Exercise and Drinking Water

Quercus Grove trail, outside Edwardsville, Illinois where it crosses Old Carpenter Road.

I've always been a fan of drinking water. I ran a lot of marathons when I was younger, and I knew the importance of keeping properly hydrated. I might skip the first few water stations, but by the time I was past 5K or for sure by 10K, I wanted to start getting some water in me.

As a bicyclist, I also understand the need for water. I always carry water with me on the bike, usually two bottles during warm or hot weather. I may not drink it all, or I may pour it out and get fresh water if I can, but I don't like being without it.

I took a 20-mile bike ride back in early March and forgot my water. I didn't panic, and I didn't die. I got a bit dry, but I was okay. I used to train for marathons without water. I planned my training run to go through the park and I'd hit the water fountain there at least once. That was over 20 miles running. That may not have been too smart, but I didn't panic and I didn't die.

Yesterday I took a four-mile walk, and I encountered a jogger, a young woman, and she was carrying a water bottle in her hand while she ran on the trail. Since I was walking I had entirely too much time to think, and I realized that I had never run, or walked, while carrying a bottle of water.

I certainly don't think she was wrong for doing so. I guess my thoughts were that she was either overly cautious or else runners are advised to always have water close at hand nowadays. And I probably wouldn't have given it another thought, except for what happened just five minutes later.

As I walked I could see two cyclists coming in the distance to meet me. Judging by way one of them was riding, back and forth across the center line in a serpentine manner, I figured it at least one of them was a kid. I was right.

It was a father and son, and they were taking a lazy, easy ride, enjoying a fairly nice day on the trail.

As they got within about 20 yards of me I heard the father say "No, you've only ridden one mile! You don't need water already." And the son began whining, "yes, I do, I'm thirsty! I need water!"

Me, I think all the concerns about dehydration are a bit much. I don't know what to think about a society that can't go thirty minutes without water. I see it everywhere, parents buying bottled water for their children so they can go on a car ride.

And bottled water: don't even get me started.

A Spill on the Ice

Well I spoke too soon. I was so happy to see the thawing of snow and ice that I rushed out and began riding while there was still slop and slush and an undercoating of ice still on the trails. I was cautious, for the most part, until that one time when I wasn't.

I chose the 1961 Raleigh Sport for my ride, since its tires are a bit wider than my other bikes, and it's a good stable bike. And I think the upright riding position feels inherently safer and more stable. But it didn't stop me from taking my first fall in many years.

I had been pretty careful about dismounting when I came into shaded areas of the trail that still had snow on them and walking my bike through. But I kept noticing a lot of tire tracks through the snow, and I know that a lot of people keep riding even when there's snow. I'm just not one of them, and I'm sure there's a component of luck as well as skill in doing so. Luck was mostly on my side, as it turns out.

I decided to go on through the snow, but when I did my front wheel skidded into an existing bike track, and that set up a slide in a different direction than I was trying to go. I overcompensated and then I panicked, and then I fell. The ice under the snow accelerated my fall, and before I knew what had happened I felt my helmet smash into the ground next to the trail.

I landed exactly on my head. I do make a conscientious effort to never ride without my helmet, and this was a good reminder of why. My helmet mounted mirror came off. My glasses came off. I stayed on the ground for a few moments, and my first thought was "I wonder if I'm going to get back up." I slowly tried my body out, and everything was fine. No injuries, beyond some scratches and scrapes.

I got up, put on my glasses -- bent frame, but fixable. Checked my mirror, and found that it didn't break, and I mounted it back on my helmet.

The bike had fallen hard on the left side, and I had a bit of a wobbly pedal, but after riding a bit, then putting my weight on it, I was able to get it to work fairly well. I later found that the crank shaft had bent slightly inward, and I was able to bend it back out with a cheater pipe once I got home.

I finished the ride and I was a bit sore for a few days. At 57, I have to wonder how many more times in my life I'll be able to take a hard fall and get back up. I guess the answer is just to make sure I keep getting back up.

After the Ice has Melted

After having some really nice days throughout December and January, I was pretty happy at the amount of biking I was able to do this winter. True, I was on the treadmill more in January than I was outside, but at least I could satisfy my biking urge from time to time.

Then came February. Whole 'nuther story. With snow on top of snow on top of ice and more snow, there was no chance for me to attempt a ride. A few brave townies were getting out on the streets, but out here in the country the road conditions were pretty well impossible.

So the ice and snow finally melted enough for me to chance it yesterday. I did a fairly short ride on my Specialized hybrid over the most exposed part of the bike trail between Hamel and Staunton. There were still several stretches that I had to walk. I tried riding through the shallow snow, but found that there was still quite a bit of ice under that snow. There was also a cake of ice throughout the trail in Worden, which I realized was the result of the snow getting packed down by four-wheel ATV riders riding on the trail. It's illegal to do, though I mostly see the problem on the unpaved sections of the trails where the four-wheelers tear up the surface.

It was 50 degrees F yesterday, and I wore shorts, but didn't think about the freezing spray of melting slush on my feet and ankles. Even with fenders I got wet from the knees down. But after a few miles I warmed up and had a good ride.

Today looks like a repeat of yesterday's temperatures and wind, but cloudy instead of sunny, so that makes it seem even cooler to me. But I'm pulling out the 1961 Raleigh 3-speed for today's ride and planning to wear street clothes. I purposely have no bike computer on the Raleigh. I don't know how fast I go or how many miles, though I can usually guess pretty closely if I want to. The idea is to just ride with my head up, look around and enjoy my ride.

I did end up getting a new set of alloy Northroads handlebars and stem for the Raleigh. The original handlebars and the replacement Raleigh stem looked great, but I could not get my position right. The original Raleigh stems are only 5.5 inches long, so I couldn't get enough height. And I found a nice replacement handlebar that were longer in the straight section sweeping back. This has improved my position a lot, and I plan to continue tweaking this bike so I can enjoy longer and longer rides on it.