Actress Singer Educator

Triathlon Newbie, Party of 1

Well, I feel like in idiot. Can I just remind everyone that I’ve never competed in a triathlon before and that this is all new to me. So, I’ve been struggling with my bike. If you have been reading my blog, you will remember my post about my first bike ride in Central Park and how frackin’ hard it was. So, I realized that my tires were a little low. I decided that this must be why I was having such a hard time on my bike. Sounds reasonable, right?

I headed to The BIke Stop in Astoria this morning to get a frame pump since I didn’t have one. I thought, “This way I can pump my tires before going out on my ride.” They are always super helpful there and they helped me pick one out that had a foot bar and a gauge. Pretty fancy for a frame pump. I headed back home to start pumping before heading to Central Park.

I’d like to have a word with bike accessory manufacturers please. Would it kill you to include an instruction manual? I mean, seriously! I get that you bikers are an elite breed of superhuman that don’t require eye contact or instruction manuals, but I could have used a little help. So I did the best I could and did manage to get a small amount of air into my tires. I probably would have been better of blowing into the tire, but I was determined to learn how to use my new fangled gadget. I headed to Central Park with Taylor Dayne (that’s my bike’s name). We were ready. I looked her in the eye and said, “I will make peace with you Taylor. I will learn to ride you well.” She didn’t respond. Typical.photo 3
It was a beautiful day for a ride, so I was feeling good.
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Things started off a little better. I noticed that my bike was riding much smoother, but as the ride continued, I started to feel the tires sinking. What the crap? After the hour I just spent trying to use my alien contraption to get more air in there? Seriously? After two laps (yes, this time I found the shorter path, thank you sweet baby Jesus) I had to head home. I stopped by my house and grabbed the air blower contraption and took it to The Bike Stop so they could solve this air-tire-alien-pumper-thing situation for me. They took one squeeze of my tires and said, “You have hardly any air in here!” Thank you Captain Obvious. They very kindly showed me how to use the frame pump and I realized just how low the tires actually were. Wow. Could I have been more dumb? No wonder it’s been so hard to ride. I’m lucky I didn’t’ damage my poor baby Taylor. I knew I was a better biker than this bike was allowing me to be. I hoped on the bike for half a block as I was headed home and it was a totally different bike. Thank you to the amazing staff at The Bike Shop in Astoria. If you live in the area, you should check them out. They are great.
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It’s taking me a while to figure out all the nuts and bolts of this triathlon business, but I’m getting there. I’m determined to be successful and learn as much as I can, even if it takes having a few idiot moments like riding your bike on almost empty tires. I will master the triathlon.
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