Caprica's First Ride!

I decided to take my new red bike out for my long ride yesterday.  She rode really well!  I can definitely feel the weight difference between her and my Cervelo, but she rode smooth, and she seems to be fit pretty well.  My saddle is a Specialized Ruby Body Geometry, and it is actually quite comfortable!  It is lighter that the crappy old one on my Cervelo, so I might just switch them out.  I like these pedals more...  Even though they are LOOK Keo, just like my others, I find them much easier to clip into.  They are the cheaper ones, and I think, they too, weigh less! lol  I did notice a little bit of clicking in the gears, but that's just the new cables stretching.  All normal stuff and easy to fix.  The Fulcrum wheels felt great, as did my old carbon bars.  I had missed them.

Matthews Beach, Lake Washington

The ride was really lovely.  I started at Log Boom Park and took the BGT out to (just shy of) Marymoore Park.  Then I headed back the way I came, passed Log Boom, and ended my ride at Matthew's Beach.  I got to see the new section of the trail for the first time, and it was really nice!  Much better than the old horrible bumpy trail from before.  I swear that portion of trail has been in that condition since I used to ride it to my grandparents house with my little brother when we were kids!  Tree root damage...the price you pay for it being so pretty along there.

I am always a sucker for B & W.

When I was in the valley in Woodenville, there was a huge flock of Canadian geese - at least 100, maybe more.  They were flying in this huge formation into the same headwind I was fighting.  It was cool watching them, because they were so close to me.  I was going faster than them, so when I caught up, I slowed my pace a bit and matched them for awhile before heading on my way.  Many others on the trail had stopped to watch them.  I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I would have broken my neck!

People were friendly on the trail yesterday.  It made riding that much more enjoyable.  At one point I stopped to take off a layer and have a drink.  There was a man and his young daughter playing with a RC car.  She was chasing it around and laughing.  I liked that.  It reminded me of when my boys were little.  As I started to leave, an older woman hailed me down.  She said she was with a group of volunteers who were picking up litter, that some of the party had gone down the trail too far, and she didn't have their cell numbers to call and tell them to return.  She asked me if I saw anyone from her group, if I could pass along the message to go back.  I told her that I would be happy to.  It actually made me feel really good to be of some help...even if it was something very small.

Something weird did happened on the ride though.  Somewhere during the ride, I started to have some chest pain.  I don't think that I have mentioned this before on my blog, but I have a fast heart.  I have had what I have always called my "hummingbird heart" for as long as I can remember.  I never gave it much thought until I started becoming more athletic.  A few years ago, I went in to see a nurse practitioner because I had a bad chest cold.  While she was listening to my chest with her stethoscope, she noted my rapid heart rate, but then became alarmed.  She said my heart was "clicking."  This of course led me to go see my PCP.  Although I don't remember him hearing the clicking, I did tell him about how my chest hurt when I ran and my heart rate got really high, and about when I had worn my heart rate monitor to bed once, and that my resting rate was 103!  We decided to do a treadmill stress test/echo (at least that's what I think I remember having!)  The good news is that my heart was healthy and I was in great shape!  He did prescribe me metoprolol, a beta-blocker, that I could take as needed for palpitations...or in other words, when my heart was going to be pushed hard so as to prevent the pain.  I took it for awhile, but eventually I quit...  The bummer of the deal is that I can't seem to figure out how to heart rate train...but that is a whole other can of worms!

Yesterday on the bike, that's sort of how it felt at first - chest pain like I've had in the past that accompanies extreme exertion.  It continued to bother me (mildly) throughout the duration of the ride.  I had lowered my exertion level, but was still pushing myself, so it didn't seem too out of the ordinary.  The discomfort continued however, for the rest of the day.  By last evening, I was really uncomfortable!  The pain had spread to my neck and left shoulder, and my sternum and back hurt when I tried to take a deep breath.  I know, I know, this sounds...bad, lol, but actually, the worse it hurt, the more I could tell that it was all muscle-related.  I could barely move by the time I went to bed, but surprisingly by morning I felt much improved.  I stayed home with a sick kiddo, so I managed to squeeze in a massage today, which also helped.  I am hoping this is just a fluke thing and not related to my bike... 

Tonight I need to do some running.  1.0 is coming over to run with me, so I can do it outside... It snowed today...it didn't stick, BUT STILL!