I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago (July 1st) I finally did it!  I rode my bike to work!!!!!

I had been trying to really figure it out for a few weeks, and the remaining piece of the puzzle was where to store my bike during the day.  We figured it out at work and there was no reason NOT to ride to work.

So, I decided a few weeks ago I would try it out on Tuesday July 1st.  

It was awesome!!!

A few small hiccups along the way, but nothing too major.

* Almost fell off the bike about 20min after leaving home....  went to get on the sidewalk to avoid a bridge with glass on the roadway and the sidewalk was a bit higher than the road.  I didn't see it until it was kind of too late and my tire rode along the sidewalk instead of going onto the sidewalk.  I thought for sure I was going down and was glad it was only 20min back home to clean up and then drive to work.  Miraculously I ended up on the sidewalk and upright.....I'm still not quite sure how, but I'm glad!

* Almost had a run-in with a city bus in New Bedford.  I was at a stop sign, and the bus was on the cross-street.  He had his blinker on and I thought he was pulling over to let someone off....so I started to cross the intersection.  Only he was turning and not pulling over.  Thankfully I realized what was going on soon enough and was able to stop.

Other than that, it went great.  I ate some on the bike but not really enough (more on that later), and drank a surprisingly small amount of water.  The ride was 21 miles and took me two hours (including stops).  I had intended to head out about 4:45am, but since it was partly cloudy that day, it wasn't really light enough until about 5.  I got to work by 7, showered and was at my desk for 7:30! 

I ate carbs and drank water during the day to help my muscles recover (since they had to ride home too, lol) and thought all was fine.  I headed off for home, and about an hour in I had something to eat (not nearly as much carbs as I should have).  I got to about 5 or 6 miles from home and my legs really started hurting and any sort of hill felt like torture to keep riding....even gradual ones which I've gotten pretty decent riding up.  I had no idea why it was happening but just pushed on and eventually made it home. 

I was reading something the other day about glycogen stores and how quickly they regenerate.  From previous research I know that you have enough glycogen stores for about 2hrs of activity (such as riding a bike) so I wasn't too concerned with riding to/from work since each ride is only 2hrs.  What I learned the other day is that it takes the body about 24hrs to replenish the lost glycogen.  Yeah.  Since I pretty much depleted mine on the ride to work, I didn't have much to go on riding home.  It was then that I realized the pain, etc... that I experienced close to home was what is known as "hitting the wall" or "bonking".  It is the first time that has happened to me and I hope the last time - it was NOT fun!

All that made me realize I need to eat on both the ride in to work and the ride home as if I were riding a 4hr ride and eat appropriately throughout both rides, along with carb-heavy eating at work during the day.


I'm planning to do this again this coming Wednesday, so we shall see how it goes!!

~Chelle *o*