Lessons learned on my first 10 mile ride

Today was my first 10 mile ride ever (10.6 miles to be exact). It was just me, my knobby mountain bike, and the 2yr old in a trailer with a big ol' flag sticking out. We were quite the sight on those back country roads.

I learned a few things while I was out and about (most of which people have already posted about, but you don't really understand the significance until you try it yourself ;) ).

1. Seat position is pretty important. I'm pretty sure I've got the seat high enough, but I think I need to move it forward a bit because I'm sitting more on my front than my sit bones (I can feel the difference when I force myself to sit back), and my girly bits don't really appreciate that much. Ouch. And I should save up for some bike shorts.

2. A black cotton t-shirt is perhaps not the best thing to choose for a ride in the sun. I totally spaced when I did my gear check and didn't even think about grabbing my dri-fit shirt. Thankfully, I had enough water to make up for the extra sweat loss.

3. If you focus on the road right in front of you and don't look up too much, even the big hills look the same as the flat stretches. As soon as I look up to see how far you've got to go, though, my legs lose all their power for the next couple of strokes. Mind over matter, I suppose.

4. I decided to set my bike computer to just tell me the distance, and not the average speed or anything else. I was just focused on getting to 10 miles and not killing myself, and that really helped.

5. It really helps when the little one naps - then he doesn't care how fast/slow you're going, what bumps you hit, or how hot it is. And no "I want to go home" in three part harmony. He slept through about 80% of the ride, including the really big hills, so I didn't hear a lot of complaining from him when I needed a break. And when he finally did wake up, he provided some entertainment with his own renditions of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and "The Ghostbusters Theme Song" :D

6. Granny gear is your best friend.

It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure after hauling the little one around I'll be even better on the hills than I was before. He weighs about 25 pounds, plus whatever the trailer weighs. It *really* sucks when we hit a headwind, because the trailer acts like a drag chute, but it rocks going downhill - we hit almost 25mph on one of the huge downhills.

And, of course, the biggest lesson I learned was "I will survive" :)

And don't forget the sunscreen.

Good going!

About where to look in the hills...I read someone here said they looked at the top of the hills to get motivation. I can't do that, either. Just keeping the head looking up the line just enough to hold my line and avoid obstacles. I don't know how looking up the hill would help! lol.

Karen

Cool on you for taking the little one w/ you.. By choice or neccesity, it's a good thing! That being siad, I give you an extra 100+ points for hauling a little one in a trailer on nobbys! WOW!!! Thats some work there! If you ever put yourself on a fast little road ride after hauling that weight, you'll be like a rocket! No joke, those trailers are heavy!!
Being a mom who had her son in the jogging trailer at the ripe old age of 7 weeks, I have to say that this is a time you will remember years down the road. I have pictures of him and I in a local 10k. He wore my race # and had his sippy cup in his hand. I think he was 2-3.. It's one of my favorite race pictures to this day. Enjoy this time w/ your little one, and know that you are teaching him/her a valuable lesson about being outside and active!
Cheers!
Denise

One word describes that: SWEET!!!! :) :D :p

You know, it's hearing about and experiencing these types of moments that keep even us veteran riders interested and motivated in the sport. Cycling is SOOOOO awesome!

Way to go, Geek....and I call you that in the fondest possible way, honest! :p Pretty soon you'll be setting your ride goal to 15, then 20, then....

WAY cool...
~BikeMomma

Great job! Even better with a trailer on hills! Awesome! I love it when my kids go "wheeeeeee" when we go fast and go "ahhhhhhhhh" as we go over gravel. It makes the funniest sound. Treasure the "itsy bitsy spider" moments!

Running Mommy - I keep reminding myself that once I can afford a road bike, or at least some slicks for the mountain bike, that I'll be blasting around the neighborhood. And it's starting to do wonders for my leg muscles :D

The boy actually makes me go out and ride even when I don't want to. He enjoys it even more than I do.

BikeMomma - I'm already trying to figure out what roads I need to take to get more distance. The town is pretty small, so unless I want to do laps (not likely), I have to take a lot of back country roads with big hills. I'm just trying to stay away from the gravel ones and the state highway. But 15 miles is looking pretty good right now :D

fishdr - The other day I was hauling both the 7 yr old (about 40 pounds, she's *really* skinny) and the 2 yr old (about 25 pounds) to the park. Thankfully, there was only one decent hill on the way. And they provided some decent sound effects. When we went down the hill on the way back home, they thought it was awesome - we hit some pretty good speed on that one and passed everyone we were riding with. It was a lot of fun.

I do laps pretty regularly (but a: I was a swimmer first, and cornfield laps are *still* more interesting than chlorine laps, b: my four-mile grid actually has a sort-of *hill* on one mile of it, so it's more interesting than 8 miles of corn/soybeans/corn/soybeans anyway and c: it's harder to get lost!). Trying to do that hill mile in the same time the second or third time around is a great workout. But then, with the trailer and cheering crown, you're getting that already!
I do believe the residents are just used to me ... 'round here, they're pretty friendly to wandering souls, even if we're wandering in squares or circles... you could really get to know your neighbors :-)

what a great ride report! :D and yep, bike shorts are a must and will probably help a lot... keep us posted on how you're doing... and know that sometime when you ride without the trailer and the little one you're gonna FLY! :eek: :D