Headwinds and numbness
In the study of bicycling science, it has been established that once a rider is traveling at speeds above 15 mph the wind resistance begins to dominate the energy expenditure of the bicyclist. So imagine how a bicyclist feels in 15 mph headwinds. Like every rotation of the pedals is an extreme effort, even when headed downhill. Yeah, that was me. That’s my excuse for not bicycling the full 82 miles from Tiffany’s house to Austin. She’d asked her dad to drive me to Austin, and he’d agreed, but I felt ridiculous adding three hours of driving to the world, when I could bike it myself. We compromised and he drove me to New Braunfels, which got me fifteen miles out of San Antonio, cutting off a full thirty miles of the ride. We had apple strudel at the oldest bakery in Texas, established in 1868. Would the founders applaud the use of corn syrup and food coloring? I can’t say, but I wasn’t impressed.
The headwinds were brutal, and turned what would have been a nice ride into an effort. I can’t decide if this supports my theory that it’s not worth planning for the predominant winds when planning a bike trip or not. When I rode south I had headwinds of 10 mph, and when I rode north I had headwinds of 15 mph. I should start keeping track of rides with and without headwinds to see if I’m really cursed.
I bought some new grips and gloves when I decided that I would bike back to Austin, and they helped reduce the pain during the ride. Because of the lack of pain, I thought they were helping with the potential numbness, but as I ran my fingers through my hair in the shower I realized that my pinkies were numb. Typing this now, my ring fingers are the numb ones. Note to self: never bike more than ten miles on straight handlebars. I never had a problem with numbness on my curly handlebars, even on my less squooshy Bike Friday bars. Hmm. The internet has this to say: “When your wrist is flexed upwards for a long period of time, the ulnar nerve (which travels from your armpit, around your elbow, through a fascial sheath in your wrist) get compressed.” That poster even claimed to have been to med school. I definitely have my wrists bent in a bad way too much when I’m on straight handlebars. I know I should have flat wrists, like when rowing, but I can’t maintain that position. Hmm.
Let’s see, what else? Oh, yes, San Antonio Rd is different from Old San Antonio Rd. Sometimes routes designed by weekend riders are incredibly dangerous for weekday riders. (FM 2770 was full of gravel trucks, most of which were as considerate as possible, and only one of which came really close to killing me, and it was partly a choice of hitting me vs colliding with the other gravel truck head on.)
And two ways in which the 32-year-old Jessica behaved in a way foreign to the 16-year-old Jessica: first, when the Austin police officer pulled up to me and told me to pick a side, but not bike down the middle of the street (it was a minor side street, but it was rush hour), I just said, “Yes, sir” instead of trying to explain why I was in the right. The second occurrence was when I walked out of the house after sitting for two hours, and felt how sore and stiff my quads were, and decided to jog to loosen them up. And I kept it up for a couple of blocks, until they felt looser. Am I a jock now?
And now for your viewing pleasure, a little bit of an armadillo. If only I had a photographer along for the ride, you, my dedicated readers, would be in for a real treat. Instead, here’s a badly-lit armadillo rear end. And a few other shots of my first ride through Hill Country last week.
