She's got legs and she knows how to use them

[marni]

Whoo hoo! I had an absolutely magnificent ride today. I have been struggling since I fell, cracked my head and broke some ribs in the fall, then things got really busy and the weather got lousy so I had two months off the bike and didn't start riding again til the end of January when on my third time out I was brushed by a trailer behind a pick up truck, fell again, cracked my head and my ribs on the other side and was off the bike for another month of recovery. Since the very end of February I have been working very hard with a trainer 2x a week and doing a variety of resistance and cardio intervals and endurance on the treadmill and stationary bike at the gym.

I have done a couple of slow easy local rides 0a charity ride with my husband this weekend to get the feel back but today I decided to treat as a training day and chaallenge myself distance and speed wise. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, 70 degrees, sunny, low humidity, winds in the 10-15 range, lots of early wildflowers, a starbucks about 10 miles from the end. My legs felt great, I pushed the speed and although I was panting I was still able to ride at a good pace. I finished and felt wonderful. It feels like I'm back to where I started before although falls and stuff.

today's stats- 44 miles in 2:34 = 16.3 mph almost but not quite a personal best for me.:)

[SLash]

Congratulations, that's a great ride! Way to get back on the bike and keep your fitness up while recovering. :)

Susan

[owlice]

Wow!!! That's fabulous; congratulations!!

[OakLeaf]

Yay Marni!

[XMcShiftersonX]

Yay! I'm so happy for you! I've been silently rooting for you since I read the post under "crazy drivers." I was hoping you'd start to feel better soon and get back in to it, and I'm so glad you're at that turning point now after so much work. Good job.

[marni]

thank you one and all for the atta girls.

I did another 34 miles yesterday which was to help a lady new to biking, find her way around some routes. The temperatures were lovely but there was a pretty hefty wind which as always was in our faces on the way back, plus one of my favorite back road to several of the routes was blocked off by road construction so we had the extra fun of wending our way through the construction, road machines, traffic etc. to make our way out of the area since turning back was impossible.

This was all new stuff to Marion so she got a real baptism of fire. She may never ride with me again. :)

Neverthe less it was a good chance for me to ride slow (13 mph) and spin a lot to burn off the accumulation of lactic acid in the legs which I was definitely feeling.

thanks again for the atta girls.


marni

[Jiffer]

Wow. I'm a pretty major cycling addict, but I don't know if even I could get back on a bike after crashing twice like that. Kudos to you! :D

[marni]

Wow. I'm a pretty major cycling addict, but I don't know if even I could get back on a bike after crashing twice like that. Kudos to you! :D

but when you are addicted, what choice do you have?

marni

[XMcShiftersonX]

I agree. It takes a lot of courage to get back on the bike after all of that. And to get over the fear I'm sure you experienced, I don't know if I would be able to do it. You're very strong and brave and I hope you're proud of yourself for doing it!:D

[cmac77354]

Very cool, glad to hear you were able to ride so soon after your crashes. I had a bad wreck just before the MS 150 last year which prevented me from participating. I also am from Houston, don't see too many of us H town girls here!! I'm fortunate that I still get to ride in the city, and in the country as I moved to Magnolia recently. Lots of great places to ride just out my back door. Anyway just wanted to say hi to another Houstonian.