Does slow progress = the ability to head out with my bike for a late October tour?
Progress on the biking front seems to be at a standstill. Right now I seem to be stuck at rides between 20 and 25 miles, and I've pretty much been able to ride only on the weekends. So what does that mean for my planned last week of October trip to Hawaii? I have to admit, at this point I really don't know. When I look back on last year's trip, there are a few long riding days - two days of 55 to 60 miles that both include some signifcant stretches of uphill riding, and one day of 42 miles that is all uphill heading from sea level to the rim of the crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I'm still working toward being able to take the trip as planned - as a tour of the Big Island by bicycle. I know at this point that the trip is really a big reach, but I'm not ready to give up yet. I think I can wait until the end of August to see where I'm at then from a biking standpoint - but that's probably going to be decision time for me. If I haven't made significant progress toward increasing my biking mileage by then, I think the trip may morph into a hiking and resting trip, and I'll change my reservations accordingly. I'm still hoping...
Right now I'm trying to deal with the continued dizziness problem. I went to see an otolaryngologist to see if he could help. He's a biker too - and he told me that he thinks October is probably really pushing it and that it may be more reasonable to plan a mid-winter trip. I finally realized that I should probably keep track of those bad days... I have some dizziness every day - it's the days that I have nothing but dizziness that concern me. Having one of those in the middle of a trip would not be a good thing since on those days I try to stay away from my bike. To attempt to ride a bike while feeling dizzy doesn't sound like a good idea to me, although so far I haven't had even an occasional dizzy spell hit while I was riding. I think I said this before, but I'll ask it again - do you think that means I should spend more time on my bicycle?
To be honest, I do want to spend more time on my bicycle, but there are only a limited number hours in the day. I could use a longer day to accommodate my need for an extended number of hours of sleep along with all of the normal activities that need to be included in my waking hours. I've been working much closer to full-time, which unfortunately doesn't leave me with much time for riding during the week. I've managed to continue walking every day - split into a walk before work and a walk after dinner. While I can happily walk for a half of an hour, the same length bike ride just doesn't work for me. (Tell me, am I being too fussy?) With two shorter walks I'm managing between an hour and an hour and a half of walking on the days that I don't ride. For now my riding has been mainly limited to the weekends, but I really need to figure out how to fit in a few rides on weekdays too. After close to a full day at work, I don't have the energy for a ride after I get home. So rides during the week (fow now, anyhow) need to be in the morning before work. The problem is I that need to wake up earlier... and that doesn't seem to be possible right now. Sleep is good, and I think I need more sleep than I'm getting. I continue to have problems falling asleep, with occasional nights where I wake up in the middle of the night and am unable to fall asleep again for several hours.
