This Sunday's ride was an encouraging one as I continued my hopeful transition from a "big-fat-dynamo" to a sleek, spandex-wearing cyclist.

I managed a distance of 15.6 miles to Upload from La Verne along Baseline Ave. After passing the strenuous hilly climb leading into Claremont, I was on a roll. After a couple more miles the Endorphins began to kick in and I was feeling great.

During my ride I was reminded of what a liberating and mentally cleansing experience cycling can be. This was all about what my body was completely capable of handling and, in the grand scheme of things, what could be more rewarding?

Fortunately, I was able to maintain a steady breathing rhythm throughout my ride, for which I can only attribute to my evening jogs. My leg muscles were fine too. What forced me to turn around, however, was an overwhelmingly numb set of toes. After a quick five minute water break I turned back and headed back home.

The following week, after talking things over with my co-worker buddy, Mike Panoff, who is quite the advanced cyclist, it became quite clear that my shoe and pedal set-up was the cause for my numb toes. Addressing this will clearly become the focus of my next visit to Incycle in San Dimas.

The problem is that I'm wearing jogging shoes with an old pedal design from the late-1980's that encourage the use of special late-1980's style cycling shoes. Unfortunately, these late-1980's style shoes are no longer in production. So, I'll need to upgrade to the latest and greatest pedal/shoe technology of today.

On that note, I should point out that so much has changed in the world of cycling over the past fifteen years. In a way, for me, it is a bit like traveling into the future. A very exciting yet expensive future. ;-)

This Sunday marked my return to the world of cycling after a sixteen year break. I managed to pull off a 8.6 mile ride from my house along Baseline Rd. to my eventual goal in Claremont.

About two miles into my ride, I began to recollect many of the little details about cycling that I had long since forgotten. In short, you never really forget these things and after about three miles I was truly beginning to enjoy my ride.

Unfortunately, it was shortly after this point that I accidently knocked my bike computer from its base while changing gears. As my computer flew towards the gutter I reacted too quickly and abruptly stopped my bike to retrieve it. This was a big mistake as no sooner did a tremendously painful muscle cramp set in on my right calf. Despite having warmed up I have to believe the abrupt stop is what caused it.

Still, this didn't really help things as, unbeknownst to me, I was about to face about one mile of very steep hill as I entered into Claremont. Eventually, I was able to struggle my way up the hill which was definitely the most difficult part of the ride.

Overall, it was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed this particular path. Generally speaking, Baseline Rd. accommodates bikes quite well with its wide lanes, light traffic and occasional bike paths. I noticed a good amount of seasoned cyclists as well, which was reassuring. I'll be attempting it again this weekend. Without the muscle cramp, of course.