I Just Finished My First 10-Mile Ride!



Luckily the Metro DC area is very cycling-centric. A group of my Facebook friends banded together and purchased me a pair of bike shoes and cleats as a Christmas present because I'd really taken to spin classes. The people from whom I got my shoes (Proteus Cycles, College Park, MD) were WONDERFUL! Based on the care they took with me just to fit the shoes (they must have tried six pair on me) I'll be going back there when it's time for my own bike. I wish they did skates, my rollerblades are due for a SERIOUS overhaul. I'll be back next Monday with what's sure to be a hilarious tale of me vs the official bike course....

Till then, Happy Riding.
 
Ask them if they do skates. A lot of bicycle shops work on all different types of exercise equipment. It keeps them from starving during the winter months. And even if they don't do skates, they can probably refer you to a dependable person who does.


Originally Posted by IronGirl2011 .

I wish they did skates, my rollerblades are due for a SERIOUS overhaul.
 
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Hi Sierra! I, too have missed you and wondered about you, but then I haven't been hanging out here too much lately either. Was going to post a separate message to you, but this seems to be a "catching up with SierraSlim" thread, so I'll put it here. BTW, I've gotten pretty much my dream bike, a Rivendell Bleriot, which I won on eBay in a hard-fought auction. I bought frame/fork there, built the bike myself out of new and gently-used parts. It's pretty. Anyway, I haven't ridden it much yet. I'm more of a fair-weather rider, and we are on the verge of some great riding weather here. I really do much better if I can ride in the early mornings on the weekends; I love those rides. You are courageous to go ahead with your big ride! I commend you and wish you a great ride. You will feel such a sense of accomplishment. And IronGirl, maybe I'll see you on the roads and trails around DC. I'm in Maryland. I trust that you know about some of the regular riding venues like Beach Drive on the weekends, and the Capital Crescent Trail. Best of luck to both of you.
Steve
 
[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Hi, Steve![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]I was wondering if you'd gotten your dream bike. You'll have to post us a picture! [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]After all my hand-wringing when I bought my bike last Fall, I have now given it to my daughter and am in the market again, lol. Hers was stolen from the parking lot where she worked, out of the middle of about 40 bikes, when no others were taken. We think it was singled out because it's pink and pretty, and somebody will use it as a Mother's Day gift this weekend. She had it cable-chained, but they used bolt cutters and off they went with it. Being single, she has a hard time coming up with enough for a new bike, especially when she's moving this month and paying all the first-and-last deposits, etc. So I gifted her with my Raleigh, and am training on my old cruiser while I shop. If I can't find one I like in time for the tour, I'll borrow mine back from her to use just for that, and then give it back to her. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Early-morning rides and dusk rides are my favorite times to ride, too. It's so cool and quiet and peaceful. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]I don't know if I'm courageous to go ahead and go on my tour, or stupid, lol, but I'm going. I really think that, barring accidents or injuries, I can do most of the days except maybe the 54-mile one. That's about twice as far as I've gone... though if I do half of it, rest for an hour or so, and then go again, I might be able to do it. Depends totally on how hot/cool it is and if I can remember to keep hydrated and fueled so I don't bonk. But my sister is taking the tour with me, and our hope is that we'll be having so much fun that the miles just speed by before we realize it. At any rate, we're trying, and I think you're absolutely right that it will give me a feeling of accomplishment to have done it. And afterward, it will be very nice to get back to just riding daily for the fun of it, instead of training so hard. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Hope you're enjoying the nice weather. We seem to have gone from months of rain to 90 degrees in one week. Unreal. Somebody just kidnapped Spring and never brought it back, lol.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Have a good one.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
Sierra, here's a link to photos of my new bike: https://picasaweb.google.com/109191668701158452616/Bleriot2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCMuAptL6_fyIGg#

Sorry to here about the theft of your daughter's bike. That happened to my daughter also and that's how I eventually decided to build up my old road bike for her. That was a very good thing as she really likes the bike and rides it a lot. Your plan to train on your cruiser is a good one and again I wish you the best of luck with your ride! Steve
 
[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Wow, Steve, she's pretty![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]I love the simplicity of her frame, and the color. I especially like the blue accented with the warm brown on the saddle and bars -- and nice job on the twine! I'm glad I read the caption, because I wouldn't have known what that was, and it looks great.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Now I know why she's your dream bike. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Well done! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
Hey Slim!

I told you I'd be back Monday with my story of my first trip through the road course.

I SURVIVED! I made the entire 17.5 mile loop. I won't tell you how long it took. I won't tell you that I stopped once and literally had a fit (I cried because I was tired and worried I wouldn't make it back to my car - I wasn't going to walk that bike back, that's for sure.) I won't tell you that I had to walk a couple of monster hills, either.

I will tell you that the cyclists who were out in force yesterday on the course are the most uplifting, supportive group I've ever seen. the chorus of "keep it up, you're doing great" was really helpful, as it was to hear "this is a really tough course" from the people who passed by asking if I was okay when I stopped (I responded that it was my first time on that course and I'm fairly new to cycling). I will also tell you that my padded shorts arrived on Friday - not a minute too soon... and that we managed to get the seat adjusted higher which completely eliminated my knee pain. I have one slightly irritated spot near the unmentionables and my left thumb is a little sore from shifting the gears but thankfully otherwise I am PAIN FREE.

The plan is to do a brick (the road course plus the 5k run course) every Sunday between now and the event. I do realize I'll have to get out more but this month's focus is my running, next month it's more about riding. But I really enjoyed the ride (when I wasnt crying, of course). You all may make a cyclist out of me yet :D
 
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, Girl![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]I answered your post on my "I have a new bike" thread because this one is old. So you can read my reply there. But WAY TO GO!!!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
New to the forums, so I thought I would jump in on this thread :) A few weeks ago I did my first 10 miler, and this week I did my first 17. I was SUPER excited!

I am also doing the Pasadena Marathon ride this Sunday, so that will be my longest ride ever at 26 miles. My husband just got his road bike as well. Although he probably hasn't had one in at least 10 years, he can still totally smoke me because he has that muscle memory from doing it growing up.

I picked up our packets and Pasadena Marathon shirts today - my first event shirt, yay!!

Hope to see some of you out there, I will be the 5' tall one on the little tiny Felt. It is a 43 cm/petite frame with 650 wheels.
 
[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Hi, YGirl![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]CONGRATULATIONS on getting into the easiest and most fun way to get healthy! And way to go, doing 17 miles already. You're off to a great start!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Don't be so sure that your husband can beat you so badly because he biked years ago. Unless he's done something else to keep those muscles going, he'll feel almost as new as you do! Because from what I've been told here, cycling uses muscles that no other exercise uses the same way, and you know what they say about if you don't use it.... [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= 12px]Enjoy the upcoming rides and let us know how you did. We're rooting for you. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
Thanks Sierra!

Well, we finished. I know to most people it isn't, but WOW 26.2mi is a long way /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

It poured rain in Pasadena. Poured!! But we started at 5:45am and finished the route in 2 hrs and 20 minutes, making it about an 11.2mph average. There were some serious hills! Around 820 feet of climbing, and those corners in the soaking wet? THOSE were scary. At one point someone decided to come up alongside me and overlapped my wheel on the inside of a tight turn, and of course he slipped and almost took me down with him. I think only my horse riding skills kept me up - I put my weight on the opposite seat bone to counterbalance and just kept pedaling. He went down and took several with him, but I made it out ok.

My husband was super nice and didn't take off without me :) he is faster than me for now, but I kept pace ok. He wiped out once on the wet, but only had a little scratch on his derailleur and his pedal so not too bad.

Had major, MAJOR pain on the right side of my neck. I won't start another thread about neck pain, but man at one point I couldn't turn my head! I've been trying to make adjustments to my bike, handlebars, seat height, etc., but can't pinpoint it. I may spring for a fit with Nate Loyal over in Santa Monica. $165 is probably cheaper than me experimenting and changing out parts myself and going through the trial and error thing.

Next up is the 36mi LA River Ride on June 5. HAVE to get the neck thing fixed before then or I'll never make it...but at least it is only about 400ft of climb instead of 800!
 
Good job, Yosemite! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif

Riding in the rain can be a pain....way to hang there. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
You dont seem to compare nor care to compare yourself to others, if we all compared our selves then many would be considered bad shape fair shape but its not that accurate if your climbing and making goals thats important, and how you feel is most important, and how you feel about yourself. **** I deep think to much! I do.
 
Congrats on the 10 mile ride. Now how far do you want go? 25 miles? 50, 75 100 or more? There are charts that can lead you to any goal you want. For example the following chart is a bit aggressive for you at this stage but with a bit of calculation you can make it fit your level of fitness. See: http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=54755 If you notice the longest ride is on a Saturday and the first week of the program has you doing 30 miles on the first Sat., too much for you at this point. So you alter the chart so that Monday your doing only 2 miles, then Tues 3, Wed 4, Fri 3, and Sat 10...right where you are now, Sun 3. Then week 2 would be Mon 4, Tue 5, wed 6, fri 6, and sat 16 (having fun yet?), sun 6. Then week 3 would be mon 5, tue 8, wed 9, fri 9, Sat 22, sun 7. Then week 4 you just follow the chart where week 1 is and continue to however many miles you want to be able to ride on a Saturday. This chart does work and you could be doing a 50 mile ride in as little as 8 weeks from this coming Monday. But follow the chart, deviating from it because you think you can do more during the week will tire you out too much for the Saturday run then you'll be depressed and wonder what went wrong, or worse you could hurt yourself. I know the first few weeks seem like very little miles during the weekday but stay with the plan because it's about building you up for the Saturday long ride. I know at one time you mentioned touring with your hubby, I don't know when your planning on going that but this chart will help you accomplish that goal.
 
Wow, Froze, thanks for posting that chart. I need something like that - as of now I'm only riding a 17.5 mile course once a week and will add to that probably a 15 mi ride (swapping out one of running nights for cycling) ... I was thinking I wanted to try something in the 25-30 mile range but wasn't COMPLETELY sure I was ready. Then again I wasn't ready for the 17.5 mile ride either when I tried it but I finished.
 
this is a odl post though i will reply... lol i have seen your bike tour post slim... and i was really amazed that from 10 miles you are now touring... you really did a good job and as i can see you have great discipline... keep it up.. ride safe....
 

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