Sunday, August 06, 2006

Getting Ready

I'm trying to ramp up my mileages, but my body is balking. A bit, anyway. I biked 32 miles on Saturday. It was a beautiful, warm day. But by the end of the day, my butt was getting sore, one foot was aching and frankly, I was getting dry. I think I didn't take enough water. Even though the ride was only 2 hours and 20 minutes. I'll learn yet.

One incident: a motorist, a farmer in a truck pulling a farm implement on a wagon, passed me on Bay View to Edison road. It seems he just didn't want to move to the other lane, so he (I'm assuming it was a man) squeezed by me, missing my handlebars by just a few inches. And, I was on the edge of the pavement. So, I resolved, at least for the rest of that ride, to ride at least 2 feet into the pavement.

Got the bike tuned up last week. After that, though, another rider suggested that 2,000 miles is a bit long in the tooth for a chain. Yes, I have ridden 2,100 miles since buying the bike about 15 months ago. This rider suggested that waiting too long to replace a chain could mean that when the chain gets replaced, the rear cog must be too. And, possibly, the chainring too. So, I've got to ask my LBS if they have a chain tester.