Average Speeds -getting Downhearted!

[liz_999]

Hi I am new to the forum (my first post) and new to cycling, I have only been doing it three weeks - not been on a bike since I was 15. 3 weeks ago, my boyfriend was teaching me how to ride with cleats... cue many bruises from falling off! Since then I have done 120 miles spread with one big 42 mile trip in the Lake District in Uk (very very hilly for those of you that dont know!) and smaller rides lasting between 40minutes to 2 hours. I have been going to the gym a few times a week for the last couple of years and so wouldnt class myself as unfit, but I find hills extremely hard - i have had to get off a couple of times and try and start again. Also my average speed looks very low compared to those I have seen on the posts here. It started at about 8.5 and is now 2 weeks later 9.6. My boyfriend who cycles regularly says it should be around 12 - 13. (miles per hour) I do ride in a very hill area but even if I seek out a relatively flat route my speed isnt too much better. I know in some part its because I am not making up some of the speed I have lost ascending on the descent - a bit scared right now to let the bike go! Although I usually let it reach 25mph before I start with the brakes!

Anyway just wondered whether I should be going a lot faster and if so why I am going so slow! I am nearly 5'7" and weigh just under 10 stone. Also is there any training I could be doing so that hills are easier - at the gym I mean?

Oh and I am riding a Specialized Dolce road bike.

Thanks!
:)

[bmccasland]

Liz999 - welcome to the list! We're a friendly bunch, for the most part. :D

Your speed - it'll come. Being a flatlander myself I have trouble relating. I'll let you know after my ride on sunday through some hills. If you have a spin class available at your gym that'll help for general cycling - or it did me. I could worry about technique without worrying about affecting the riders around me. And if it got too much, I could gear down, thus ending the pretend hill.

[indysteel]

Welcome and please don't get discouraged. Keep riding and skill and speed will come. IN the meantime, please try to ignore your BF's comments about how fast you "should" be going. Short of being in a race, what matters is that you ride, that your ride safely, and that you respect what your body is capable of doing at any one moment. There's no right or wrong.

That said, there are things you can do to get faster if you choose to make that a priority. I would direct you to this thread on getting faster for some helpful suggestions, along with a few "pep talks."

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=16427&highlight

Most of all, have fun.

K-

[Torrilin]

That's actually a pretty good average speed for a hilly area. It is very easy for your speed on steep or long uphills to drop down to around 3 mph... which is an average walking speed. It's also quite normal to need to get off and walk your bike. If you can't ride in a fairly straight line up a hill because you're breathing so hard and are wobbly, it's past time to get off.

It takes practice to get the full benefit of a downhill too. And sometimes it's not safe to try to get the maximum speed off a downhill. You might have bad pavement, or a busy road, or tricky curves... It is a judgment call. I don't try to go full speed down my nemesis hill. It has a cross street at the bottom with poor line of sight, pavement in bad condition, and a curve right after the intersection at the bottom. Not a good place for me to try to set a speed record :).

Hills do really good things for your endurance and speed on the flat. So it's not all bad :D

[mimitabby]

Welcome to TE! how many pounds are in a stone??

It took me a YEAR to improve .4 of a mile an hour. You're doing GREAT!

Tell your boyfriend to cool his jets. You're going to get there; but not in the next 3 months. If he's in such a hurry for you to be as fast as he is, tell him to buy a tandem; then he'll never be able to get away from you. (That's what we did!)

keep doing hills, they are the best thing to train you to get faster. One of these days you're going to notice that this hill or that hill is easier than it used to be.

Patience! and keep working out.
mimi

[uk elephant]

yay! another UK'er on TE! Don't worry so much about the speed. It'll come. I started off doing about 10mph and I live in the flatlands of Essex with no hills and have been commuting by bike all my life. I'm now up to 13mph on long rides, but that's after over a year of serious bike training. What got my speeds up was just lots and lots of bike-time, and some focus on pedalling technique to make the most of going clip-less. And I started doing some interval training too which helped. But it all takes time. And in my opinion, as long as you're having fun the rest will come by itself eventually.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I can't believe you did a 42 mile ride after riding only 3 weeks! :eek:

I am 53 and I started riding a year ago after not being on a bike at all since I was about 14.
It has taken me a YEAR to go from a 9.5 average speed to a 10.5mpg average. We live in very hilly area. I typically ride about 100 miles per week. My rides vary from 10 miles long to 70 miles.
I go as slow as 2.5mph up steep hills to as fast as 40mph downhill.....but the average comes out to 10.5 overall.

I would say you are doing VERY well so far! It takes MONTHS to build up the muscles in all the places you need them.
Just be proud of yourself and your major accomplishments so far! Your boyfriend should be proud of you too and he should try to enjoy riding with you without watching the computer so much. ;)

[batsheva]

Welcome to TE! how many pounds are in a stone??

mimi

1 stone = 14 lbs -
so just under 10 stone is a little less than 140 lbs

pretty trim for 5' 7" !!!!:D

bat

[indigoiis]

Give yourself a break... you only started three weeks ago! Just keep riding. Keep it fun!

;)

[SouthernBelle]

Honestly, every time I read about advice from a BF or a DH I cringe. You'll progress at your own speed. Sounds like you are doing fine.

[RoadRaven]

Indy has pointed you in the direction of a very useful thread, Liz.

Remember that training/everyday averages should not be your fastest pace. That means most of your riding should be at a slower speed than your fastest possible speed.

If you rode at your fastest/hardest effort every or most rides, you will wear yourself out and your fitness would actually go backwards.

If you want to measure improvements, then choose one course and measure your speed on it every 3-4 weeks...

There is a lot more detail in the other thread
:)

[teigyr]

I think you are doing well.

There are some riders who are faster than others. I am not a fast rider; I went on a 50 mile ride the other day and between stop signs, hills, and my general wussiness, I averaged 13.6 mph! I've been riding a lot longer than DH and he puts me to shame in maintaining a high mph.

I know you'll read it other places but everyone progresses at their own rate and everyone has a different riding style. I'm not fast and fast short rides kill me but longer slow rides don't.

You haven't been riding long enough to judge yourself :) Just have fun with it, don't have unrealistic expectations, and don't try to live up to what other people think you should be. It should be enjoyable instead of a source of pressure.

[Geonz]

Hills make a huuuuge difference, especially when you're beginning. It's just mathematical - if you get off and walk the average goes right down the drain. As far as your actual riding time you're prob'ly right there at the 12-13 that BF thinks you "should" be... but I'd suggest finding that song "Don't should on me and I won't should on you" :-)

[Cyclesome]

You are doing great! Give yourself time and bike, bike, bike and you will improve. I have many hills here and they are a pain! I thought I could make up the MPH going downhill, but haven't found this to be true. I have managed to increase my mph on the same route from 10 mph to 14 mph in two years of riding.

What helped me besides more time on the bike was the free website called bikejournal.com. This site enables you to customize a journal for yourself where you can keep track of such things as goals, distance, average mph, date of ride, description of route, calories, etc. Over time, you can see improvement and I am sure you will. The ladies on this site and bikejournal.com are the best motivaters for fun, exercise, and improvement I have found.

[Scarlet]

Hey Liz,
2-6 of us cycle at about your speed ( I wish)
get in touch
i live in Leyland and the others Blackburn
sometimes we do flats like southport and Blackpool and other times we do hills like Rivington (killer)
we do between 20 to 40 miles but aim to do more as 3 of us are doing JOGLE next year so need to build up before summer 2008 to 80 per day for 12-14 days
scarlet

[liz_999]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Pleased to read that my speed is ok for the area I am travelling in. I have already noticed the difference on certain routes - some hills that I was crawling up at 3mph I am now nearing 5 - 6mph on a day I am feeling good. I have had a little look at that link that was posted on how to improve speeds, and will try to follow the advice and have more realistic expectations. I think what I need most is base miles and I just need to get out on the bike. I see that the general speed does seem to be about 12 - 13 so I can make that my long term goal. I will have a look at the bikejournal website - will be very useful to monitor my training.

Just to mention that BF is not some crazy 'cycling fascist'! I think because I am reasonably fit he expected me to be riding a bit faster thats all, on our 42 miler (yes i know very soon to be doing that distance!) he was very patient and actually gave me a helping hand literally when i was struggling up the hills!

Scarlet - am definately up for cycling with your group!

Have another question too... Am going on a cycling tour Nice - Milan on Wednesday (hence how fast I have thrown myself into cycling!) with my BF. We are going to be carrying everything on our panniers and camping but will be packing as light as we can. What do you think is a realistic mileage per day if we are wanting to be cycling most days of the 2 weeks? Obviously I dont want to kill myself. I found with the 42 miler that my legs were aching in places I never knew I had muscles, but I had fairly quick recovery and did another 15 miles the next day to get the muscles moving again. But it is going to be a holiday so it should be enjoyable!

Oh and I am really enjoying cycling so far, have already noticed the difference in my bum! :D

Liz

[wiseowl]

some hills that I was crawling up at 3mph I am now nearing 5 - 6mph on a day I am feeling good.
\

That sounds like a significant improvement to me! I don't have anything new to say, except please update us on how the tour goes- that is a very interesting question for me too (how far is reasonable without being deadly!)
And it sounds like a fantastic tour!

[Torrilin]

Use the maximum weekly miles you've done so far as a baseline. If 150 miles is the max, that works out to around 5 days of 30 miles a day on tour, with 2 rest days a week. The second week you can reasonably extend the mileage around 10%, so 165 miles. If the area you'll be touring is much flatter than your home turf, you'll be able to go somewhat further (but from what I recall of geography, I don't think Nice to Milan is likely to be flat...). A 50 mile day is probably a reasonable maximum for you right now.

That's much less than an experienced bike tourist would plan on. But a lot of experienced bike tourists have *practiced* doing much longer rides, so they know their bike works well for 100-150 miles in the saddle every day. You don't know how your bike works for those sorts of distances, so shooting for them is a good way to get hurt. Also, doing 100 miles every day doesn't leave a lot of time for sightseeing :).

After you've completed this tour, you'll have a much better idea of how well your bike fits. And you'll be in much better shape for long rides. Fix up the bike if any problems develop, and for your next tour you'll be able to go longer :D

Oh, and remember riding with a load changes things. You *do* feel it. Don't be surprised if a distance that felt easy unloaded feels much harder loaded. If you can get a loaded practice ride or three in before you leave, it will help a lot.

[Veronica]

I'd rather do 30 - 40 mile days when I am cycling touring, especially if I'm hauling my own stuff. It leaves you time to enjoy where you are, talk to people, take pictures, explore interesting places. Also, you don't have to ride so hard that you can't enjoy the local cuisine.

If you're currently riding at a ten mile an hour pace, that's 4 hours of riding time just cover the 40 miles. That leaves you a reasonable amount of the day to be a tourist.

V.

[Crankin]

I agree with V. On the organized tours I've done (no panniers yet for the Maislins), I will do one or two days of "long" mileage, like 50-60 miles. On the other days, I have usually done what are called the "medium" routes of 30-40 miles so i have time to do other stuff. Otherwise I start to have a hateful feeling toward my bike...

[boy in a kilt]

I've ridden the roads around Nice. Beautiful but apt to be a bit hilly. I've been to that part of the world a few times and I'm hoping to take my wife (who posts here and talked me into joining the forum) there on bikes. Someday.

Couple of ideas. Don't "plan" on doing so much distance per day. Touring is about enjoying the trip (and eating). I've done 120 mile days over mountain passes with a full load and I've spent a days where I've been lucky to hit 40 miles. Each trip will (or should) develop its own rhythm.

If you need to plan for things like accommodations, best to experiment. Load yourself up with roughly the amount of gear you'll take, then toss in another 10 kilos for good measure and do a ride at a nice pace. You should be a little tired at the end of the day, but not totally knackered. Plan based on that. If I had to pick a number, I'd say 60-70 km per day would be a good starting point.

[liz_999]

Hello again, am back from the cycle tour!:)

First things, I have been very silly - it seems my speedo is different to everyone elses and instead of working out my average speed for that particular ride, it works it out across all rides... so as my first ride was very hilly and a couple of subsequent rides were flat i was thinking my ride speed was 9mph for the flat when really that was the average of them both... realised this when i did 12 miles in under an hour and still had a speed of 9.5!!
So it seems I am faster than I originally thought!

The tour was very successful, did about 500 miles in about 10 days, did a couple of 60 mile days, and also cycled up Alpe D'Huez (had to stop once 2km from the top with excruciating stitch - could kick myself now!) and the Col du Lauteret, and Montgenevre and a place called Sestriere -did Montgenevre and Sestriere on the same day - 2 huge climbs and then had an amazing 56km of descent of about 2000m, was crazy!

So I have gained a bit of muscle in my calves (I had stick legs before) and toned my thighs and lost about 5lb!:D Am now looking forward to NOT eating pasta!!! My body is just about recovering (only had 2 rest days during the trip and then had the day before we flew home in Milan where we didnt cycle). Have found that the tendons/ligaments right behind my knees are very tight, and found also that my knees suffered a lot during the rides. Not sure why this is, does anyone else have painful knees when climbing in particular???:confused:

So after around a month of cycling I am very proud of myself and just want to carry on now! Bike needs a service though!

Thanks for your posts!:D

Liz

Liz

[rij73]

Are you kidding? You did some of the major Tour de France climbs after cycling for one month??? I find that absolutely incredible! :eek:

How did it feel to climb for sooooo long at a stretch?
Before cycling were you already strong from some other sport?
How about pictures of your trip?

Enquiring minds want to know! :D

[Veronica]

Not sure why this is, does anyone else have painful knees when climbing in particular???:confused:



I've had knee pain all my life - even when I was a little kid, some sort of biomechanical genetic thing I think. I just avoid the things that I know cause it.

One of those is trying to climb in too big of a gear.

V.

[amy]

liz_999... WOW! How does one even bike those distances after such a short time on a bike? I can't even imagine. Having just read the distances and experience time, I would worry about your knees! Clearly you are a strong woman!

As your friendly online therapist, however, I would recommend more frequent training at shorter distances, daily GENTLE stretches of those legs, and perhaps icing after a ride for now. A good yoga class would be great.

But I will admit I know far more about therapy and the body than about cycling, and many women here have done amazing things. I'm in the "go slow and steady to start" camp.

Good luck!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Liz999-
You must be some incredible cycling prodigy! :eek: :eek: :eek:
How can you even TALK about being discouraged at your average speed?? :confused: :confused:

You need to sign up for the Paris-Brest-Paris and then.... on to the Tour de France!! :eek: :cool:

[RoadRaven]

Hey there liz - first well done on completeing a great tour...
Most impressive...

But I have to ask... are you saying you had only been on a bike for a month before yu did this tour?
And if so what sport did you do before cycling? Marathon running or some kind of running sport?
And what kind've bike were you on? If you had a triple, it would have made the climbs (like Huez) much more manageable...

I am intrigued, I would love to do this type of tour. But after training for 2 years, and racing for 1 year, I was shattered after a 66 km hilly road race on Saturday... how did you achieve these distances day after day if you only had a month to prepare?

Are we misinterpreting your post?

[Eden]

Touring is *completely* different from racing. My husband and I used to go and do loaded tours without much if any preparation (back in the old days, when no one told you that you had to train for it..., so we didn't know we weren't supposed to be able to do it ;) ) Sure 60 - 90 miles on a loaded touring bike isn't a walk in the park (and we would keep most of the days on a longer tour down to 30 -40ish - like V says, more time to enjoy the place you are cycling through), but you never have to go faster than you want to, you can stop and smell the flowers, look at the sights, get a bite to eat, just stretch and rest and sip your water bottle any time you want to. Novel idea huh!
It really does make a big difference. Its like getting to recover in little bits all day long, so even if you get to your destination tired and hungry, you can eat, sleep and be OK to do it all again the next day. Even with races - I've done a fair amount of stage racing, which at my level means 3 - 4 races over 2-3 days, you would be very suprised at how much you can recover overnight if you get a good meal and lots of sleep in, but that was after *lots* of training, but yeah even a 24 mile race can feel much more taxing than a 60 mile day touring.

[Jiffer]

Liz, it sounds like you are doing amazing for only 3 weeks out. I have a Dh I get a lot of training advice from, which has been very, very helpful. But it is also nice to come on this site with other women, who understand what it is like to be a woman cyclist, and get input from them. I'm sure you'll love it here.

Remember that you will probably never be as fast as your BF unless he doesn't improve and you do. Minitabby gave great in advice in considering a tandem. Dh and I ride a tandem road bike, which is actually how I got into cycling a year ago. I go wherever he goes and we get there at exactly the same time!!! :D Working at our individual levels of ability and strength. I also have my own single bike now, which I also love, but I rarely ride it with Dh unless he's all set to go my pace with me, which sometimes he does. But I also enjoy going out there all by myself, going as fast or slow as I want on the route that I choose.

As for hills, they are no fun, especially at first. Dh has actually come to LOVE hills and searches out centuries that have a lot of elevation on purpose! WHATEVER!!! It's just something he has found to be good at and enjoys passing up everyone else. :) I have decided to make myself have a better attitude about hills, since there's no getting around them where I live, and I'm making a point to get better at them. "Hills are my friend!", I keep telling myself! The more I ride them, the better I get at them.

One little tip, when riding a hill that doesn't have a lot of traffic on it. If it's so steep that you feel like you just have to stop the bike because you can't keep going up at that grade, try turning the bike to the left and then the right, to take the hill at a lower grade. I discovered this trick a while back when trying to conquer a killer hill. Luckily, there was very little traffic.

Good luck on all your future riding adventures!!!

[indysteel]

I'm sitting here with furrowed brow because Liz did some of France's most infamous climbs after three weeks of riding and I'm worried about my weeklong tour of Middle Tennessee. Granted, repeated steep grades, no matter how short, can take it out of you, but still. Alpe d'Huez? Five hundred miles in 10 days? I must be a big wimp or something. The first time I hit 500 miles in a month was a big deal. Am I missing something?

[rij73]

Don't worry Indy... seems like a lot of us are feeling that way! That's why I wish liz_999 would come back and answer some of our questions! :p

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Don't worry Indy... seems like a lot of us are feeling that way! That's why I wish liz_999 would come back and answer some of our questions! :p

She's probably busy pedaling up Mt. Everest! :eek: :cool:

[lauraelmore1033]

I smell a replay of the CaliSunshine smackdown in the breeze...

[KSH]

Hey, you are a new rider! It takes months to get your riding legs under you.

How do you get better at hills? Ride hills. Plain and simple.

And don't let what you see other people doing discourage you. You don't know their terrian or how flat it is for them. I ride in Dallas, TX USA- and it's pretty much flat here. So my average will be faster than yours. If I rode hills, it would not be.

Keep at it. Do not get discouraged. It takes time to get better.

[Eden]

I smell a replay of the CaliSunshine smackdown in the breeze...

I honestly don't think this gal is being rude... she hasn't disparaged anyone else. She's new, probably young and she's fit, and what she's said she has been able to do does not sound outrageous.

[RoadRaven]

I agree Eden
I don't think she's being rude or whatever the CaliSunshine reference referred to.

If Liz had experience in another endurance sport... or used low gearing... or is young and fit... then I can understand much more.

Thats why I posed my wonderings, because from my perspective - middle-aged, on a compact, only 2 years on the bike... I don't think I could do even one of Le Tour "hills"...

Looking forward to you popping back, Liz :)

[kelownagirl]

Sometimes you do hard stuff because you don't know you "can't" or "shouldn't". I did my first hilly 55km ride with almost no riding experience beforehand. It was 100 degrees out. I was on my old mountain bike. I did it and survived. That was before I knew that 55km was a long ride for a beginner. Sometimes "not knowing" allows you to get out there and just do it.

[lauraelmore1033]

sorry, for those mystified by my comment: Lisa's sarcastic remark about cycling up Mt Everest reminded me of a rather explosive thread from, maybe a year ago, in which a young woman made some rather extravagant claims about having bested a whole paceline of experienced road bike riders while on her mountain bike. The forum's collective response was, at first, "you GO girl!", but soon turned to questioning and then to unmitigated rage, prompting at least one administrator to intervene.

I would agree that we don't know what liz999 is capable of or even the particulars of her tour. Just a look at the crowds lining the TDF routes during the race--most of whom got there under their own steam-- should be proof enough that it is possible for mere mortals to "get up there". Maybe not at a break neck speed, or with comfort or ease, but it is possible...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

sorry, for those mystified by my comment: Lisa's sarcastic remark about cycling up Mt Everest.....


Sarcastic?? No, I was serious! Any woman who can go from having "stick legs" and not being on a bike in 15 years and averaging 9mph to three weeks later having muscles on their calves, toned thighs, and pedaling up the Tour de France ascents with full camping gear loaded on their panniers would absolutely be able to ascend Mt. Everest! It's truly amazing and I honestly want to know the secret. ...or maybe the secret is just being young?, in which case there is little hope for women like me. :(

[liz_999]

Hello all, sorry just started new university course so been a bit busy to reply...

First of all, I did Alpe d'huez without panniers, left them at the campsite in Bourg d'oisans. I do have a triple, and was in the lowest gear possible, and it wasnt that bad because the hair pins are flat so give you a couple of seconds every 10m or so for your legs to have a break. The Col du Lautaret i did do with full panniers but i did as a 'tourist' with regular breaks to take pictures and let my legs have a break!!!

I am 22 (nearly 23!) so I am young, and of reasonable fitness - did no organised sports before starting cycling (in August) but i did go to the gym a few times a week although i am the first to admit i didnt exactly push myself!

Before i went on the tour i was convinced i wouldnt be able to do more than 30 mile days and even in the first few days we nearly changed the route so that it avoided as much of the alps as possible. The first few days I found incredibly hard and there were lots of tears and tantrums!:o but somehow my legs got used to it and as mentioned by one of you its a lot easier touring when you know you can take a break at any point. My 60 mile days were lasting all day so i wasnt exactly completing them in 3 hours but that was ok because we could take time as we cycled through places.

Oh and i seriously havent been on a bike since I was 15 although i did used to attempt to cycle for 5 - 10 minutes at the gym but didnt like it.

Will add photos when my camera charged -just tried but battery has gone!

Have taken a long break since I have got back - just went to the gym last night but did 30m slow on the bike just to get my legs spinning. Will take on board the advice about the knees! I intend to go to yoga anyway as my back is quite weak due to poor posture and if it will help with easing the pain of cycling thats a bonus!

Liz

My bf asks if he can chip in:

Sorry to invade the female only zone! I just thought I'd add a few thoughts. I got into cycling a couple of years ago after two friends suggested a tour in France. After a months preparation we then did a month long tour in France and Switzerland taking in Galibier, dhuez, courcheval and tons more in reasonable times. Granted I played quite a bit of sport in the year leading up to it such as football squash and going to the gym. My point is I was no cyclist and I managed 800 miles in three weeks. My thinking was when asking my girlfriend to join me on this tour was that with a few weeks training she would be able to do a tour with me with shorter days at much slower speeds. We had a training weeked in the hilly lake district to prepare for it. And from my own experience the initial adaptation is incredible.

People make too much out of Alpe dhuez and tour climbs. Doing 120 mile days averaging 25 mph like the tour riders do over such terrain is unthinkable of mere mortals like me and my girlfriend. But anyone with reasonable fitness can do it. Ive seen kids as young as ten riding up as well as overweight blokes on mountain bikes. Its just the speed that you do it that varies. Thats not to say it isnt an achievement to feel proud about because it hurts like hell getting up there!! Ideally more base miles would have been put in but we didnt have time. ps Lizs calves arent muscular :) ... and she is very slow, but determined. I don't think she would be good enough for racing at anytime in the near future.

[spokewench]

There really is no reason that this young woman could not have done what she did. We all seem to think that things are harder than they really are.

Last year, I went to do the Bicycle Tour of Colorado, lots of climbing, mountain passes, approx. 480 miles in six days of riding with one rest day. I really thought it was going to be hard and I have been riding bikes for almost 20 years. But, some of that feeling is because I don't really like to ride for more than 4 hours at a time, 6 at the most. Well, I trained quite a bit, mostly just rode lots of hills before we went and that worked for me. I was able to ride the route without being miserable and without taking all day!

But, to my surprise, there were a ton of people that ride those rides that don't look like they could ever finish them. They are overweight, riding junker bikes, underweight, riding junker bikes, people with cancer, and other diseases who are just heroic, and they finish those rides. They may get up really, really early, before light and ride till dark, but they finish! So, it is really incredible what people can do, and who those people are too.

So, I think it is really in what kind of riding you are willing to do, what speeds, and how much determination you have. It is amazing what any one person can do physically.

I surprised myself on that ride - and I think that a lot of TE'ers would surprise themselves as well if they push their limits! We have wonderful surprises and abilities that we really don't know are there until we try them out.

[indysteel]

Liz, I think that's just awesome!!!! As some of you know from my own thread about my upcoming ride in TN, I've had some moments of weakness--including a bad one yesterday--when I have really doubted whether doing the tour is a good idea. Reading Liz and Spokewench's stories have really given me a renewed sense of determination. Thank you ever so much. :)

K-

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I surprised myself on that ride - and I think that a lot of TE'ers would surprise themselves as well if they push their limits! We have wonderful surprises and abilities that we really don't know are there until we try them out.

I think that is generally true- people tend to think they "cannot" do something they have not tried yet.
Good for you doing that huge tour!

I've ridden over 4,500 miles over the past year- far more than I ever would have dreamed possible. :) Yet sometimes I start out on a really long ride, full of strength and confidence and towards the end I am really exhausted. I think it will take me many more months to increase my strength and stamina. I like to think my age (53) is not going to hold me back too much.

And I look forward to seeing a few of Liz's pictures.

[Crankin]

I think the key phrase is that if you push yourself, you can do it. The problem is that after a certain point, i don't want to push myself. Now, I'm not saying that I haven't done things on the bike that I thought I'd never do and I know what seems normal to me astounds my non-cycling friends. But, sometimes I am just as happy doing my 16 mile loop. In fact, most of the time, I am. I've done a century, done 50 mile rides with 5,000 feet of climbing, and I can climb 18% grades (slowly). But the thought of doing those things most of the time, when I sit here and think about it, doesn't thrill me. I keep wondering if I am just a wimp, when I see those people on beater bikes finishing long rides. I mean, I am always happy when I finish doing one of those challenging rides, but in my head, I am never very happy in the beginning of a ride that is challenging. It definitely is in my head, because I always finish, but I guess I will never be one of those people training for a double!