So, it’s been quite a while since we’ve started this ride, and I feel like I have enough experience now to make a list of the best and worst things about riding on any given day.  So here they are in no particular order:

 Top 5 Wost Things While Cycling

1. Headwind/crosswind - hands down THE WORST.  Nothing makes me crankier than not only pushing against some imaginary force that I can not seek revenge upon AND that drowns out my iPod music.  Often during bad headwind days, you can come across random riders screaming and cursing and apparently nothing.  Don’t worry, we haven’t gone crazy.  We are just attempting to vent frustration at the gross injustice Mother Nature has dealt us on that particular day.

 2. Rain - Rain is the gift that just keeps on giving.  Not only do you get wet and cold and cranky, but then even if it stops, there is just about no way that your feet will be dry at any point during the remaining up to 60 miles of the ride.  Sometimes it feels so bad that I actually fear there may be mold down there when I take off my socks.

3. Unexpected hillage - Ok, so if I were a real cyclist, this probably wouldn’t upset me, but my poor legs only have so much pushing in them on any given day, and unexpected hills that force me into my lowest gear at 6 mph in Kansas, which is supposed to be FLAT can cause some serious muscle fatigue.

4. Unexpected mileage - Similar to above, while we can never predict persnickety workmen who will force us to take a 16 mile detour around a supposedly shut down bridge, these extra miles can cause some extra crankiness, especially when they keep me from my scheduled food times.

5. Cow grates/rumble strips/general road debris - Nothing wakes you up in the morning like the jarring vibrations of an unexpected rumble strip or falling into a giant pothole that probably should have been fixed 10 years ago.

Top 5 Best Things While Cycling

1. Surprise free food - Nothing makes me happier during the day than ice cream, and if it’s free, well then my day is pretty much made.  It is a little known fact that ice cream is actually a high performance food with similar properties to PowerBar step 2 products.

2. Appropriate girl pee spots - these are beyond difficult to find, but it is really a great day if I can make it the whole day without having to hike a half mile away from the rest stop to find some place to hide and pee.

3. Tailwinds - ok, I still maintain that these are a mythical phenomenon that will not actually occur during Ride for World Health 2008, but if they did, it would be pretty awesome.

4. Unexpected downhills - it’s pretty cool to just watch your mileage go up while exerting absolutely no effort whatsoever. 

5. Random interesting wildlife - turns out that people raise all kinds of animals: cows, sheep, goats, horses, llamas, alpacas, and many others.  It also turns out that if you stare down a cow, it may start a cow stampede.  Lesson learned.  By the way, crazy dogs that chase my bicycle are NOT part of random interesting wildlife. 

Hope this gives everyone a little insight into the daily obstacles/treats we have all been enjoying over the past few weeks :) 

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm by carissa and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.