An Easy Sunday Morning Ride

Went out for a short ride this morning. My second ride since buying the bike. Covered a distance of a little more than 8 kms over 37 minutes. I think according to Strava it is 14 kmph - that's slower than a decent marathoner !!! An elite would finish the marathon more than an hour before me :-)

Went up to Gol Park and came back home after crossing and recrossing the Lake Gardens flyover. The flyover, with all the gears at my disposal, was rather easy for me. I don't think the first and second gears are necessary in Calcutta at all. 

The thighs are not as fatigued as they were after last Sunday's ride, which was at similar pace (14 kmph) but over a little more than 10 km. I am sweating a hell of a lot, particularly on my palms. And the handlebar grip material is such that the water does not soak in or even evaporates out quickly. Was feeling a little slippery. That can be quite disconcerting, particularly when you are trying to pull the brake. 

It is so funny. Only last night I ran 5 km and did not feel it as much as I feel this 8 km cycle ride. Running uses a different set of muscles. My cycling muscles will have to get adjusted now. The two are not quite the same. 

I am still not too familiar with the gears or even how to change them. I still confuse which lever to push for going up or down. There is no rocket science involved. It's just a sign of old age. Of course if I could go out more frequently for longer hours I would learn it in no time. I wish I had this bike when I was in class 7/8.

What is going to take time for me is growing this habit of riding on the hoods. I am still more comfortable with riding on the drops. But I am not too worried about that. Riding on the hoods is definitely more comfortable for the longer rides. I have to get confident about braking. My fingers were slipping due to sweat. Pulling the brakes while riding on the drops is a lot easier and feels more sure. So on easy traffic less stretches I am going for the hoods. But whenever I see some trouble coming up, I am changing my position to the drops.

I have to get used to going out earlier in the morning. Something like 5.30 am. But then I am not too confident of going out without breakfast. I cannot afford a hypo with a cycle to bring back home. Eating breakfast so early is difficult. One solution is perhaps carrying the breakfast. Let me see if I can work out a solution.