered all about the lot looking at various vehicles.  Even after we walked into the building the salesperson simply waved us into a corner office and didn't bother getting up to say hello.  Once we inquired about the vehicles we were interested in and if we could look inside them he told us that test drives were appointment only.  He finally asked if we had driven far (over a hundred miles!) and you would have thought there might have been some give, but nope, "Appointment only, especially since it is raining."  WTF???? It's England, it rains a LOT!  Their loss, it would have been a guaranteed cash sale.

After that we decided to head off in search of a pub lunch but ended up spotting a Mexican food restaurant (Chimichanga) while driving through Amersham. Cute place even if it is a chain and unlike the car dealership, GREAT service! Main difference between this place and a Mexican restaurant in the states is that we didn't get complimentary tortilla chips and salsa, I'm not sure if this is the norm in the UK or not.  Oh and the pico de gallo could have done with a few more peppers.

The tried and true steak fajitas

No run this morning due to an achy back from yesterday's fall then following it up with a full day's work cleaning out the garage (which still isn't clean by the way).  Ended up taking a just over 2 mile walk with the mutts instead.