Hello - new rider

Hello! I'm so excited I found this site. I've been avidly reading all week and have learned so much great information already!

I'm new to riding. When my sons were small I used to ride mountain bikes (from Walmart) with my husband with the kids in seats on the back and really enjoyed it, but haven't ridden regularly for many years. I never really liked my bike though and that was a deterent to ride.

I had a hysterectomy in the spring of this year and told my husband that after I recovered from surgery this was going to be my year to really get fit! So last week I went to a bike store and walked out with a shiny new Trek fx7.2 WSD. I love this bike! I'm 40 years old, about 20 pounds overweight, and very physically dis-conditioned, but I'm doing it! I've been working on short rides about a mile to 2 miles over the last week and I can already tell I'm getting stronger. At first I could barely make it out of the gently inclining driveway to the road and now I can whip right up it! My goal is to build up enough stamina that I can ride back and forth to work regularly. It's about a 7mile one way trip.

I ordered a cycling skort and got it in the mail yesterday - I can't believe how great it felt to ride in! When I first started reading what gear I should consider, I wasn't completely sold that I needed special shorts to wear on a bicycle, but WOW, you all were right. And to top it all off when I stopped at an intersection for traffic I got an appreciative honk from a passing car!

So anyhow, thanks so much for all the tips and tricks I've already read and really looking forward to more.

Windy

The song "Windy" goes through my head a lot when I ride, so I love your name! :)

You're going to love commuting! It makes going to work so much more fun. It also gets easier the more you ride, so keep it up!

Welcome to TE! Good for you for getting out and getting stronger. (See, it does get easier!)

Have fun!