getting better

Well, after 3 weeks of not biking, my back *finally* feels better. Still not 100%, but it feels so much better than two weeks ago. At least the sharp pains don't occur anymore when I twist my torso. Rest and ice does seem to work.

Last week was the vacation trip to SF. We (or rather "I") drove most of the way. We left early Saturday morning and arrived at Thane's place around 1pm. I was worried about how my back would hold up, but it did fine. Throughout the week, I think that the times TC and I spent swimming in the hotel pools helped.

I'm still don't think I'm ready to ride again just yet. I want to try raising my handlebar a bit if I can, and perhaps just do shorter distances. For the meantime, I'll try to get my exercise elsewhere. TC, her cousins and I are heading to Coronado beach tomorrow to do some boogie-boarding.

Not so bad on the 125

Thor was nice enough to let me ride with him this morning. (Thanks Thor). He rode to my house and up my favorite hill (Paseo Ranchero). He said it was about a 12 degree hill and was a pretty good ride for him.

The wind wasn't too bad so he took me on the 125. There's that nice downhill going south where he cranked up his speed to close to 40 mph. Me... I probably hit about 35. I couldn't keep up with his pace so he slowed down so I could catch up. We then "cruised" to the 905 and took a break. I now understand what he meant about taking the sidewalk over to the northbound 125 onramp. Going north was a bit more challenging since we had a headwind and there was that long hill to get up. No biggie for Thor, but for me... whew! I was gassed.

After getting back to Birch we did a loop (Eastlake Pky - Olympic Pky - Hunte - back to Eastlake Pky). Then we rode Olympic Pky west. Thor kept going while I took Heritage to Paseo Ranchero. Unfortunately for me, Otay Ranch Middle was getting out so there was a lot of traffic on Paseo Ranchero. I decided not to ride up and just walked my bike up this time. All in all, about a 20 mile ride for me today.

I've been starting to get a bit of back aches lately, so I'm going to try to to some extra stretching and some back strengthening exercises.

Chalk up another 18

After skipping last week, I had to get some exercise this morning. Did basically the same route from my last post. However, this time I skipped the Olympian High School detour and rode from Olympic Pkwy to Birch via Santa Venetia(?). This street goes past Otay Ranch HS and ends at to Mater Dei HS. I was surprised how much of a gradual incline Santa Venetia had. Got a bit tired going up that street.

I did realize this time that eating correctly makes a big difference in the ride. Although I had my water bottle, I didn't have much of a breakfast and so when I got back to the Paseo Ranchero hill, I was feeling a bit light-headed. I "chugged" up most of that hill standing up. I was pretty out of breath at the top, but at least I didn't stop pedalling.

I'll remember to eat better before my next ride.