On this, the third of the my eleven furlough days, I made my way across the county line on a 51-mile journey that was to serve as my dress rehearsal for the upcoming Tour Of The Towns Century in two weeks. I’ve been trying to avoid the roads that the century will be on just to keep things interesting for me during the event, but it is difficult to do so. I compromised on Aden Road, choosing to ride it in the opposite direction from what we’ll be doing on the century. Riding that road during rush hour also made for some excitement I hope not to duplicate in two weeks.
There was a slight break in the heat today, and by that I mean the temperatures only got into the low 90s. Since this would be an extended ride, I brought my trusty Camelbak out of mothballs, filled it with ice water, and put it on my back to the horror of roadie purists everywhere. But the big news was, of course, my feet. It occurred to me after two months of agony that perhaps – just maybe – the problem was my new shoes. Kudos to Matt, who mentioned the obvious in my last post and convinced me to make the switch back to the old ones. Kudos to me, as well, for being a lazy bum who didn’t throw out his old shoes when I bought my new pair.
I used the old shoes on a 17-mile ride last Saturday with encouraging results. My feet were still tingling a bit after that ride, so I put my new G-Form insoles into the old shoes to see how that worked. In short, it worked well. I’m not completely pain-free but things are far more manageable. Instead of being in agony after 25 miles, wondering how I could turn the crank one more time, I was able to complete the 51 mile circuit was only mild pain. I suspect that pain is due to the aggravated nerves caused by the old shoes and that should disappear in time.
The lesson here is obvious to me: avoid white at all costs. When I used white tape on my Trek 2.1, it was destroyed in less than a month. And now I almost destroyed my feet when I bought white shoes. I had no idea how dangerous white things can be on a bicycle. There should be some sort of warning label on them. Live and learn.
The ride was ten miles of weekday traffic, followed by 30 miles of relatively quiet country roads, followed by ten more miles of rush hour traffic. I avoided taking pics of traffic and will share with you the more pleasant views I had.
There And Back Again 
Photos look great! Glad to hear you’re on a better footing now.
I like the pun!
I’m impressed by how steady you keep your heart rate while cycling in these very warm conditions. No wonder that your fan club was so excited as you whizzed by. I hope that your feet turn out well.
My jersey was the famed Couch Potato Racing Team model, which is always a favorite with the cows. To be honest, I’m always a little distressed to see how high my heart rate goes. I read many people who state their HR stays in the 120s, whereas I routinely break 160 and occasionally will flirt with 180. My resting HR is a nice 50 BPM, but it certainly goes into high gear when I ride.
Just for comparison purposes, I am 54 right now, and my HR averages in the 140’s, always goes into the 160’s when I ride and goes into the high 170’s on hard climbs. I actually peak at a higher number than most calculations think I should. Scares me a bit, but my cardiologist says not to worry about it…
Great report of a great ride. Glad you seem to have the foot issue in hand.
I’m glad the shoes helped. If you continue having pain I’d check out a specialized dealer and their shoes, hate to sound like a cheerleader, but their shoes have helped me.
Like these natural toned pictures better then the last set!
Good luck on the century.
It would be unwise to ignore the voice of experience. If I can find some at a store that will allow me to return them, then maybe I’ll give them a shot.
I agree about the pics. It was fun to experiment but I think I prefer “au naturale” better too.