Week #21 Roundup: Dust yourself off and try again

There's this Aaliyah song that some of you 80s babies may remember called "Try Again." Dad used to call this the skating song because of its lyrics: If at first you don't succeed, you can dust it off and try again. This made a lot of sense for Stace, as the song was a big hit when she was first getting into skating, and dad would always sing it annoyingly in the car, repeating the same line over and over and over again. Now, it's the song that I have to repeat to myself, as I went on my first real training ride yesterday.

I drove out to Mississauga so that I could get riding on less busy roads with my cycling-enthusiast-friends, Craig and Claudia. Claudia had the difficult job of teaching me how to clip in and out of my bike. One of the reasons why I never liked skating was because I had this ridiculous fear of falling. In retrospect, I would prefer falling on the ice to crashing off my bike any day. So there I was, standing on Florence, left foot clipped in and ready to go, with Claudia hovering over me repeating, "Okay, go." I did not go. "Okayyyyyyyyy, gooooooo." No go. "You really have to go." I'M GOING TO FALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. "You're not going to fall." OKAY. HERE I GO.

NO GO.

After about ten minutes of standing there, I finally pushed off and clipped in. I even clipped out and came to a nice stop. I repeated said process multiple times, not once meeting the ground. Hey ground! Nice to see you all the way down there! Wish I could hang out but I'm too busy clipping in and out like a pro! Needless to say, I was feeling prettyyyyyy pleased with myself.

Craig met up with us and we decided to set out on a nice 50K up to Milton and back. We were biking along and came to our first major intersection and first red light. I could feel myself getting nervous. There I was: one foot out. Slowing down. Trying to stop. I'm stopping I'm stopping! WAIT NO I'M NOT I'M FALLING OMG I'M FALLING. Luckily for me, I landed on a car and not the ground. I don't think the owner was too happy about that...

I'm told that everyone falls at some point. My problem was that I didn't get my butt off my saddle and started tipping. Claudia and Craig then let me pull over and practice starting and stopping in a school parking lot until I felt confident.

The rest of the ride moved along fairly well. My legs didn't tire at all, and it was nice to see all the quaint, quiet GTA roads that I've missed due to a.) having no need to drive that north and b.) being too immersed in city life. We even passed horses! Moreover, being such a beautiful day, there were lots of cyclists out on the road, and they are all so nice. Everyone waves or says hello. It reminded me of when I used to go on runs in Mississauga and everyone greeted you as you passed. This simply just doesn't happen in Toronto.

Reaching the tail-end of our ride, we approached the very same intersection of my first fall, and what do you know, I fell AGAIN. I must have started and stopped a dozen or so times on the ride and yet I reach this godforsaken intersection and it brings me down HARD. My poor handlebars got crushed in a bit, I lost an end cap, my seat shifted, and my back brake and tire got a little stuck. Due to the latter complications, I fell again when I tried to get back up, not realizing that everything was off-kilter. Luckily, Craig carries tools along with him and he was able to make some immediate adjustments to get poor Florence up and working again. With a scratched calf dripping blood into my new road shoes (SAD), a sore bum, and a very bruised ego, I walked my way up to a side road where the three of us stood for a good ten minutes while I contemplated what to do next. Do I walk the rest of the way, or do I try to clip back in and beat this beast? I knew that if I didn't get back on the bike, I would be too scared to try it the next time out, so I clipped in and pedaled onward.

All in all, the ride itself went extremely well, minus the falls. My legs felt strong, and I definitely think that all my spinning helped build a solid base of leg muscle. I want to get my bike checked out before I take her out again, but I am looking forward to my next ride. 60K, here I come! Moreover, now I have the battle scars (AND THE WORST SUNBURN) to prove that I'm a real athlete. I just wish I was a more graceful and coordinated one.