Reversing the damage of nursing school

Hello all. I have been lurking here for a couple weeks since my husband surprised me with the purchase of a bike for my birthday. All winter I was whining about how I miss riding my bike and how nursing school is slowly making me fat. I have gained about 20 pounds since starting in September.
A couple weeks ago, I began my two week spring break between terms and my husband thought it would be a good idea to buy my gift early. He had spent months researching different bikes that he felt would fit my needs. I went to the local Trek store and told the gentleman what I would be using my bike for and he was pushing for me to buy a hybrid. my husband suggested that I try the Cali S as he thought that would work best for me. Having not done any research myself, I trusted his word and test rode the bike. I really enjoyed it as I have always had mountain bikes growing up. So, I took it home that day and rode 2 miles in the 22 degree spring weather we were having.
It's been about three weeks now since I've started riding the bike. I love it, but deep down inside I wonder if I should have chosen a road bike. I only ride on the road, but my husband has mentioned that he wants to try trails some day. I wish I wasn't a poor college kid and could afford to have both. The bike isn't bad to ride, and I bought some bontrager race shorts to help me endure the longer distances. Today, I did my longest ride in my entire life of just under 25 miles. It has been amazing to see how much stronger I have become in the past few weeks and I hope to become even stronger as the year progresses. Attachment 17015

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Originally Posted by thenomad13

Hello all. I have been lurking here for a couple weeks since my husband surprised me with the purchase of a bike for my birthday. All winter I was whining about how I miss riding my bike and how nursing school is slowly making me fat. I have gained about 20 pounds since starting in September.
A couple weeks ago, I began my two week spring break between terms and my husband thought it would be a good idea to buy my gift early. He had spent months researching different bikes that he felt would fit my needs. I went to the local Trek store and told the gentleman what I would be using my bike for and he was pushing for me to buy a hybrid. my husband suggested that I try the Cali S as he thought that would work best for me. Having not done any research myself, I trusted his word and test rode the bike. I really enjoyed it as I have always had mountain bikes growing up. So, I took it home that day and rode 2 miles in the 22 degree spring weather we were having.
It's been about three weeks now since I've started riding the bike. I love it, but deep down inside I wonder if I should have chosen a road bike. I only ride on the road, but my husband has mentioned that he wants to try trails some day. I wish I wasn't a poor college kid and could afford to have both. The bike isn't bad to ride, and I bought some bontrager race shorts to help me endure the longer distances. Today, I did my longest ride in my entire life of just under 25 miles. It has been amazing to see how much stronger I have become in the past few weeks and I hope to become even stronger as the year progresses. Attachment 17015

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Ooooh! Congrats on a new bike from a sweet husband! I would say that you should fall in love with biking again and enjoy both the road and the trails. Mountain bikes can be used on both trail and roads, plus I think that your Cali S is a 29er. So, if you already bought this bike, I would get stronger on it, ride on some trails, and figure out if you love the feel on a road bike or not before your road bike purchase. There is always Craigslist too.

I'm also excited that you went from 2 miles to riding 25 miles in only a few weeks!!! I think that it took me a few months to improve as much as you did in a few weeks.

Welcome aboard. My sister and cousin are nurses so I'm familiar with the demands of nursing school.

My first bike (as an adult) was a hardtail mountain bike. For the first few years I had it, I rode it mostly on roads and paved trails, with some riding on a canal towpath. I had lots of fun with it. Eventually I started riding single track. I bought a road bike four years later, and I mostly ride that now, but I still like like to ride the mountain bike on dirt paths from time to time.

Enjoy your new bike, and good luck with school!!