February 7, 2015
Day 23 - Day trip from Ohrid: Shattered delusions of grandeur
I figured I'd bike along the east side of the lake, to the border and back again. No problem, especially with no weight to carry aside from water, a snack, tools, and rain gear. A couple hills to deal with, but again, no problem with an unloaded bike.
Not exactly. Sure, I easily avoided the many potholes and elderly people in my way. But the hills, with their 10% gradients, were too steep for me and I quit, turned around and went back to Ohrid, when I saw another 10% uphill sign with 7 or 8km left until the border.
Even after a day off yesterday, even after realizing my fitness has improved when I walked up steep Old Town streets without getting winded, even with no camping gear on the bike, I couldn't handle those hills.
Why? First, they're steep and I'm still new to this. Second, my position on the bike has me pedalling with all quads and no glutes. I knew this before, but now I know I need to do something about it.
Time to do some research. It's about time my lazy butt started pulling its weight.
Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 1,081 km (671 miles)
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