My Worst Ride So Far This Season and other good things . . . My new Grandson!

[kajero]

I have not been posting for quite a while but I think I have plausible excuses.

My first Grandson was born December 11, 2013. I started doing Day Care in March when my daughter returned to her job outside the home. I only do it one day a week, but getting to her house by 6:00 a.m., taking care of him all day, and leaving at 4:00 p.m. exhausts me for a few days. She hired her God-Daughter as a live-in Nanny for June and July, so I have a break! I start doing it three days a week in August so I hope all this biking gets me in shape!

My SO also bought me a MacBook Pro laptop and Adobe Photoshop 12. It took me forever to learn them! I take at least 200 photos of my grandson when I see him so I spend a lot of time in Adobe Photoshop.

I also have been doing a tremendous amount of sewing (not that I have accomplished anything,) organizing things, and getting rid of stuff.

I have been biking during June. Rather than listing all my rides you can see them on my blog, kathysthreads.wordpress.com on the bicycle tab.

I have been having a lot of fun on my rides -- until today. It was the worst ride I have had this season (probably the third worst ride ever). All I did was get lost over and over again. It seems that is a speciality of mine. I had already ridden 30 miles and stopped to rest for 20 minutes. Although i was not lost anymore, I decided I could not ride the remaining 10 miles safely and had my SO come and get me. Please read about it on my blog. It is a pretty long post. That's why I don't want to post it here. When I finally got home and took a shower, well you know about the lady bits. That has never happened to me before!

I did have plenty of water, snacks, foods, etc., with me so that was not a problem.

[ny biker]

Congrats on the grandson!!!

Bad days happen sometimes; they're what make the good days really good. Were you trying out a new saddle or shorts?

[kajero]

I wasn't trying out anything new. That's what is so odd. I have worn those shorts and ridden on my Ruby many times before with no problem. I'd been riding Violet all summer; yesterday was the first time this summer I rode Ruby. Could I have gotten used to sitting on Violet differently? Could I have lost/gained weight?

Something had to be different! I've been fortunate to not have any issues when I have ridden without padded shorts. I think I will try like that next ride!

[ny biker]

It's possible that the shorts and/or the saddle are worn out, which could cause a problem.

[kajero]

Now that I think about it . . . when I put the shorts on I thought they seemed a bit loose and the pad seemed weird to me. I had even mentioned to my DO that I didn't understand why the shorts didn't have as much compression anymore and the pad seemed flat. I always washed them on cold and never put them in the dryer. I don't know why I didn't think that that shorts could wear out -- especially when you sweat a lot! DUH! How many miles do you ride in a pair of shorts before you "retire" them? I hope it's the shorts because I love the seat on the bike.

I guess I better buy some new shorts. I hate figuring out what to buy. My finances are limited due to having no income until I get Social Security next February.

[Catrin]

It sounds like you may have lost weight, or have firmed up in ways that is causing the shorts to "wear" differently. Try on the next smallest size of the shorts you like?

[kajero]

I forgot to mention two things on that miserable ride. An accomplishment and a failure

Accomplishment
I couldn't get up the hill sitting down, so I got up out of the saddle! Yep, I actually rode up a hill standing out of the saddle and I didn't have a mishap! I've never gotten out of the saddle before when riding. Even though I had a miserable ride, I accomplished having a new skill! Of course, this was in the early part of the ride before I got so lost!

Failure
I took my helmet off when I stopped to rest. I failed to take my glasses of first. Of course, the helmet caught my glasses or I dropped them or something like that. The glasses hit the ground and the lenses got very scratched! These were may favorite pair of glasses, too. Live and learn. Wear the yucky glasses when riding.