Lessons on drafting, gears, and taking my first fall...

Time: 7:30am

Weather: Warm, but not sweltering hot

People: Sabrina, Amber, P-lic, Blondie, and I

Location: Decker Lake, Longhorn Bike Route

Workout: planned on 56 miles, but only did about 30

Comments: Well, I learned a bunch of tough lessons today. We all met to do the Longhorn course. The ride itself was fun. I think I'm getting faster and better at the bike, but I'm not used to riding WITH the group yet. P-lic can probably attest to my bad bike handling skills. This is something that I really need to work on. When I've ridden in the past, I've only ridden with riders better than myself so I'm used to riding with people that know their stuff and now it's my turn to learn the little quirks of things NOT to do on rides so I can become a better rider. For instance, I turn corners too wide, not letting others know I'm swinging out all crazy and today's lesson, when I draft off someone's wheel, I need to learn to let the rider ahead know what I'm doing, so they know I'm right on their wheel.

Today's lesson: Drafting. P-lic showed me how I need to mimic the cadence and gear of the person in front of me. I think the new thing for me, is that I'm able to stay closer to the person in front of me for alot longer. So, because I'm drafting, I'm obviously working less and able to be RIGHT on their wheel or go slightly faster. Since I'm still in the learning phases, I would go up slightly to their left until I'd fall back and get right behind again. P-lic told me, no lie... no less than 3 times that I need to quit doing that cause I'll clip the tire and sure enough, in mid air this is what was going through my head.

I think we were on Blake Manor... I was on P-lic's wheel, and I moved up like she told me not too. I heard cars behind us, but they were cars that weren't passing.. and I knew Blondie was behind me, so I went to look behind me and (another poor bike handling skill) I didn't back off P-lic's wheel and I slightly bumped her and all I remember was saying, "Oh shit..." and thinking, "Ahhh... this is what P-lic told me not to do" and BOOM! My first real crash. I've fallen many of times at stand stills because of clipping in or out, but it's been a long time. I've never fallen while riding.. and I've never fallen when I've been riding at my (probably not that fast) full speed.

Thankfully, I fell to my right and into the shoulder. I scratched up my right leg and my right arm took most of the fall. My palms are tender, and I think my right leg will be pretty bruised. I'm ok and I got back up and continued riding, but after about 10-15 minutes, I knew I needed to cut it short. My arm was stinging like a !#%&# and my bike was screwed up. I only had 4-5 gears that I could use because I screwed up my derailer, my handle bars were turned in, and my brakes were rubbing really bad. We fixed as much as we could, but I was done for the day. Thankfully, P-lic, Blondie, and I turned it off and we only did about 30.

OH, and when we decided to turn off, my clips were too tight. I just got them a few weeks ago, and they were kinda tight before, but something must have happened in the fall, cause I could not get them out. So I finally got my right foot out, and as I was coming to a stop, I literally called out, "I got my right foot out, but I'm not used to leaning that way!!!" and BOOM, I fell over to my left. This wasn't bad cause it was at a standstill, but still. I was a mess today.

Here are my pics of my first fall :) They look worse than they really are... I can't wait to show them off at work and I hope I don't get in trouble from Killer. I can still run, so thankfully I'm not hurt that way. It was definately scary, but I'm glad I got my first fall out of the way....