I do this voluntarily???

I must be crazy. Then again, we already knew that, didn't we? Yeup, that's what I thought. Ok, well to prove that fact once again, I let Lynn talk me into joining her for my first ever spinning class last Friday morning. Yes, morning. I met her at 9:00 am. Well, ok...I was supposed to meet her at 9. I finally got there more like 9:10, but only because there was no sign out in front of the rec center and I kept driving past it while trying to find it. Anyway, 9:00 isn't that remarkably early until you realize that this was my day off. I could have slept in, but instead I chose torture. Spinning class wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but man oh man the saddle of the bike sure was. My muscles got a good workout, but they weren't what was screaming at me for the next day or two.

I'm not really sure how someone who has as much padding as I do can have such a problem with sitting on a hard seat. I was only on this for an hour and I was hurting so bad by the end that I was ready to quit even if the class wasn't over. Luckily for me it was, but I did most of my stretching off the bike while everyone else was still on.

This tells me that I really need to get out there and test the new saddle that I put on the bike I'm going to use for the ER. It's not a new to me saddle, but off of a bike that I haven't ridden in 3 years. I used it for one season, but had so many problems controlling the bike that I had too many other things to worry about and don't really remember how comfy (or uncomfy) the seat was on my tush.

If I get out there and ride for a couple of hours with it and am still having problems I don't know what to do. Maybe I should consult a chiropractor to see if my pelvic bones are out of alignment and hitting the sitting surface wrong. I guess that could be a possibility, right? The only other option I can think of at the moment is to pay for a professional bike fitting to make sure that all of the other elements are as optimal as they can be. If it is still painful after that, maybe conditioning along with grinning and bearing it are my only choices.

A quick check of the weekend weather shows that it is to be sunny on Saturday and only a 40% chance of rain on Sunday. It will still be chilly, only getting into the very low 40s for highs, but I think if the bike paths are clear of snow I'll have to get out there for an hour or two at least one of the days. I have to start sometime and there are only 10 weeks to go until the ER.

Getting a Jump on 2008

I know I never posted after the event last year, but I did 80 miles!!

And now I am gearing up for Endurance Ride 2008. I have had the saddle switched for one that should be more comfortable. I have ordered a heart rate monitor that should be here any day now. The next major thing to do is install the odometer and decide if I am going to have the bike tuned up. On the one hand I probably should, but the voice of reason says that I really didn't ride it that much last year after the ER, so it should still be good, right?? yeah, yeah, I know, I know.

I also want to look into finding out about basic things like changing a tube and patching a tire. I've never even seen those things done before and should probably learn.

I have a 3 day weekend this weekend, but they are calling for cold and snow again. I may decide to go crazy and take the bike out even so. Especially if Lynn doesn't talk me into joining her for spin class on Friday morning. If I give in to that, the legs might not be ready for any more biking this weekend!!

Stay tuned, I will try to update better this year.