Saddle Up

This morning I was actually up and out of bed much earlier than I wanted to be, not sure why exactly but I just could not sleep and most of the night I did not sleep very well either. I was in one of those sleeps where you pretty much heard every single noise that was going on around you, outside and the thoughts in my head were as loud as a concert although they were meaningless thoughts of nothing - if that makes any sense at all. I think they were more about the things I was hearing, then thinking to myself that I should be sleeping, then wondering why I was thinking about all of that and not sleeping. I think you get the idea - and no, I am not going crazy! It's just one of those nights.

So I was up and decided to have some coffee and a couple graham crackers and check out what was going on on the internet. Not much really, and so I started reading some posts that I have been trying to catch up on and research I have been meaning to do. As I was doing this I was unable to stay awake and kept catching myself dozing off. This would be a good thing you would think since I was just complaining about not being able to sleep but in reality I wanted to be able to finish my coffee now and do some reading since I was up. Plus I did not want to fall asleep on the couch and wake up with a stiff neck.

I finished my coffee and heading back into the bedroom to join the rest of the family in bed for a little more sleep or at the very least, resting my eyes for a few in hopes of dozing off for a bit. I did, and for a couple hours luckily enough. Although again, not the best of sleep but it was additional rest for my body and mind so I considered it to be a positive.

Up and out of bed for the second time today, this time around 9:00 AM and having a second cup of coffee - something I rarely do anymore, especially during the summer. I will have the second cup at times during the winter after shoveling the driveway or just because it's soothing and makes you feel as though you are warming up from the inside out. Everyone is up this time, and the house is alive with the family so it was much easier to stay awake and engaged in what would become "the day".

Saddle Up

Well after yesterday's ride I decided that it was time to either get some more shorts that have additional padding or to upgrade my seat - better known as a "saddle" in the cycling world. The seat that is on my road bike is nothing to laugh at, it's actually a $250 carbon seat. But it was purchased and preferred by the previous owner. Now, it does work for me somewhat, but I think that my sit bones are in a slightly different location and therefore I am getting some pinching mostly in my left side of my ass cheek and fairly quickly on my rides.

Some of it we be 100% because of riding position and my body getting use riding in every way - I get that, but I do want to try to be proactive and do something about it ahead of time before giving anything the chance to start to get worse. Then I may be in a situation where I cant ride for a week or 2 or longer until I heal up.

So today Cicely and I are going to run down to REI and check out some of the saddles that I have researched online and think will work better for me. There are currently three that I have it narrowed down to and that I would like to try so I'm going to buy all three, ride each and then see which one works the best. Finally I will return the two that don't work out so good. I just need to verify that REI is not at issue with this.

I may be jumping the gun a little bit because I do have a little bit of a sciatic issue that could be spurring up from sitting in class so much last week. But rather than risking it, I would rather spend the money on a few seats and check that box off on my list of possibilities and know that I have tried all routes of correction.

One big reason for this is because I want to go on much longer rides eventually than I did yesterday (14 'ish miles) and if my ass starts cramping up like it did yesterday that will not be possible. Heck even yesterday when it started to cramp and zap it was only around mile 6.5 or so with hill claims coming up. Not the situation I want to be in when so far away from the house.

Anyway, we will see how it goes and maybe I will report back later this week or maybe even today if it goes exceptionally well with the new saddle. I was initially planning on going on a mountain bike ride today but the day has kind of gotten away from us so I will work on things around the house when we get back - like cutting the grass and related. Then jump into bike stuff like putting new brakes on the mountain bike, the new saddle on the road bike and catch up with a road bike ride later this afternoon or early evening. That will be plenty enough for one day I think.

Red Light

Alright time to stop on red and consider this post done for one day. It's much more difficult than you would think to write something every single day. It does make you realize patterns and when I may be in a rut though. Most on the outside looking in may only see those entries as a "boring" post, hell maybe they are all truly boring posts to others and I have said it before and will say it again - if that is the case, move on, don't bother with a nasty email to me or comment, just move on.

This is for me, my daughter we should she chose to read it one day or should her child decide to do a family tree one day a hundred years from now. They can then all sit around, read entries and laugh at their crazy relative of time that has long gone by. Of course all of this makes the assumption that Blogger will still be around as well as the internet as we know it today.

If so and no matter the case - enjoy yourself, as I did this all for us, but let's be honest here it was mostly for me <wink>.

Photo: A cute graphic on one of Zoey's new hooded after bath warm up, dry off towels. Love it, reminds me of Cicely and her love for summer, bright colors and treats. Zoey will hopefully take after her and be the same way if I am lucky.