I am sooo proud of myself!!!!

On Saturday my husband and I took a 40 mile ride on the Perkiomen Tail here in PA. My husband is pretty new to his road bike ( my old one) and I took my new one out. I was so impressed on the way back. For the most part the trail is flat with minimal hills. And of course you have the what look like professionals zooming by you. Well this one incline was approaching and 2 professional zoomed right by us. I just watched them as they took this hill like it was almost a downhill!!!! It must have inspired us cause as I took the hill I was trying to "look" like what they did when they climbed it. Before I knew it I was up it and didn't even feel any burn in my muscles!!! Still feel great just remembering that!!

Way to go! I am not a natural hill climber, so when I climb a hill in a manner that feels "strong" to me (even if it might be slow in comparison to others), it really makes my ride.

Yay! Congrats on your accomplishment!

I'm still struggling a bit on hills. It isn't nearly as easy for me as it was 14 years ago on my hybrid.

Good for you! :) It's a nice feeling when things click.
And, a 40 mile ride is nothing to sneeze at even if it is mostly flat.

Congrats! It feels so good when you tackle a hill and end up at the top feeling amazing.

I'm in PA as well but haven't tried the Perikomen Trail yet. Did you catch it off the SRT or on the north end?

SRT. I live between Kutztown and Allentown. We have to load the bikes and go. We usually go down there cause you don't have to worry about traffic. Where I live the Velodrome is close by and cars are ok with bikers for the most part cause there are always bikers on the road.

Excellent! I'm over in Cheltenham Township and am always looking for places to take the kids to ride. And also great places for myself to ride on-path instead of on the narrow, busy streets when I need to ride by myself. :)

So far I've taken them over to Forbidden Drive (they loved that). Sounds like a great trail! Thanks for mentioning Perikomen!

We have kids too. One is 18 and just graduated and the other is 9. The 9 year old is having a tough time learning to ride. I have had her out a couple of times but she turns the tears on as soon as she feels she is going to fall even though I'm right there. Wish she would get over her fear and learn already. I would love to take her along on the trail.

I totally understand - two of my kids had similar issues with learning to ride. My mom finally helped one of my kids, who was having the same mental issues about riding his bike, by having him think of how airplanes fly. If they stop when it's time to take off, they wouldn't fly. So if you want to "fly" on your bike, you have to keep pedaling and look ahead.

I have a 14 yr old (boy), a 12 yr old (boy), and a 9 yr old (girl). I'd be happy to bring my kids and meet up with you on the trail - see if the girls hit it off? My daughter only recently figured out riding in the last year or so. We just bought her a bike with gears, which she is getting confidence with. She's not used to hand brakes yet.

Sometimes it helps to have a peer? Let me know - as a parent, I know the time we do have for leisure is at a premium.

Thanks. I told my husband and he said the same thing about meeting up with you one weekend on the trail. Hopefully she will be riding by then and we can just go for a casual ride. I'll let you know the next time we go down to the trail.

Excellent! Looking forward to connecting in the future!