January 24, 2010
For my second comeback ride I decided to do a group ride with my buddy Martha. She's always so supportive of me every time I have to start over. She's patient with me when I'm going soooo slow and sacrifices great long rides to do shorter distances so I don't have to ride alone...even though I always tell her that she's welcome to fly on ahead, that if I can handle 350 miles solo on back roads in Georgia, I can certainly make my sluggish way back to my car and get my little self home. What a sweetheart she is.
So we met our fellow Florida Freewheelers out at Lake Mills Park for a scheduled C ride (D for me). Actually I tried to get Rene to take some pictures of the group, but with my camera being so new and me being so photographically unsavvy, I realized later that he actually took video instead of photos and they're not really post-worthy.
The ride was a 40-miler, but Martha and I knew we were cutting it short and splitting off from the group to head back. We had decided to ride 23 miles, but I screwed up and veered right instead of left at a split in the road and we ended up going off map and actually doing 27 miles. So much for gradually adding 10% a week to your rides so you don't overdo it!
But I survived yet again and we had a great time. I really pooped out at the end though and it took me several days of couch potatodom before I did anything active again.
I did learn afterwards that because we split from the group, we missed out on some heavy drama. Our ride leader and fearless president, Sharon, had to call 911 for two separate incidents during their longer ride. One guy, Joanne's husband, actually passed out while he was riding. SCARY!!! Since it is quite difficult to maintain your balance once you lose consciousness, he did unfortunately proceed to crash to the ground, and hard enough to have cracked his helmet. I've heard he's A-okay though, that his episode was as a result of improper hydration. So if you only hone in on one thing in this post, let it be to make sure you always hydrate sufficiently before, during, and after a bike ride!
The other dude, and I don't know who he was, got bitten by a dog. I had quite a few dog-related situations on my tour, but fortunately never became kibbles and bits for any of the scoundrels. A very brief tutorial:
Watch for chasing dogs. Ignore them, or try a firm, loud, "NO." If you can't get away, dismount with your bike between you and the dog. Don't try to kick the dog. Call Animal Control.
I've heard Mr. Dog Bite Victim is also in good condition, so both incidents ended up being relatively minor compared to what they could have been. Whew!
My thanks to Martha for volunteering yet again to remain with the slug.
Lake Mills/Oviedo ride: 27 miles, avg 13.1 mph.
Time for more ice!!
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