Sunday, March 6, 2016

2016/03/06 – Bad Ride

This morning’s bike ride didn’t go well.

After getting my fat bike fixed yesterday, I couldn’t wait to ride it. I patiently waited for daylight this morning, and soon after was on my way.

About 5 minutes into my ride I realized that the problem I had with the bike was not remedied, in fact it was now worse! Now I had a slight grinding noise with every down stroke of the pedals, no matter what gear I was in.

I guess I should have turned around and gotten my road bike, but I was looking forward to riding the fattie today. So I turned up the volume on my headphones and rode on.

After 7 miles I reached the top of North Table Mountain, but when I checked my Strava app, it had stopped after only ½ mile! I was pissed! It was as if the 7 miles no longer counted! And it bothered me that I was pissed over something so stupid as the Strava record, but I was.

Part of my goal today was to complete a 100-mile week of riding, and I only needed less than 10 miles to accomplish this, but now since I lost 7 Strava miles, I had to make that up. This gives you a little insight into the insanity I suffer.

So I decided to drop back down to the base of NTM and do a few 1-mile flat loops around the Golden Bike Park.

As if the constant grinding of my pedaling and the Strava mishap wasn’t enough, now my front tire went flat! Luckily I had a canister of compressed air, which filled the fat tire, but now it was time to head towards home.

I did manage to save the day by getting 100 official Strava miles for the week, but it still bothers me that minor goals like that become so important.

I love the Strava app, but for me it’s a double-edged sword. It definitely encourages me to ride more, but sometimes too much more. I have to watch myself because I have much more energy than my old body can handle, and it’s very easy for me to over-train.

Later,
Steve

No comments: