“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
Monday, 25 June 2012
Juneathon Day 25 - Near death by shoe lace!
I have spent today on the first day of a two day first aid course (day 2 tomorrow!), I have to attend these courses every 3 years for my job and dread doing them as they are usually so serious and intense. I was pleasantly surprised today when it was delivered in a much more light-hearted way than usual and I would even go as far as to say I actually enjoyed it! I hope tomorrow is the same ...!
After feeling physically exhausted when I woke up this morning I decided to listen to my body and not go running this evening and went for a recovery cycle instead (as prescribed on my marathon training plan!). The sun was shining so a perfect evening for it too!
After last weeks disastrous ride I decided to play safe today and stick to the roads I am familiar with. With a route planned in my head I set off feeling relaxed and looking forward to a steady ride! However, just as I was enjoying the feel of the sun's warmth on my skin I was rudely awakened by a sudden jerking sensation on my foot! A quick glance down made me realise my right shoe lace was trapped in my chain, which in turn made me panic (forgetting my feet were actually clipped into my pedals) I yanked the brakes on to do an emergency stop and ended up in a heap when I couldn't put my feet down! After a furtive look around I was delighted to note that there was no witnesses to this unprofessional maneuver! I untangled my lace (which was now frayed in the middle from this mishap) and retied it, making sure that both the ends and the bow was safely tucked away underneath the Velcro fastening! Note to self - take the time to ensure laces are tied correctly! I nervously set off again still with my route firmly planted in my mind - to discover that the road I was planning on turning off on was closed!! I had to quickly rethink and assess the situation to make a sound judgement (I really didn't want to risk getting lost again!) and came up with a good alternative!
Unfortunately, a couple of miles on this alternate route the road had started to be resurfaced and they had put all the loose chippings down but hadn't finished it - making it very slippy and treacherous to the unprofessional cyclist (Aka me!). Luckily I was only on this road for a short distance before I turned off onto a safe road again! Things were going well until I was going up a steep hill and a late change of gear resulted in my chain coming off! I cursed under my breath and moved onto the pavement leaning my bike against a garden wall (doing no harm!) to put my chain back on! I was aware that a man in the garden was watching me and I was quite chuffed with my little self that I managed to get the chain back on fairly easily without looking like a right girl needing male assistance! As the hill was fairly steep I decided the best thing would be to cycle back down the hill and restart the climb with a good fast "run-up". I was amazed to see the said man now out of his garden with a water spray disinfecting(?) his wall where I had been!!! I hadn't dripped any oil (or had a pee!) so I don't know what or why he was doing it - there's some strange folk around!
The rest of the ride was uneventful and enjoyable and I did 17.06 miles which can be viewed here!
Love the cartoon!
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