Thought of the Day - Cycling

A few observations since getting back on the bike for the first time in like 4 years:

1) Don't get cocky when you haven't used SPD's before. I always used to laugh at people who couldn't clip out and fell over onto their sides because they were attached to the bike. Sadly this happened to me, i'd been out on the bike a couple of times with no problems, so i thought i would bump up on the kerb at my flat, stop and then unclip. What i hadn't banked on was the difficulty of trying to clip out while stationary, the movement of trying to clip out meant i lost balance and slowly keeled over onto my side. All very embarrassing but a learning experience.

2) I've still got it when it comes to maintenance. I fitted a whole new groupset to my bike while i was home at the end of May with no problems. I guess fixing a bike is like riding a bike.

3) Damn i am unfit, i remember going out on my bike before i went to uni and doing rides with greater than 1000ft climbing and being fine. Now i go out and a short ride with 350ft of climbing just about kills me.

4) The reason i know the above is because there is a free tool called Bikely that allows you to input a route on google maps and it tells you the distance and gives you an elevation profile. Totally awesome for someone as geeky as me.