I've been dismayed to be unable to get outside for a ride since my one on March 9, due to the lingering winter cold (quite unseasonable in these first days of spring). But today, it let up enough for me to give it a try. (It was still brisk, though, at 37 degrees.) Even though I was at LA Fitness this morning before 7:00, waiting for their 7 a.m. Sunday opening so I could do a faithful hour on the elliptical, I felt I could and should get out this afternoon, too. But I cut myself a little slack, and, rather than challenging myself overmuch, I did a first ride of another of my old running routes. This is one I call the Church 10K, because I have measured it out at 10 kilometers (or 6.2 miles, a common distance for running races). It was amazing, though, how much quicker the miles melted away on wheels! My best time running it was 1:00:27, back on November 11, 2008 -- but today, riding it quite easily and comfortably, I did it in just over 40 minutes.
The ride was not totally without incident, but it was nothing major. A couple of miles away from the end, I needed to stop and blow my nose because of the chill, and when I tried to stop and put my foot down on the curb, I lost my balance and toppled over (onto the sidewalk, away from the road). A woman driving by was quite alarmed, parked her car in the left turn lane with her flashers on, and hustled over to me (even though I had first given her a thumbs-up), saying, "Are you sure you're OK? I'm a nurse." I showed her my card, and managed to convey the information that I had just had to stop to blow my nose - at which she chuckled. Nice to have guardian angels watching over me, though.
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