Cold ride

Saturday morning I set out for an 8 mile bike ride to one of my favorite places to run. The run is a 7 mile out and back course through the woods on a couple of bays here in Pensacola. Then I would jump on the bike and ride the 8 miles home. A very nice brick workout.

As soon as the morning started I felt the world conspiring against me. There was confusion about when breakfast was going to be ready. I thought I would actually get to eat with the family instead of rushing out before everyone was ready. It was not to be. While breakfast was started in time for me to sit down and enjoy it, it ended up being delayed by more than an hour. I ate alone once again.

A block into the ride I remembered that I had a problem with my bottom bracket (the “axle” for the pedal crank arms). The last time I rode the bike I noticed that one side was beginning to loosen. I did not take the time to fix it after the last ride. I turned around and headed back home to fix it.

After a short repair I was back on the road. It was 52 degrees when I started out. I dressed just like I would for a run at 52 degrees. I found out that running and biking have different clothing requirements for the same temperature. When I am running I am going approximately 6 MPH. Biking can be 20+ MPH (but averages a bit less). That is 3 to 4 times faster wind speed blowing the cold air across the body. It was very cold.

Within a mile of taking off the second time I had already decided to cut the ride shorter and go to my second favorite trail running area. The trail is only 3 miles long, but it seemed appropriate for the shorter bike ride to get there. Shortly after that though I noticed my bottom bracket was coming loose again. I had to stop on the side of the road and fix it twice in the 5 mile ride that I did. I just went back home.

I then parked the bike and enjoyed a 3 mile run on the roads around the neighborhood instead. Wasn’t what I had planned, but since I am no longer training for anything specific I could go out and do the run without any pressure to accomplish any particular task.