Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Bike Mechanics & the Veloway Hill

While others went off to ride on Mopac today, I stayed on the Veloway (thankfully) and did 8 miles. I had done 9 miles over the weekend, and the practice was definitely helpful. There's a horrible (but short) hill on the Veloway which I haven't been able to ride through. It caused me some anxiety and a sense of dread as I did my rounds. I've tried about 3 times now, and each time I am able to make it a little further up the hill. Geez. My boss' 8-yr-old can make it up the hill. The little guy is also doing a kid's triathlon this year (!!)

For the most part, I worked on riding curves and shifting gears. Had some trouble with gears (the small chain), and the chain popped off twice. Fortunately, some good Samaritans stopped and helped. It's pretty cool to see how nice and helpful riders are on the Veloway. When I pulled off to the side, I had several people ask me if I needed help. Might need to take it to a bike mechanic to see if it the derailer needs adjustment. Next week, our coaches are going to show us how to change a flat!

Still haven't found a bike yet. :( I've only seen about 6 bikes so far, and I'd like to see some more before I blow a tonne of money. My friend (whose bike I'm riding) - Charanya (my namesake!)- has been really awesome about lending me her hybrid. Luckily for me, she's told me to take my time to find a good bike, and to borrow hers in the interim. I'll stick with her bike for the race, most likely, and then buy a new one. It always takes time to get used to a bike, so I don't want to be riding a new bike on race day. Charanya had advised me to wear tri-pants for cycling, and I can see how that could be helpful, so I'll probably get a pair for the race next week.

2 comments:

Charanya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charanya said...

Oh yes!! We sure want to protect our behinds as much as possible! :)