June 26

Today I biked solo for 22 miles on a course with several steep hills. Because we don't normally bike on hills, I had biked part of the course the evening before, and it was hot, the ride wiped me out.

The highlight of the trip was a near crash. It occured on a road I not been on before - a down hill section with a hairpin turn near the bottom. Even though I was not going fast, I evidently waited too long to slow my speed. Usually I rely on the back brake because it seems safer than the front, and this is what I did in this case. However, what happened is that the back wheel skidded and the back end of the bike shifted to the left during the skids (the turn was to the right) whenever I braked. I could therefore only apply the brake for short spurts and my speed was not slowing significantly. The woods at the outside of the curve loomed ahead. I had all but given up when the bike stopped skidding and came to a halt just as the front tire reached the edge of the road. I stayed there a few moments assessing my good luck and feeling really good that I wasn't heaped up agaist a tree and there was no oncoming vehicle. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had applied the front brake, but I'm glad I didn't.

In the future, I'm going scout out an alternative route down that hill. The loop I ended up taking was a nice ride - long sections in a flat floodplain, several challenging hills, low traffic, one historic looking brick house on a hill, and no chasing dogs. Top speed was 44.3 miles per hour down the steepest hill (which I walked up today on the way out), and I had to apply the brake slightly on the downhill because someone on a lawn mower decided to cross the road near the bottom. The lawn mower woman must have seen me but decided to cross the road anyway.

Going up this hill yesterday, a car came up behind me before I had reached the half way point and would not pass because of a slight curve. I felt compelled to stay on the bike and go all out (5.5 mph). By the time I reached the top, three cars were backed up behind me. The sound of their grumbling engines (AC cutting in and out) is as good an incentive as any to push myself up the hill.

One deer and several squirrels dashed in front of me at several locations along the route. I'm sure that knee and elbow pads would be a good idea, but I doubt if I'll get them.

This was the first ride where I really worked up a sweat. When I returned home and took my helmet off, I had the closest thing to spiked hair that I will ever have - quite comical.

Todd