Today I achieved two cycling firsts. As the title suggests, I cycled non-stop to cover a distance of 50+ km. In terms of time, it took me 2:26 min to cover a little over 51 km. Sitting constant on the saddle for close to two and a half hours without a break is not easy. But surprisingly I don't feel any soreness on the ass. In fact I noticed this last Thursday (Kalipujo holiday) also when I felt the bum was remarkably pain free after the 35 km ride. The Sunday before that - which is just last Sunday - I felt the pain on the ass for two days.
Actually after that Sunday pain, I did a lot of stretches for the glutes. I guess that helped. It's a remarkable thing really to not feel any pain after non-stop two and a half hours of sitting on a saddle. Coming back to the other cycling first - I took off the front wheel of my bike and surprise surprise - I put it back on as well (after washing it nicely in the bathroom) !!! While it took about ten seconds to do the first job, it took about 20 seconds to put it back on. I have never owned a cycle with clip on type wheels. This is the first time I did this. It's a nice feeling :-) Like finally doing something that you always wanted to do as a child but were afraid to try.
My next ambition is to take off the rear wheel, which is slightly more complicated because the chain and derailleur come into play there. But I will do it. I would have done it today itself but I have to go out to attend to a lunch invitation party for a colleague's son's annaprashan.
Next on my "to do" list is taking the tube out and putting it back on. If I can do this I can confidently go for long road trips. I will need a portable pump for that though.
Now back to the morning's ride. I had meant to do this yesterday with Chenku. But due to really bad weather we couldn't go out. So I went out alone today to do what I had intended to do earlier. I think I started off at around 5.15 am. I got a little delayed waiting for the Garmin to get a fix on the satellites. It took an inordinately long time. In fact I turned it off and turned it on again. This trick often works. The Forerunner can be totally unpredictable when it comes to getting a fix on satellites.
The route had a few bad sections and we learn from our mistakes. Like I will never take the short cut to Bijan Setu through Kakulia. That section is full of bumps. The section in front of Science City on the Park Circus connector had water logging. This made riding difficult as only the central part of the road was dry and the small pick up trucks drive at break neck speed there. Riding here made the bike and my back very dirty. This is the reason why I took off the wheel. I gave the bike a thorough wash, with the pipe jet downstairs. But I did it without any shampoo. I will get a foam and some shampoo for this soon.
I felt a little hungry when I hit the VIP Road. This is after around 30 km, I think. I had started the morning with 4 biscuits. I think I was feeling a little extra hungry today. I didn't feel thirsty at all. Towards the end perhaps yes but then I had to prove that I could ride non-stop. So I didn't stop for any water break. Since I use a normal water bottle I need to stop to drink from it.
I guess I am now going to go for 100 km quite seriously. I will go step by step. Next Sunday will be 60, followed by 70 and then 80 etc. No point hastening things up and invite an unnecessary injury.
I also need to learn to ride with both the hands off. When I was in class XI I could ride for hours on end with the hands off. Even in the dark (on familiar roads, of course). But on this bike riding with hands off will take some time to learn. All I need to do is practice a bit. But I was afraid, it would slow down my average time. So I kept on pushing.
A major advantage of being able to ride hands free is that you can give your back a little rest. Let me see.
5 PM: Sunday, 22nd October 2017
After writing this far, I went to Sankhadeep's son's annaprashan. After coming back home at around 3 I did the rear wheel with some help from Monisha. Now taking the rear wheel off is easy but putting it back in wasn't so. The wheel has to be perfectly aligned between the brake pads. Then you have to engage it on the chain. But while doing it the wheel has to be held in such a position that the rest of the things fall in place perfectly.
That wasn't happening smoothly. After some struggle, suddenly things got engaged properly. I am not sure exactly what I did right but it happened. This means I will have to take the wheel off several times and truly master it. Because what happened today was more by fluke. I must know how it works.
Initially I tried with the cycle upright. Monisha was holding it. Then I turned it upside down with the cycle sitting on the saddle. Anyway, managed to clean the wheel nicely when it was off the bike.
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