My First Sunday Ride

This morning I went on my first longish ride. Went first to Chenku's house via Sadananda Road and SP Mukherjee Road. Then onwards via Ballygunge Circular Road and Gol Park, Southern Avenue came back home. The Gariahat flyover was deliberately taken to check out the gears.

A total of around 10.5 Km in about 45 minutes. (I had switched the Strava on from Rashbehari crossing though - about half a kilometer away from home.) That's ridiculously slow. Slower than elite marathoners :-)

But then there are reasons behind this snailish average moving time. 

A. The roads were full of traffic and I am not used to the bike, least of all riding in heavy traffic. In fact I crossed Ballygunge Fari on foot.

B. The cycle is very uncomfortable on bad roads. Even a newly laid mastic asphalt road (which Pratapaditya Road right now is) is very uncomfortable, as the small stone chips are yet to sit flush on the road. The constant rattle was forcing me to slow down.

C. My muscles are not used to riding a bike yet. Although 4 km of evening run is considerable exercise and I am quite used to that but those are different sets of muscles that are exercised. 

D. I am still not comfortable with gear changes. It is yet to happen instinctively, like the way one changes a car or motorcycle gear. 

The Strava app is really good. It worked perfectly fine even with the phone in the pocket of my shorts. 

Upon arrival back at home I realised I was sweating rather profusely. Is it because of adrenalin or the exercise? Not sure. When one rides a new motorcycle or drives a car and feels nervous, one sweats a lot. Was it that kind of nervous reaction? I am not sure. I wasn't really scared of riding. But at the same time, I wasn't panting much either. Perhaps the muscles were getting adjusted to a new type of exercise.

So what are my learnings from day one?

A. I should have checked the air in the tubes before going out. Chenku told me his tyres were harder. And I realised indeed the pressure wasn't adequate. At home I checked - the front tyre was 70 PSI and the rear tyre was 80 PSI. Which means they had lost about 30 PSI in six days. I must check air pressure before each trip. That's a major learning.

B. I must find out bus free routes and go out earlier on holidays. The roads, even at 8.30 on a Sunday morning had lots of traffic. Of course way less than on a normal working day but for a new road biker it is a lot of traffic. I guess Chetla, Alipore, Zoo and Race Course will be a good, bus free route. Southern Avenue is bus free too. But the Gariahat bridge is really uncomfortable because they leave small gaps where two sections of the bridge meet. These are possibly called expansion gaps. When the tyre hits them, it really is uncomfortable.

C. I must change the front brake position to the regular close fit. Someshwar had kept it a little loose for me to get adjusted to. I think I am quite okay with a little harder brake. I am not used to such loose brakes.

D. Just one day a week may not be enough to get cycling ready quickly. But I have no competition coming up :-) I hope the muscles remember this exercise. Muscle memory is a very useful thing for repeats. 

E. I must carry some emergency food, a spare tube and a presta/schrader adapter, if I am going for any longish outing beyond 5 kms. One never knows when I might suddenly feel hypo-glycemic or get a puncture. Do I need a saddle bag? I love the minimalist approach. Let me see if the belt pouch is good enough. Otherwise will have to get a purpose built bag from Via Terra. They make good bags.