Learning my left from my right

This is my first blog post at my new blog name, so it’s most definitely cause to celebrate. Let’s start by celebrating the fact that I have mastered the art of the Grab, Gulp & Return. Okay, maybe mastered is a little hasty. But I did it and I figured out why I wasn’t able to do it without possible death on previous attempts. I’m right handed. My initial reaction was to grab for the water bottle with my right hand to make sure I had everything under control. However, this put my left hand in control of the bike. The non-dominant hand that can barely hold a fork correctly was controlling the two-wheeled man powered vehicle. Wicked smart, eh?

A while back, I talked about getting a hydration pack to use while biking so I didn’t have to risk my life for a sip of water. Well, I got one. Technically, I just got a reservoir and it fits inside a small backpack I have. It’s two liters and is good for about 2 hours of biking. Or the way I drink, about 30 minutes. Even though this contraption straps to my back and has a straw-like object that comes over my shoulder and attaches by magnet, it still requires me to reach up and detach it from the magnet and bring it to my mouth. Only once have I dropped it from my mouth and it attached itself to the magnet. All other times, it dangled by my side until I lined it up with the magnet to attach it. What I’m trying to say here is, I still need to let go of the handlebars with one hand to get a drink. It’s not as extreme as leaning over to grab a water bottle, but it’s still letting go! While using this, I learned that it is much safer, and less wobbly if I use my left hand for all my drinking needs and use my right hand to keep my life safe.

I discovered a new bike trail on Sunday. It’s about 2.5 miles long so I don’t need to worry about carrying a lot with me. I decided to leave the hydration pack at home and just bring water bottles. I figured the trail was short enough that I could just stop at either end and get a drink. It was quite a fun trail. It was hilly enough to give me a good workout, and the hills were spaced far enough apart to give me a slight break every once in a while. At one point I decided to test out my left-handed grab theory and I was able to grab the water bottle, drink from it and put it back cleanly. On the first try. High five. Of course I was only going 10 mph and would never try it on a downhill going 20+ mph. But I’m making progress.  Baby steps.