"Looking Forward"

What I need is a "front" view mirror. When I am riding in the aero position the comfortable place for my eyes is straight down at the road. It is the natural position for your head, and to compound that in my own situation there is the fact that I wear glasses(the top bar always seems to be in the way) and the fact that my neck has lost a lot of mobility. It causes a lot of tension to keep it up enough to look forward. So what do I do? I scan. I constantly peek and then look back down. The problem is that you're never sure if you've looked enough and this creates a certain stress, wondering what's ahead. And it's not always the obvious things like cars, or crossroads, but also the road kill and the dogs, both of which can have you on the side of the road in a pile very quickly. So what I need is a "front" view mirror. I thought about this problem many times in the past but now I want to try to dream something up. The challenges are 1)where to mount it as there simply isn't room or an obvious place directly below my head, primarily because that's where my water bottle sits, and 2) everything in the mirror will be upside down....I think? But I'm gonna dream something up. If I could eliminate the twin problems of a stiff neck and a sore undercarriage it would go a long way towards improving my riding comfort and comfort translates to speed. I am also going to get a new helmet because this one constantly rides down over my eyes no matter how I adjust the straps. Besides I'm gonna have to look good for my CTV interview with Janine, which has been confirmed for next friday the 14th. She wants to film me training as well.


So it's probably obvious that I rode today, and it was an adventure to say the least. First there was good old mother nature who continually turns up the wind when I head out. The difficulty at this time of year is the fact that the winds are the quietest early in the morning, when of course it is also the coldest, so you can't win. It was about 15k/hr today....not too bad but not fun either.
At about 30k there were the dogs. (3 of them) I knew they were there somewhere as I had seen them a week or so ago, on a road that I have been riding dog-free for 15 years. Today however I hadn't been ready for them when suddenly this black blur was hurtling itself across the road at me. I'll tell you it is amazing what happens to your mind and body faster than you even know it is happening. You almost instantly move from fear to clear headedness. You suddenly have extra strength and confidence. I start riding as hard as I can but am still able to focus on control. I know the worst thing dogs can do to you at this speed is knock you off the bike. So I quickly move away from the shoulder, get my hands firmly on the handlebars instead of the aerobars, and start yelling aggressively. I also hope that a car comes along and runs them over which is a real possibility because dogs that chase bikes lose all sense of anything else around them. Generally this strategy works and I thought it had today as well until I relaxed for a minute, only to find one of them still sneaking up on me....so more yelling and hard riding and finally I was away. I guess it's adrenaline that allows you to handle such things and and that's a cool thing. Unfortunately it's a short lived kind of drug and within a short time reality sets back in and the pain of maintainig your pace re-ensues. Then shortly after that there was the half racoon on the road that I just seen in time. I don't know where the other half was, nor did I care, and then at about 60k I was suddenly struck very hard right in the chin by something. It was either a very large bug(not probable at this time of year) or something that fell out of a tree. At about the same time I realized I had lost one of my energy gels that I had tucked into the top of my water bottle. At about 70K I decided to consume my one remaining gel, and when attempting to wash it down with some water I found I could no longer reach my drinking straw. Some how I had lost the top half of it!! Anyway despite all this I continued to plod along but then I remembered...I was on the second leg of a 50k loop and you know what that means. Whatever I experienced the first time around would probably be there again. The problem was I didn't know exactly where the dogs lived and so I had about 1o minutes of stress with every house I passed. But alas....the puppies must have been taken inside, which is just as well for them, and their owners. I think I will take a drive out there tomorrow anyway and issue some threats. The thing is I'm sure these people probably have no idea that their dogs even chase people. I'm pretty sure that they are just normal pets, but it amazes me how so many dog owners have no idea what happens to their animals when they see a bike. I read somewhere that the spinning wheel sets off some kind of strobe effect for them that initiates a deeply ingrained hunter instinct.
So as to the success of my ride besides all that?....Well my first loop was just under 30k/hr and so I thought I had a chance to finish at over 30k/hr for 100k. I had decided by 50, that 100 was all I was going to do, despite an earlier thought to do 150. Anyway to reach 30k/hr for the 100 I would have to ride the second half a little bit faster than the first. Some how I toughed it out with about 20 seconds to spare. I am generally happy with this. When I can do twice that distance at the same speed I will be satisfied with my biking, and I do believe it's reachable. I do have to figure out some different strategy for nutrition and hydration however. I took only sports drink and gels today but it wasn't the best to say the least. The drink burns my throat, and half the gel is wasted trying to get it squeezed out of the package. I feel overtired tonite and I'm pretty sure it's because I just didn't get enough fuel. I was planning on going swimming but wimped out due to fatigue. Oh well....I will go to the bike shop and get some ideas, on how to carry bananas and such. They also sell gel in bulk with special little squeeze bottles to carry it in. It's all good learning for the big day anyway. See you tomorrow.

Oh! I almost forgot. I went to the cancer doctor today. All's good as promised. Strange thing when I was sittting there waiting however. I was suddenly very emotional. I think I felt quilty?? I wondered about every person I seen.....what's his or her story?....would so and so be as lucky as me?....would it be this guy, or this woman who wasn't going make it?

I wish to dedicate day 51 to Claudette, for always considering my training a priority. It is as big a commitment for her as for me.

And I leave you with this because when I read it I laughed out loud and thought, someone wrote this especially for me.

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.---Douglass Adams

love
peter