As the title of this post suggests I have finally made it out on my bike for a my first practice run....although that is somewhat overstating the case considering that I actually only rode for 50 minutes, not the 8 hours I'm going to need to do in India each day! The weather was so beautiful yesterday that I decided to take my bike, Missy, out for a ride along the canal in Linslade up to the Three Locks in Stoke Hammond. The whole return trip, which I reckon is about 6.5 miles, took me about 50 mins to do at a fairly gentle pace. I couldn't go any faster if I wanted to because the speed limit set by British Waterways is 10mph! Anyway, I must say it was very pleasant and testing enough on the thighs for my first jaunt. I had to tackle two major hills in the course of my route which was pretty painful! The things I have learnt from my first trip are:
- I need a bell to deal with the proliferation of canalside walkers with tunnel vision / complete lack of awareness of other human beings
- I need to remember to put my gel saddle on my bike, as I now have one hell of a bruised bum!
- Cycle gloves aren't just a uniform for cycling fanatics to signal their belonging to others of a similar bent, they'd actually be quite useful to avoid blistering the heel of my hands.
Here is a deeply unflattering photo of me on my bike about to set off for your amusement.
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