Hills and Blood

Friends.  It has been two weeks since I posted.  Yes, I know I said I would post weekly, but I have just been crazy busy!  Work, friends, social and sleep.  I am glad to have a night off with me, my laptop and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on in the background :)  (Did I just admit that??)

So, last Friday (a week and a day ago) I went with Dave to 4S Ranch area of San Diego.  We ended up doing a 30 mile ride!  It was great!  This was my first hills ride.  I was tired and hurting the day after.  It was fun.  I am linking below the route.  But it was moderate hills with 2 killer ones that really pushed us.  I was sweating soooo much.  But we kicked ass, doing the ride in two and a half hours.  We rode through Wisteria Lane, but didn't see any housewives (it truly was a picturesque road).  Got lost only briefly, but that was ok because it added the miles and helped with the training.  Thanks Dave for another great ride!

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=carmel+country+&+sr-56,+san+diego&daddr=el+camino+real+and+san+deguito+road,+san+diego+to:camino+del+sur+and+camino+del+norte,+san+diego+to:4s+ranch+parkway+and+camino+san+bernardo,+san+diego+to:33.0148177,-117.1245564+to:lone+quail+road+and+camino+del+norte,+san+diego+to:33.016297,-117.1485436+to:camino+del+sur+carmel+valley+road,+san+diego+to:Camino+del+sur+and+Ted+Willams+Parkway,+San+diego+to:Carmel+country+road+&+Sr-56,+san+diego&hl=en&sll=32.976765,-117.177835&sspn=0.144293,0.161877&geocode=FYaP9gEdgRMD-SFfD8DlsXYQwCkJmC-lPAbcgDEfQPoD_96RVg;FT8r9wEd9TED-SmrI7bt8QjcgDHmV_qOFbPuPg;FUXd9wEdJdYE-SkdBPfV-PbbgDE9fL8ca_f3EQ;FSCw9wEdV_UE-SnDzjAmBffbgDFbivhA5bwfDQ;FSHE9wEdNNIE-SkBcFgvAPfbgDEb9atHn-QAMw;FefU9wEdEeQE-Sm_YMks_PbbgDEeK7FMOsz_9Q;FenJ9wEdgXQE-SmFxs62SfbbgDFjOtx59a0XIg;FcU79wEdHWQE-SmfcWWGlffbgDGt0JWJtgYUAA;FUHg9gEdOW0E-SnpWmDkF_jbgDF-DHXzSgSLZw;FYaP9gEdgRMD-SFfD8DlsXYQwCkJmC-lPAbcgDEfQPoD_96RVg&vpsrc=0&dirflg=b&mra=ls&via=4,6&t=h&z=13&lci=bike

Now for the blood.  I crashed!!!!  Yes, I hit that milestone!  My car needed some work done so I took it in and took my bike with the intention of riding around Mission Bay while I waited.  I started down Rose Creek bike path.  Let me tell you.  That was interesting at 8 am.  A few kids smoking pot, some homeless pacing around and/or cracked out, lots of camps with people sleeping.  I wasn't scared, but it wasn't a place where I wanted to linger with a flat.  So I turned around and started to bike back.  I realized I was too hot so I went to brake to take my long sleeve off and when I stopped, my bike tipped the other way from where I was hoping to go.  I couldn't unclip my foot in time so I fell over onto a tree stump! It was pretty fantastic.  I don't think I was caught, but my ego burst and I quickly got up and drove away.  No cuts, just some scratches and grease on my leg.  But wait Ricky, where's the blood you mentioned......

I crashed a second time!  I rode out to the mouth of the San Diego River.  It was so beautiful.  I was right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, on a jetty, with the ferrel cats all around and the old man feeding them.  Still, it is pretty cool to live right by the ocean.  I had been on the streets for 3 hours and had to pee.  There was a small park close by and no one around.  I figured I could leave my bike and it would be ok.  There were also a handful of convicts cleaning the bay area with some cops so I thought I would be fine.  After going pee (which is hard to do when your in bibs and a jersey), I got on the bike to ride away.  Clipped the left foot in, then picked up the right foot to clip that in, and fell over on my left side.  It smarted so bad.  I landed on my elbow and scrapped the heck out of my leg with the gears.  The blood started flowing right away!  Just dripping down my leg, I was so embarrassed, as everyone saw since I yelped out as I was falling.  I rode over behind the restroom on some grass and tended to my wounds.  It wasn't bad, but man, I was feeling low and just wanted to go home.  Here are some pics.

 (Just got home. Blood soaked bandaid.)

(After removing the bandaid and cleaning it up)

However, I am glad I had a backpack on me.  I had bandaids and cleaner and antibiotic cream.  I never thought to take bandaids with me, but now I know to put some in my jersey just in case!

I will go out again on the bike here this weekend.  I took some time off this week from the bike and gym.  My body hit a brick wall and I was tired.  Stay tuned friends!