What No Rain?!?!

For the second day in a row we have had beautiful weather. Around 70-ish degrees and not a cloud in the sky. If it wasn't for the leaves on the ground I would have sworn it was late spring. I didn't race this weekend and so I haven't had any exercise for about 4 days, and so I really needed to get out. There were a few complicating factors; I needed to apply to a job and we had to get our car fixed (driver side door latch broke and we couldn't open the door either from the inside or outside--only $401.93 to fix it) and get Ryan to his preschool. Plus Bridget had dibbs on working out first. Eventually I got out the door around 2PM and rode about 26 miles.

It was a pretty good ride but not as long as I had planned. I had planned to add a climb at the end so that I could ride on Skyline Drive, which has some great views, and would have put it at about 32 miles or so total. But, I got a couple of flats and I would have had to call the pit-crew (Bridget and the boys) for the second one except for a nice cyclist that happened upon me at the right time. He had a spare tube and gave it to me. Whoever you are, thanks man. I carry one tube with me but never two. I figure if I am going to have two flats it is time to call the pit-crew.

I had brought my little Topeak Micro Rocket Master Blaster hand pump with me, and it is a sweet little pump. It fits in one of my rear cycling jersey pockets. It is light, made of mostly carbon fiber and weighs next to nothing, only 55 grams (about 2 ounces). It is only about 6 inches long. It took a bit to pump the tire up to around 120 PSI, but it did it pretty easily. I was very impressed. I have used it before but not on the side of the road. It is about as sexy as a pump can get.


In the end, it was probably good that the ride was shortened. I didn't eat enough for lunch--just some tomato soup--and if it wasn't for a pack of Clif Shot Bloks in another jersey pocket I might have called it a day even sooner. As it was, according to my Heart Rate Monitor I burned around 1650 calories. Most of that was probably on a couple of longer climbs. I burn about 900 to 1000 calories an hour on a good ride. Bridget for comparison only burns about 600 to 650 calories an hour on the same ride. But she weighs about 55 lbs less than me.

And one more thing about Bridget--she had on some size 6 pants yesterday. When we were married she was a 10 or 12. I hope she doesn't mind me outing her, but she is pretty open with things like this regardless of present size. The combination of the exercise and the glucophage has made a big difference. Her PCOS, without the meds, makes her slowly gain weight if she is not exercising. And yes she looks amazing, but then she always did.