Gear: water bottle

One decision I made decades ago but didn't explicitly share here was how much plastic tasting water is nasty. Plastic water bottles were one of the first bicycle specific accessories I bought as a young rider. I was not a big drinker of the water but I liked to make sure I had it out on the road. I was a minimalist in gear on the road until I needed something and got stuck. Warm plastic tasting water and a tube repair kit were essentials even before I got a helmet.

After getting the water bottle I got a frame holder for it. Before the frame holder I carried the water bottle in a bag on my back. I tried putting ice in the bottle but the water turned warm pretty quickly. I stopped using the water bottle because it just tasted nasty, especially when warm. I did shorter rides. Eventually I got enough regular income that I upgraded to an insulated plastic water bottle. I bought a few of these and spent time adding ice to cold water but it still didn't last too long. I found a solution to the bad taste of plastic bottles finally about 10 years ago. I now use stainless steel water bottles.

Recovery complete

I had a great bike ride. Recovery has been really slow at my age. I had two injuries and it's really kept me out of my groove for almost 6 months. In my life of riding this is unique. I've never been off the bike a week except on a very few vacations to China, Morocco, Yellowstone, Key West and Grand Canyon. Many vacations I've brought my bicycle. So this period of recovery has been excruciating and scary. The pain from the injuries was negligible. The fear in my mind is daunting. As I age, how will my body rebound from future injuries? My bicycling as exercise keeps me young. Injuries accelerate deteriorate my body.

Today, though, was amazing. I did my BIS ride in full all the way to the airport road and back. I realize from this recovery experience that my fitness was very high indeed prior to the injuries. Climbing these 10-11 degree slopes on the back of sustained 7 degree slopes really takes a lot out of me. It's a grueling feat to achieve. But I'm back. In this assessment I also came to realize that the sun takes a lot out of me. I do not consume enough water as a bad habit, but I may want to add electrolyte supplements to the 'good idea' list. I had been really discouraged by my slow rate of recovery and was doubting my ability to even recover fully. Now I just need to learn from my experience of recovering as an older person. I know it will take longer than when I was 10 years younger.