WEIGHT (AM): 304 lbs
MILES: 10.0
AVG. SPD: 9.4 mph
CALORIES:2,500 (aprx.)
OVERALL: Not brilliant, but made it.
-0-
NOTE: If you’re new to IBIT and aren’t familiar with Big Lizard, read the backstory here first. It’ll reduce the confusion. Somewhat.
-0-
Today was the day that Miramar picked to put up a fight — which was perfect, since this was the day picked to see if I could complete two laps around the 5-mile loop. A “tenner,” as BBC gearhead/wine lout James May would say.
Time wasn’t really the issue. I just wanted to see if I could make it without required paramedics.
The reservoir unleashed a steady headwind that hit at different intervals on the course. Then Big Lizard got into the act with rear wheel/brake issues coming out of the hairpin turns, the wheel rubbing up against the right brake pad once each revolution. Don’t know if that means the wheel is out of true or the brake is out of alignment. Either way, it’s annoying.
However, I followed bicycle protocol:
- Dismount
- Look at the rear wheel
- Look concerned
- Spin the wheel slowly
- Fiddle with the quick release
- Look concerned
- Fiddle with the rear brake
- Look grimly concerned
- Re-mount and take off
Sure enough, the issue went away.
I learned this method many years ago, with my first “real” bike. It was a Raleigh Record, a classic 10-speed English road bike that I bought used for $90 from a bike shop near the UC Berkeley campus.
What do I mean by “classic?” An old-school Brooks leather saddle, perhaps the most diabolical instrument of torture ever devised. Small center-pull brakes. Wheel hubs with no quick-releases.
And an orange paint job worthy of a traffic cone.
I soon learned three things about this machine:
- When everything was working, it was the fastest bike in my neighborhood, if not the entire city of Oakland. I could practically coast by more expensive Schwinns. If I actually pedaled, I left them as if they were going backward.
- On this bike, everything was seldom working at the same time or for very long. It had an especially annoying tendency to get flat tires seemingly for no good reason, which was why I took to calling it “The Orange Bastard.”
- Balky old English bikes do not like to be addressed profanely. The more I cursed at it, the more flats it seemed to get.
A mistake I have no intention of repeating with Big Lizard. Hence the kinder, gentler mechanical approach.
Even so, I know I need to get Big Lizard in for a tune-up. But that’s for another day.
TODAY: Two laps, 1 hour, six minutes.
Ten miles. Mission Accomplished. The average speed of less than 10 mph is not that great, but that will improve as the Lizard gets stronger and I get lighter.
Seeing a lot of older people out here on the course, walking and riding, pushing strollers, working on their fitness. It’s encouraging.
But one elderly Asian man is especially inspiring. Looks to be in his 70s, walking the 5-mile loop with a plastic grocery bag in each hand, full of books. Large hardcovers.
Homeboy is serious! If I needed confirmation that I have no excuses anymore, that was it.
Tomorrow, another tenner, then a rest day Saturday, followed by a fun ride of some sort on Sunday.
One goal down, many more to go!