First ride over 5 miles...I'm skeered!

[schnitzle]

I know, what a baby! It's just a casual ride with a couple of friends who don't ride that often, so I keep telling myself that it's no big deal. I'm the biggest most out of shape person though, and that's what worries me.

The ride is 8 miles there and back and is relatively flat, but I know from experience that sometimes there are small hills that kind of wind me. Soooo I have my partner ready to pick me up at the end in case I can't make it back.
Trying to drink a lot of water before hand and taking some snacks to keep me going. Getting thirsty from breathing so hard is my worst problem though.

Wish me luck!

(to make things more exciting I was putting a baby bird back in it's nest a few minutes ago and fell off the ladder. Landed on my *** and tweaked my ankle a bit. Yippee! hahaha )

[KnottedYet]

Good luck!
You'll do fine. Coast and take breaks when you need them.

We gotta do a TE coffee cruise on the B-G before the summer is over.

(8 miles, hot dog! Do you remember when you were worrying about 1 or 2 miles? You rock!)

[Zen]

Relax.You'll be laughing about this later.

[schnitzle]

Thanks so much Knotted and Zen! I hope it will just be another "notch on my belt" I wrote it wrong, it's 8 miles each way. We shall see what happens! hehe

I'd love to do a coffee cruise some time, now that we're getting some good weather!

Ok, fingers crossed!

[KnottedYet]

Next Saturday is the Fat Tire Brewing Company bicycling extravaganza at Gasworks Park.

Will you be there? It is a lot of fun.

http://www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat

[trista]

Good luck, you'll do great! I used to marvel at my dh's ability to so easily ride 20 miles. One morning I had a 16-mile ride mapped - my furthest at the time. I got lost and ended up going 20 miles. I truly enjoyed it and I felt so empowered. Now I do it all the time (and don't marvel at dh anymore, lol).

Have fun!

[Selkie]

You are not a baby.

As the others have said, you will do great. Just be patient with yourself, take it slow, and enjoy. With time in the saddle, you will get more confident and able to go further.

[schnitzle]

Next Saturday is the Fat Tire Brewing Company bicycling extravaganza at Gasworks Park.

Will you be there? It is a lot of fun.

http://www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat

It looks like a lot of fun! I've never been before, but I love Gasworks and beer so it sounds perfect What goes on there?

And I love your avatar. Doggies benefit so much from running beside bicycles. That shows a lot of dog and bike skill right there!

Oh, regarding water. Maybe get a Camelpak. There is one reviewed on here somewhere that just goes around the waist and leaves the back unobstructed. And cooler. Or maybe just a regular type.

Thanks so much! hehe My black dog, Mojo loooves to run, and this is one way I can get him the exercise he needs. It helps that he's only 10 lbs, so if he decides to go the wrong way he can't pull me over I will have to try taking him around a neighborhood someday like that.

I thought of a camelbak too! Good suggestion.

I wish I could reply to all the great advice and comments. I'm reading and appreciating them all!

[Bike Chick]

Great job, Schnitzle! We've all been there and relive it with your post. I think I was more proud of my first 10 miles than I was with my first 50! It's quite an accomplishment and something you should be very proud of. Congratulations!

[Trek420]

schnitzle, Congrats on a personal best. Let us know how it goes. Enjoy the ride and hope you have fun.

[channlluv]

Yep. There will come a time when 8 miles will hardly be worth getting your bike out of the car.

I rode my mom's Earth Cruiser this morning for 6 miles from the rental car drop off back to her house. I had one insulated bottle of iced tea and only finished about half of it. It took me 34 minutes. It was hot and muggy and I worked up a good sweat and my muscles feel thoroughly warmed up, if not fully worked out.

You'll do just fine. No worries. Take a water bottle and a snack if you think you'll really need one, but you probably won't if you eat decently before hand.

Have fun!

Roxy

[zoom-zoom]

Did you do it yet? If so, how was it? If not...don't let the ankle tweak get you down. I sprained mine badly 6 weeks ago (while trail running) and after a week of doing pretty much nothing I found that biking didn't bother it much at all (hitting bumps kinda made the tendon painfully vibrate, if that makes any sense), but other than that the pedaling motion didn't hurt. It actually felt good to get blood flow and movement to the injured area. I credit biking with my good healing (especially since I did everything wrong in that first 24 hours after the initial sprain and could have really delayed the healing).

[Catrin]

You will do just fine, and congratulations! Like someone else said, if you can do 5 miles then you can do 16 - just keep pedaling Be sure to let us know how it goes! As a new rider myself it is fun to go longer than you did before, just do it at your own pace.

[Lesley_x]

I'm a new cyclist and I was like you. I found the barrier to longer rides was largely psychological, and once I passed that 'I can't do it!' phase, I felt like I could cycle forever.

Just ensure you fuel and hydrate your body appropriately and you'll be good to go Oh, and listen to your body. If you need a break, take one.

[schnitzle]

I'm a new cyclist and I was like you. I found the barrier to longer rides was largely psychological, and once I passed that 'I can't do it!' phase, I felt like I could cycle forever.

How right you are!! If I had been by myself I would have tried to make it back (I could have called for a pick up anywhere) but I felt bad for the people riding with me who possibly would have had to take breaks with me. I did tell them a couple of times not to worry if I dropped back because I was just going slow and they were totally fine with it. It was just me.