Saturday, November 18, 2006

Colder ride

Today I whipped Buttercup back into shape, putting the pedals back on for the first time since she was shipped home - and I bundled up in my cold-weather gear and set out on a morning ride down to Tilghman Island with the Dastardly Duo preparing for Ironman Coeur d'Alene, David and Chuck.


Naturally today had to be the day I decided to do another one of those graceful failure-to-clip-out falls on my side. What a klutz. I ended up laying on the asphalt with the contents of my aerobottle spilled all around me. Fortunately it was just water.

I only went 36 miles with them - there were some fairly strong winds and in the colder temperatures today (about 40*F) I got pretty tuckered out battling them.

Somewhere along the way - probably in shipment to or from Florida - BOTH of Buttercup's aluminum water bottle cages behind the seat got broken. I think I'm going to just remove the whole apparatus. I don't really need to carry that much fluid with me until the hot-weather rides next summer. I still have the aerobottle and one bottle cage on the down tube. Who needs that extra little bit of drag? Besides, one of my online buddies said, "Take 'em off, they look geeky when training."

God forbid I should look geeky when I'm tipping over sideways at a standstill on my bike.

9 comments:

21st Century Mom said...

Falling over due to failure to clip out just proves you are human.

And are you sure those bike transport guys are that good? Between your bottle holders and Bold's Power Tap it seems like they roughed up the bikes a bit.

Nancy Toby said...

Heh, I'm definitely human!!

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder how they pack those bikes in shipment! Fortunately these water bottle holders aren't expensive, but it seems like it would take some effort to break both of them! I'm not positive they weren't broken taking the bike in and out of our minivan or car, though.

Dr. Iron TriFeist :) said...

HA! We all need at least 1 tip over while standing still to keep humility during the year. :)

In Florida, a lot of riders use the rear mounted bottles all year. It's pretty warm. I'm getting some (I hope) for xmas.

Habeela said...

So far I've made it a practice to only crash while standing still - I figure it may look worse but it hurts a lot less. :)

Nancy Toby said...

Hey, I LOVE that attitude! I'll plan to do ALL my future crashes while standing still!!

:) said...

At least your x-lab didn't break... those things are $$$!

Vickie said...

Yeah, I've done the same thing myself. And hard as it is to believe, the last time I did this I actually got more road rash than I did in my accident.

Iron Pol said...

I'll take geeky over thirsty, any day. Of course, I don't use an aerobottle, so it's two on back, one on the downtube.

Pol-R Express threatened severe punishment if I spill.

Nancy Toby said...

I adore my aerobottle!! I was sold on it after the first ride or two. I wouldn't go without it, now. MUCH less work!