One Valuable Lesson

I really shouldn't admit this but I think it highlights the fact that I am a begining rider and it should be a lesson to anyone who is just starting out.

Two weeks ago I went to Wood-n-Wave to have a spoke replaced. Wood-n-Wave is located in Grand Rivers which is a small community in Land Between the Lakes. When my bike was done I decided to try one of the rides that Steve has mapped out in the area. All I was going to do was the 16 mile route because I had to get back to Murray and that is a 35 minute trip.

Mistake #1: That morning I ate my South Beach special of a 2 egg omlette with ham and cheese. This is all I generally eat in the mornings. I went to the bike shop around lunch time and did not eat anything at all before I left to ride.

Mistake #2: Because I was in a hurry to get a ride in, I left without realizing I did not fill my water bottles. The tempature that day was in the 90s and humid.

Mistake #3: I was unfamilar with the area.

I get 8 miles into the ride and I see the markings to turn and I look at the map and the road name looks the same. I turn right and I start hitting these hills. And I don't mean the inclines I whine about in Murray that really aren't inclined very much. So I am going up and down and up and down. It is killing me. . .I'm thinking, I have no water and I have no energy. Then the big kick in the head comes. I hit a gravel road. Evidently I had made the wrong turn.

So I turn around and head back and then decide to go back the way I came. Now I am at about mile 13 and I am peddling like 6 mph. I am completely bonked out. I stopped at this house and filled my water bottles out of their hose. This is a friendly area of the country so I assumed if they had been home they would let me have some water.

In the end, I limped back to the bike shop and quietly load my bike and get out without telling anyone of my stupidity. I just kept thinking to myself that I was going to be one of those stories about the idiot who goes out unprepared and has a heart attack or something.

Needless to say I have been well hydrated and carbed up on my last 3 rides.