remember when...?

[fultzie]

so this is really just another effort to further procrastinate cramming for my exam in (drumroll please) an hour and fifteen... make that fourteen minutes but.....

my mom was visiting this weekend and we spent Saturday morning and all day Sunday biking. she borrowed my cousin's old mtn bike and went out on the trails for the first time (woo hoo!!) and we did a road ride out to one of my fav. coffee places (40 miles round trip).

i realized that this month... actually, this WEEK... makes one year since i bought my road bike, and i started playing "remember when" in my head. i came up with a pretty long list for myself, and it's only been a year since i started "seriously" riding!!! see what you can come up with... get sentimental! it's fun to think back on how things have changed for you since you started riding, even if it was just a week ago!

remember when....

i HATED my legs
13 miles was a day trip that required an overnight visit before the return trip home!
i ate an entire box of Near East couscous after doing the same 40 miles i did this weekend
i needed a granola bar-- or two, or three-- to get through 20 miles
i hit the wall after 5, 10, 15, 20 miles
20 miles was HUGE
40 miles was HUGE
i thought i was gonna die going up That Hill (still do, sometimes...)
my cruiser was a "road bike"... then a "mtn bike"... now it's a "cruiser"!
i thought i was gonna die going DOWN that hill (on a trail)
i was zonked at the end of my fav. trail ride.
i had no idea what a derailleur was. or a hub. or a skewer. or a stem. or clipless. or cadence.
i weighed myself almost daily and cared what the numbers were, rather than listening to my body.
i glared at people on the multi-use path that rode fancy-shmancy skinny-tired bikes and had shoes that attatched to the pedals
i thought spandex was a big fashion no-no (okay, so it still is...)
my chromoly road frame was "light" (i have since learned that i ride a veritable tank... and i still love it )
my lead (maybe it's really not LEAD, but it feels like it!) cruiser frame "wasn't that heavy"
i put my first odometer on my cruiser. needed my then- boyfriend's help.
100 miles was not only huge, but IMPOSSIBLE
20 mph was not only huge, but IMPOSSIBLE
keeping up with the guys? HA!!! yeah, right! (kept up for the first time yesterday... grinned alllllll afternoon!)


alright. enough of that. back to studying.

what do YOU remember??!

[Adventure Girl]

I remember when I couldn't average 19 miles per hour on my road bike. I remember it like it was yesterday. Wait… It was yesterday!!

Seriously, those are some impressive accomplishments in just a year of cycling! Congratulations! I'll tag on to this thread, too with a bicycle birthday. Tomorrow is my mountain bike turns 4 years old! Wow! My cycling life has changed a lot in 4 years!

Here are a few of my "remember when" thoughts.
I remember a certain descent that took me a full year to clean. Now I can ride down it like it's nothing!
I remember the first time I conquered the three sisters (medium, large and extra large technical climbs with no rest between).
I remember my first night ride.
I remember my first race.
I remember my first night race!
I remember the first times I fixed a flat on the trail.
I remember the first time I broke and fixed a chain on the trail.
I remember when I thought it was insane for someone to have 5 bikes!!

P.S. Hey, fultzie, how did you do on the exam?

[JanT]

My mountain bike is now 3 years old, and I remember when...
I fell every time I hit the trails.

I came back from every mountain biking class with new bruises and blood.

I didn't know my way around the local trails.

I rode with toe clips! (Oh my God!)

I did slo-mo tip overs in my new clipless pedals.

I washed and lubed my bike after every outing. I'm less compulsive now!

I thought Roadies were nuts to do such boring rides.

I didn't mind driving to the trails.

I thought I'd never buy a road bike.

I bought a road bike and have loved it as much as mountain biking.

Things can change alot in three years!

[MightyMitre]

Cool thread!

I've had my road bike about 3 years and my mountain bike only 3 days!! I'm also revising for an exam on Thursday so haven't even had a chance to take my nice, new mtb out for a proper ride.

However...

I remember:

- how nervous I was before my first 10 mile tt
- bonking on a 15 mile ride while out on one of my first rides with my new club and being fed energy bars.
- being pushed up the long drags so I can keep up with the group. ( Hey - actually that was on Sunday )
- worrying that I had ' all the gear but no idea '. That my bike and kit were all way too shiney and professional-looking for the novice riding it.
- hitting 42mph on a local decent
- learning to ignore the pain when the going gets tough
- to keep my mouth closed when following a wheel in the rain
- that curry the night before a long ride isn't such a good idea.

[skibum]

Great thread and it couldn't have come at a better time. I was frustrated because I've been tired and struggling to keep up with the pack on my past few rides (I think it was a case of over-training). Thinking back on how far I've come in just six months of "serious" riding has made me realize that I have accomplished a lot and shouldn't let any minor set-backs get me down.

So here goes... I remember:
- when 20 miles was an all day outing that required a couple of rest stops
- not being able to drink from my water bottle while riding
- getting dropped on my first group ride even though it was a rest/recovery ride and I was riding as fast as I could
- getting dropped on many more rides until I developed speed/stamina to keep up... heck, I still can't keep up with the fast pack on most of the rides
- driving my car through the mountains thinking that the people riding their bikes up there were insane
- becoming one of those insane people riding their bikes up in the mountains
- getting off my bike partway up a tough, 3 mile climb, certain that I couldn't ride any further
- getting back on the bike and making it to the top
- finishing that climb for the first time without stopping
- doing the 35-mile option of a century ride because anything else was way too long
- finishing my first century the day after my 40th birthday and not being able to think of a better way to celebrate

So many great memories and many more adventures to come!