Back in the saddle at the Tour de Palm Springs

Me and My Dad at the beginning of the Tour de Palm Springs

With new stitches in my upper lip, Karin and I loaded our bikes on the bike rack and packed our gear and Riley into the car and headed to Palm Springs to do the 55 mile ride of the annual Tour de Palm Springs with my dad, as planned.

I was a Nervous Nelly for most of the ride.  I am already a nervous rider in groups because I don't trust anyone.  (Which turns out to be justified-I can't tell you how many riders just came to a stop or swerved with no warning in the middle of a group!)  Anyway, this was a group of thousands, of all different skill levels.  I got more comfortable with the group riding dynamics as the ride progressed, but I went a lot slower than I would have on a solo ride because I was afraid to pass slow people when there were so many others around me.  That particular fear was not related to my recent spill.  I was also nervous on the long downhills where there was nothing to slow my speed.  If anything got in the way, whether another rider or an errant rock, I could easily go down at 30 miles an hour.  So I kept my speed in check on the downhills and was scared the whole descent.  Now that fear was related to the recent fall.  I am always scared on fast downhills, but after enough riding the thrill of the ride overcomes the fear and you just go with it and push the "what if" thoughts aside.  I wasn't able to do that this time, so soon after a "what if" had actually become a "well that sucks."

I also spent very little of the ride clipped in.  The new cleats I got fixed the problem I was having, so my pedals and shoes were working exactly as they should be, and clipping in and out was a cinch.  But being comfortable riding clipped in takes practice, and being comfortable riding in a group takes practice, so being comfortable riding clipped in while in a group takes a lot of practice!  And since I have been having such trouble with my shoes, I have not had much practice riding clipped in successfully.

But at the end of the day, I rode 55 miles on a beautiful day, through the valley where I grew up, with my girlfriend and my dad*.  I got some good group riding experience, tested out my new cleats, and, not least of all, got back in the saddle quickly after my crash.  I also got to practice changing a flat on the go.  It was my first time using a CO2 cartridge.  I guess maybe you are not necessarily supposed to empty the whole cartridge into the new tube.  I learned this when the brand new tube I had just inflated exploded, and I had to change it all again, putting back on the old punctured tire, hoping the self-sealant had worked well enough to hold air for the last 11 miles.  It did.

* We didn't see my dad after mile 8.