Bric

Yes, I left the "k" off of "brick" because I didn't really finish it. After swimming this morning and then returning to the pool with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon, I decided to do a brick. A got out of work on time and came to the pool to relieve me (that was news to her) and I went home to hop on the bike for a hard hour ride followed by a two mile run. Why so short you may ask. Well, I had to make dinner and it was 92 with a 97 degree heat index. Just a little toasty. 

I slathered on the sunscreen, got dressed and put together a couple of water bottles. Yesterday I rigged up a water bottle cage between my aero bars. I have seen it on a couple of pro bikes and I saw it on a couple of bikes at the race on Saturday and it looked pretty easy to do with a handful of zip-ties. I like it better than an aero bottle because I can put whatever bottle in the cage. I used to have a couple of bottles behind my seat, but on a few rides this spring I spent more time retrieving ejected bottles than actually drinking from them. And they were not particularly easy for me to grab and replace. I will give up a little aerodynamic advantage for speed and ease of use. 

So, I drop some Nuun tabs in a couple of bottles, let them fizz till they were done, snapped the tops closed and I was off. Now, I have two kinds of bottles I use. One is your typical bike bottle but the other one is a fancy Camleback bottle. I like these bottles because you can use their little bite-valve and suck instead of having to crane your neck to get that last gulp. The Camleback bottle has a lid you can twist to turn it "on" or "off". I usually leave it "on" because nothing really spills too much. (I know - "Your water bottles are FASCINATING, please go on and on and tell us more. We are RIVETED!" Fine, I will change the subject.)

I decided to practice getting my feet in my shoes on the bike. First lesson - go slow. I get one shoe flipped over with my foot on top and proceed to coast down the driveway. I flip the other shoe over and get my foot on top of it and pedal slowly down the street. Our street is a mess right now because they are about to tear it up to replace all the sewer and water lines. They haven't fixed a pot hole all spring - very bumpy. Peddling down the street I am feeling pretty good.

What the hell!? What is spraying me in the face. I can't see. It's my Camelback bottle in the aero bar cage geysering out of the bite valve back into my face. Apparently, when you use those Nuun tabs and then seal them in a bottle and then shake said bottle, the fizz causes the liquid to spout out all over the place. I almost crashed - blind, stocking footed and sweaty - trying to stem the tide of Triple Berry Nuun juice. I regained control and turned the lid to "off" - just ridiculous.

I proceeded to get my feet in my shoes with no problem. I will continue to practice that maneuver as much as I can. 

I biked around the lakes to the entrance to the bike/pedestrian trail we like to ride on. As I was waiting at the stop light to cross to the entrance, I decided to grab a drink. I pulled the Camelback bottle out of the handy aero bar holder, turned the lid to "on" and shot myself in both eyes and up my nose as the pent up pressure came spewing out the bite-valve again. I swear I am a moron! I did get the valve to my mouth and had a drink without falling over in traffic. From then on the ride was smoooooth, fast, hot, sweaty sailing. 

*Warning* Do Not combine these two things with a bumpy road!

I hammered it an hour holding 24+ mph on the straightaways to really get my legs burning (my average speed - from leaving my driveway to returning home - was 19.9 mph.) I also practiced getting my feet out of my shoes while on the bike and that went amazingly smoothly. Again, I took it slow and I will keep practicing. When I got home I got the running shoes and shorts on and headed back out to click off a couple of quick miles.

The heat caught up with me almost immediately. I was working hard. I really pushed the pace and in the future I will take it a little easier. I got about a half mile in, started to get a side stitch was breathing uncharacteristically fast and decided I had made my point. I turned around and started back and got about another quarter mile and then walked that final quarter. It was a good enough outing for the first time in this kind of heat. That and I will be running at least 10 miles tomorrow morning. 

The weather says we will have another day of this heat and then possibly a cool down. Who knows?