Well, finally did it. Friday I saddled up and bravely went no man had gone before...okay, where I'd never gone before. To set the scene....

I'd gotten the bare minimum of gear for this audacious task, riding a bike in central North Carolina. Bike? Check, a loaner from a friend (1998 Trek 1220, pretty green, matches my eyes! ). Helmet? Check, dark blue (in hindsight I should have gotten the red/orange one....more on that later). Bike shorts? Check, and the first time I put them on (the day prior) they felt VERY strange...almost like I'd done something nasty in my brand new shorts. That pad takes some getting used to, ya know? Gloves? Check. Water bottle? Tube and tire irons? Check and check...but just how does one USE those funny looking pieces of metal? Haven't a clue here in LA (ah, that'd be Lower Aberdeen, NC). Cell phone, money, ID? Checker-roonie! Hmmm, Houston there's a problem here in LA! I don't have a bike jersey, and my shirt doesn't have pockets. What to do.....what to do? Got it! ID, credit card and folding money in the left pocket, a dollar's worth of change in the right pocket. Okay, Victoria's Secret might call them cups...but I think you get the idea. Finally, cell phone in the waistband of my bike shorts, centered on my spine.

Go inside and ask David (the mechanic who's going to be working on my car) for a short 4 or 5 mile loop. He gives me directions, and I head off!

An hour and twenty-three minutes later I'm back. And I'm certain the bike computer is either broken or set to metric. Come on, there's no way I went 17 miles and didn't feel like death warmed over. Well, the bike computer wasn't broken or metric...I really did do 17 miles (okay, 16.9) at an average speed of over 12 mph (12.1 is over 12, right? ). And the amazing thing? Other than a slightly sore south end (boy do I like that pad now!) no ill effects! But then I did take it easy on myself and didn't work myself really hard...when the pedaling got tough I downshifted (Granny gear is my friend...).

Rode Saturday too, but that's a different post.

Take care all y'all,
Lara