My Ineptitude Rivals that of the Bush Administration

The title pretty much says it all. (Sorry for the picture quality, they were taken with my overheating cell phone.

Today Doug and I planned to do an early mountain bike ride in Golden. It was going to be super hot so we wanted to start early. Usually I'm late for such events, so I woke up extra early and loaded up the truck with plenty of time to get down there. I had to run a couple errands later so I had multiple piles of gear to act has a distraction. After a quick glance at the mountain biking pile I decided I had everything - jersey, helmet, water, energy gel, gloves. Off I went...

I was in the parking lot at 9:00 am sharp and somewhat proud of my promptness. That pride faded as I gathered my equipment for the ride. I had a nagging feeling something was missing. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something just didn't feel right. Then it hit me - SHOES!! F*$&!!! For those of you who don't know, to ride a bike of any caliber greater than a Walmart brand these days you need specials shoes. They clip in to the pedals for increased energy transfer from the rider to the bike and mine were sitting in my bike bin at home in the garage. I could visualize them stacked neatly in the bin serving no purpose in the world.

Options??? Here's where the Bush Administration part comes in. Option 1 - Drive back to Boulder to up my shoes. Time = 1 hour. Cost = gas. Option 2 - Drive to Denver to use my back up pair that were in Doug's garage from a previous ride. Time = 45 min. Cost = gas. Option 3 - Find a bike store in the area and buy a cheap pair I could craigslist later. Time = Unknown. Cost = At least $50. Then it hit me. Option 4 - I've always used my mountain pedals and shoes on my road bike. Why not find a store close by and buy a pair of road shoes and road pedals, use them for today's mountain bike ride and then swap them onto the road bike when I get home. Time = 1 hour? Cost = 100? Great plan right...

Waiting for Wheat Ridge Cyclery to Open

New Shoes and Pedals

Road Shoes - Ahh So Clean

Wrong! Actual Time = 2 + hours. Actual Cost = $260. It took forever even though I was fast. The guy in the bike store looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him to mount the road pedals on my mountain bike. I played it off like it was a new trend, we'll see if it takes off! How does that relate to Bush Administration you ask. I tried to solve a simple problem by throwing exorbitant amounts of time and money I don't have at it. My well intentioned plan turned out to cost 5 times more than I thought and took twice as long! Okay that might not be a fair comparison - I was well intentioned! Ha!!

Back to the ride. We left at 11:30 and rode for 2 hours in the heat of the day. It turned out to be one of Captain Alex's death rides. I was in a state of heat exhaustion the whole time. I drank over 300 ounces of water and never went to the bathroom once. I found out later there was an ozone alert today and old people and small children were ordered to stay inside.

Heat Exhaustion

Road Pedals on a Mountain Bike

Heat Exhaustion Induced Delirium

Other than not being able to walk on the trail or clip in easily, the road pedals and shoes worked great. Even with heat exhaustion I felt solid on the climbs, fast on the downhills, and my feet were super comfortable. We finished the ride with a dip in the frigid waters of clear creek. Nothing completes a summer time ride like temporary paralyzation in ice cold water.