“Dropsy” is what I call it when I’m trying to get a water bottle back into its cage and miss. This morning I dropped a water bottle; and it seemed to vanish entirely. That\’s a drawback to riding in the dark. Or is there a black hole for bidons out there?

Not that dropsy is anything to joke about. It can be the result of a serious medical condition; and it isn\’t something to ignore.

Getting back to the problem of handling that water bottle: sometimes I don\’t have any trouble with it. Other times, I just can\’t seem to manage it. This morning I began to pull the bottle out of its holder; and for some reason let go of it before it was all the way out. My heavy gloves, with Hotnwarmers inside, no doubt contributed to my case of \”dropsy\”!

Unfortunately the bottle was too far out of the cage to keep it from falling out. I stopped as quickly as I could, but several minutes of searching yielded no result; and I finally decided I had to go on. After all, I got very little riding last week; and I didn\’t want to miss any more!

Aside from losing my water bottle, this morning\’s ride was great. The weather was clear; and while it was chilly, it wasn\’t frigid. There was almost no wind! I could have used an additional layer on my legs; but even so, it was nice to climb aboard without the binding effect of slacks over leg warmers.

Next Step?

And today, I began something new! My next step in improving my pace, I hope.

Sometime last year, out of the blue, I found that I was pulling up on the handlebars and easing my weight on the saddle when “climbing”; that is, while riding over a hump or up an access ramp. I noticed that this let me push harder on the pedals. It\’s harder on my legs; but I seem to be able to climb more effectively when I do it. A few weeks back, I began to think: how about taking the next step; and using the same technique when I want to ride faster? 

This morning, almost without conscious thought, I started to work on it. I can’t keep it up for long. My arms and upper body need a lot more strengthening; and my legs sure felt it, too. But it makes it easier to push 15 mph or more; and during long rides, short spurts of this \”half-stand\” pedaling will help when I need a bit of relief from saddle contact.

By the way, \”dropsy\” is sure to happen again; and after work I rode to the bike shop and bought two water bottles. I want to have a spare on hand!