Well, I had made a few fundamental mistakes with my first commute.
- I forgot my water bottles at home.
- With the water bottles I left my lunch at home.
The ride home was very, very hot and humid. The good news is that there was no lightning from a thunderstorm. My tank was empty on the ride home. I came to a hill and again had to walk it. The hill was roughly half a mile long at a 7% grade. By the time I reached the summit I was spent...just walking the bike.
After the coast down the hill comes the most daring point in my commute, riding in heavy traffic through a large 4 lane intersection containing double turn lanes. At this point I cried uncle. I called my sag vehicle.....wonderful wife at home, and she rescued me. I was 3 miles short of completing my commute. I simply did not feel safe riding unsteady through that traffic. It is sad too. All of the hills were behind me and the rest of the trip was smooth.
I did not ride in to work today. Saturday and Sunday I will ride a flat trail for some distance and Monday I will try the commute again.
My endurance sucks. I probably won't complete the trip home for a few weeks, but the best way to get better at something is to do something. Water and food would have helped and may have been the factor that knocked me down, but I think it was my fitness level trying to push 353 pounds up hills that really stopped me.