Sara Barz's Series of Unfortunate Events

In the last post I promised to write more frequently. Unfortunately, that was in early April. Old habits die hard, but as my departure date approaches I know I'm going to have a lot to write about.

This past weekend could only be described as one of the worst of my life. Sparing the dirty details, it all revolved around a break-up, a loss, a dead cell-phone, and three people consecutively losing their keys in one day. Of course I was personally affected by all of those events including losing my keys, and seriously, what are the chances of that? I am certainly a very absent-minded individual and I have lost my keys before but never on the same day as two other people in my immediate acquaintance. Anyway, you visited to read about cycling, not keys and my sorry personal life so on to cycling...

This weekend was the final ride of my training group. I learned so much about cycling from that group, such as:

-the word "chain ring" and its proper usage
-that one should use lube with zeal
-that clipless pedals are so much better (and safer!) than toe-clips
-18 mph rocks, but not into the back tire in front of you
-the split in the saddle makes all the difference
-you do not wear underwear with bike shorts.

Here's a shout-out to Group 3! Spending my Saturdays riding with you was the highlight of my life for the past two months.

Between the SIG and riding on my own, I have put 384 miles on my new cannondale. HBC requests that we put 400-500 miles on our bicycles before orientation, and I'm well on my way. I figure that before the 30th I'll probably ride 100 miles. Funny, because before I joined the SIG and before I applied for HBC, I thought a long ride was 12 miles. That was the length of the bike ride in the 2006 Scantic Valley YMCA Triathlon, which to me seemed long enough. It wasn't that I didn't like riding my bike, in fact quite the contrary, I loved riding my bike. I was an avid bike commuter in college and during an internship in Boston, but my whole perspective focused on single digit mileage rides. Post SIG, 10-14 miles seems like a small ride.

My orientation to HBC will begin on May 30th, so I am 9 days away from my big trip. Just typing that makes my stomach flip-flop with nerves. June 2nd we leave and I am terrified. Thrilled of course, but I just do not know what to expect. I hope 10 weeks on a bike will be a good cure for heartbreak.

It's been a long time...

The last time I wrote I made up a silly excuse about it being a long time since I had posted. Well, now I have a real silly excuse for not posting in two months: I have been busy.

Actually, I have been busy, which is a good thing when you're trying to train and fundraise for a cross-country bike ride. In the past two months I have ...

1) Brought my fundraising tally to hover around $3000
2) Suffered from a lot of pain in my left knee
3) Sought treatment for the pain in my left knee
4) Discovered that the pain in my left knee stems from a partial chronic tear of my left ACL (who knew?).
5) Started physical therapy
6) Joined the New York Cycling Club
7) Joined the NYCC C-SIG group to ride every Saturday from March 24 to May 19. This past Saturday I rode to New Jersey.
8) Lost 5 lbs (whohoo!)

I'm exhausted.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to getting my spanking new Cannondale bicycle next Sunday afternoon, and teaching myself how to ride with clipless pedals! Any tips?

I promise I'll be writing more frequently from now on. I'm sure things should get interesting with the pedals.

Hooray for bicycles!

As of yesterday, I had my first trip to the bicycle repair to store to accomplish two things: a) to repair the front break of my training bike that seized up on me while riding along Riverside Drive (it screeched like one million fingernails scraped simultaneously on an industrial-sized chalkboard); and b) to get measured for my summer touring bike. For those interested, I should ride a 52 or 53cm frame, and apparently I have a 78cm inseam - long legs according to Leo at Metro Bicycle Stores. Considering that I always thought I had a freakishly long torso and short little legs, this new development is encouraging for my self-esteem.

Tomorrow is also supposed to be my first real training ride outdoors. Heretofore I practiced in spinning class or I rode my little folding bike around my neighborhood. But one does not move very quickly on 16" wheels, and it's time to get practice in the great outdoors. However! Here is the big however, weather.com predicts with 80% accuracy that it will be raining at 8:00am tomorrow morning -- the perfect time for riding my bicycle before work. AND, I am a big wimp when it come to riding in the rain. My inner monologue on riding in the rain: "Well, I don't want to risk rusting my frame, and I don't have any fenders so I'll get mud splattered up my back. Plus, it will be very cold and I could get the flu or some horrible disease." Right, I'm a wimp. As my dear roommate Beth said, "girlfriend, if you're going to be riding across the country, you're going to experience a little rain."

Here's hoping I can face the 48 degree drizzle.

Or, maybe, I should reschedule for Tuesday.