Last week's mummy was the result of an unexpected and abrupt meeting between a face and a concrete sidewalk, courtesy of a sudden unbalancing tug on a dog leash, resulting from a dog catching sight of a rabbit in the shrubbery. I'm not sure who was more startled - mom, dog, or rabbit. The dog now avoids that section of the yard on her constitutionals. Despite mom's avowal that she didn't need stitches, the nurse at church thought otherwise so we popped over to urgent care in lieu of the church service, and made it back in time for the fellowship meal afterwards. Despite the doctor's considered opinion that the faceplant would not result in black eyes, the gloriously purple rings were evident within a day. Now, almost 2 weeks later, they've sunk beneath the cheekbones and add a greenish cast to the face.
Bicycling -- the smiling providence of a flat tire, perfectly timed to avoid a deluge, turned into a trip to town the next day for a new tube, a replacement tube, possibly a new tire tread, and a Serious Consideration of cycling shoes/pedals. I came home with two tubes, two new tires (mounted!), new pedals, AND new shoes. With a bit of a bike realignment/tune-up and bike fitting tucked in there, plus practicing How To Unclip While In A Trainer. A few minutes clipped in on the trainer clued me in to the fact that I might be using different muscles now that my feet were affixed to the pedals, so I decided not to overdo things with a long ride right away. Maybe 5 miles would be a good first ride? So, after getting home, I headed out, and decided after a few miles that a loop round the block shouldn't be pushing things too much. 13.5 miles, check.
The next day was a normal riding day, but I didn't want to overdo things - so I planned a 20-24 mile ride. Except around 24 miles, I was having too much fun so decided to ride up to my mom's for an ice cream sandwich. 40 miles later and 5 towns later, I was home. (That's total -- not from the 24 mile point.)
So, with Saturday rides of 30 and 40 miles, what was I do to this past Saturday but something a bit longer? I plotted a route to Truman (45 miles), left mid-morning so I'd be home before the sun was blazing hot, TOTALLY underestimated how long it would take the fog to burn off, and had fog dripping off my helmet the first two hours of the ride. One hour in, my glasses were consigned to my jersey pocket. And I had a delightful 3 hour ride -- followed up by a 5 mile jaunt with Vir (his first time on a bike in several years) to make a total of 50 miles for Saturday. Will I do 60 miles this coming week? We shall see. I think my next bike-related purchase will be a tail light.
