A Few Things I've Learned About Road Cycling

The RAGBRAI is now 33 days away and for the past two months I have been "training."   And although I have not necessarily logged in as many miles as I should have by now, I have learned a few things that I'd like to share about cycling:

1. Distance is difficult to gauge.   It is amazing how you can pedal what seems like 40 miles, only to find out that you have only gone 15.

2. Bike lanes are not wide enough.   I live in a big cycling area so bike lanes are common place.  However, they are not nearly wide enough.  Nothing is scarier than knowing that if you stretched out your arm, you could touch a passing car.

3.  Bike shorts cause muffin thigh.  Move over Muffin Top and make way for  Muffin Thigh.  Designed to keep your shorts from riding up your leg, the elastic found at the bottom of each leg opening causes this unwanted side effect. Not pretty!

4.  Don't believe your husband when he says "This is an easy ride."  I should have known better when my husband said the route we were going to take had a "little hill."  He is a regular mountain biker and is able to climb hills with ease, so his idea of small and mine are vastly different.  After throwing a mini tantrum on our last ride, I have vowed to check any route he suggests on Bikely before riding.

5.  Change the default settings on your cycling computer.  Nothing is more disheartening than finishing a ride thinking you have just completed 30 miles only to find out it was 19.  Yes, I speak from experience.


I have a few more tidbits to share but I'll save those for another post because all this talk about riding has me thinking I better quit typing and start pedaling!