Leila gets clipped in

It was a very eventful week and I'm sorry I haven't been able to update until now. Thursday I got clipless pedals for my bike. I'm still very confused why they call them
"clipless" since they actually clip to the shoes. At any rate, I picked up shoes and pedals and got a stationary tutorial. Then I made my way to the 6:00 bike maintenance class where I learned all about all of the other stuff I have to buy to care for my already expensive hobby. I'm thinking amazon wishlist.

Friday, I rode around the neighborhood a little, getting used to clipping and unclipping. The unclipping is easy but I have trouble lining my foot up with the clip to clip in quickly. Saturday morning I headed out for my usual ride. My plan was to get used to the pedals and then head up the same hill I struggled so hard with last week. I was extremely humid and after about 30 minutes, I was not feeling up to trying that hill again. I rode for about 1 hour taking note how the hills I did do felt compared to before. There was definitely a difference.

I spent most of my ride being very concerned about removing my foot from the pedals before coming to a stop. I was worries that if I jerked my foot too hard I would loose my balance and fall so it sometimes took me while to apply enough pressure to get my foot out. What didn't realize is that I can still fall even when I'm stopped with one foot out of the pedal and on planted firmly on the gound... and that is exactly what I did. After putting my left foot on the ground I moved my right foot backwards to get the pedal in a position to push me forward when I needed to go. I accidentally moved it too far and found myself quite off balance. The next thing I new I was verifying the quick release feature as I reached to cushion my fall.

That afternoon, Brian and I headed out to drive the course. I think this was the first time I really realized what I was in for. The course it absolutely gorgeous in most areas, save for a few trailer parks. The problems were that the hills went forever and were often sharp curves. So many times we would be headed up a steep hill and I'd say "at least it's not very long", only to come around a bend on the straightaway and see it clime again. The down hill parts were quite steep at times and almost always ended in a sharp curve heading into another hill so keeping momentum around the curve is going to be very tricky. It's going to be an interesting month of training. I think the moral from my drive is that I don't have the option of not feeling up to riding that hill. In fact, I think I need to do it twice.