I've been spending quite a bit of time outside my comfort zone lately, and whenever I get outside my comfort zone too much, I really get the need to crawl back into it. My errands lately have been working like that. I head out with a list of things I need and come back with half because the traffic and amount of people out there overwhelmed me to the point that I just wanted to be shut back up in my home.
Obviously quitting the job I've had for 9 years, dropping my benefits and job security, putting my house on the market and moving to a city I've never lived in before with a new "job" that doesn't even cover rent...all qualifies as going way outside my comfort zone.
I found a new place to run. Boom, outside comfort zone.
I paddled out into unfamiliar surf... way outside comfort zone.
Jumped into the pool on campus...yes, back into my comfort zone.
And then there's cycling. In Montague I could just roll out my front door and have rolling country roads for miles and miles. I got a new road bike (yeah, you've met her, Ruby) and fell in love. When I lived in San Diego I bought a mountain bike because I didn't want to risk riding around in traffic.
Now I'm back in traffic. I considered finding a place to ride my mountain bike out here, and did some searches. I came up with some good options but none of them were really tugging at my heart. I read a couple descriptions of road rides and they sounded so much more fun. But I don't know how to ride in traffic, I don't know where to go, and I just changed out my pedals and cleats to a new type of "clipless" pedals. Can I tell you how much I dislike that word? Clipless. But you clip into them. Because at some point, someone decided to call the toe cages "clips" and now that you can clip into your pedal without the toe cage, it's considered clipless. I've been using clipless pedals for a couple years now, but needed an upgrade.
Anyway, so I got a pair with a dual entry instead of trying to get my pedal flipped around the correct way which required a good deal of looking down and not at the road. Which can lead to collisions. We don't want those.
I came across a website for a local cycling club that looked like it had something for everyone. Almaden Cycle Touring Club had about 8 choices of rides going on today.
Meh, I don't like people. I'm so far out of my comfort zone already, I just want to hide in my house and eat bundt cake.
But I really wanted to ride. I would eventually have to get over my fear of cycling in a city or I would give up road biking forever...ok, maybe not forever, but too long.
Oh what the hell. There's no such thing as a comfort zone anymore. Not around here. Everything is new, everything is scary, just go. That's my motto these days, just go.
So I picked a moderate paced ride (14-15 miles per hour) over 35 miles on a ride called the 10 City Whirlwind tour. First I would have to survive the 1.5 mile ride there, on my own and without help.
The first issue I ran in to was a left hand turn where there were two left turn lanes. After a second or two of thought, I chose the right hand one. I made it safely to the park where the ride began and found a fellow cyclist that is also one of the leaders. He wasn't the leader for today, but he quickly took me under his wing. He talked me through the club and how it works and I expressed my newness to him.
Other cyclists showed up, we had introductions and small conversations. Then we were off.
Learning new pedals is a little tricky. Especially when you're now worried about not getting hit by cars, not crashing and not making a total fool of yourself. I unclipped at an intersection and we waited for the light. When it turned green, I clipped back in and stood a little on the pedals to increase my speed and get out of the intersection. Well, I was not really clipped in like I thought and my foot slipped off the pedal. My pelvis crashed down onto the seat. Hard enough so that my new found friend had to ask if I was alright. I won't die.
After feeling out the group a little, I pushed past some of them and towards the front of the group. We rode through some minor hills, some super busy streets and some secluded residential areas. I had to watch for cars and other riders and hazards in the road. Thankfully, in a cycling group, these guys are also looking out too and they communicate it to everyone either by shouting or pointing. We had a couple meet-up spots to reign the stragglers back in, and one extended stop at Starbucks. The rest of the way was mostly flat.
We even had a roller blader with us most of the way! What a stud!
I decided I was joining the club for sure. There are rides of different abilities going on every day. You just go down the list, pick one and show up. Apparently membership covers co-pays and stuff for accidents. Very cool. Actually today one of our riders smacked into the side mirror of a car parked in the bike lane. We all circled around to be sure he was ok. I think just his hand was hurt.
It's only $20/year but somehow manages to also pay for parties and stuff. They have get-togethers, meetings and supported tours (long rides). They keep a stats profile on their website for all the members. A lot of the guys today were talking about Strava... a GPS based performance/recording thing. It's like social networking, but for rides and runs and stuff. I'll have to look at it. I didn't wear my GPS today, but I will in the future.
One of the guys used to ride competitively and gave me some tips on bike handling. It was much appreciated. On my short ride home after leaving the group at the park, I already felt much more comfortable riding with traffic and with my handling skills. Of course experience will only help more.
When I got home, I dismounted and carried my bike up the stairs. I was feeling pretty good and was really proud at my ability to keep up with the group. As I walked in the door, my quads suddenly started screaming at me. Holy cow! How did that happen? I have a long run tomorrow!
I shoved as much food into my belly as I could, drank a bunch of water and took ibuprofen. I drew a hot bubble bath with epsom salt and eucalyptus oil. After soaking for awhile, I climbed out and took a nap. I dreamed of steak. Thankfully I had some thawing in the fridge.
I had probably one serving size, but then was still hungry so I had a second. Then I was still hungry so I drank a bunch more water (just in case) and had a couple pieces of cheese and some brussel sprouts. I keep peaking in the fridge and cupboards, but nothing looks good to me. I still have that feeling that I want something though. More food! More sweets! More more more! Maybe I just need more sleep.
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