I know it won't seem like much to the seasoned veterans, but I just completed my first official "ride" this past weekend. My DH and I did the Tour de Shunk in Monroeton, PA to benefit LAF. We only did the 25 mile option, but I was really worried about it since I've only been riding for about 6 weeks. And the organizers definition that the 25 mile was "relatively flat" certainly is open to discussion! But the hills weren't anything worse than what we had been doing around here to get ready.

It killed me to see all those people on road bikes whipping past us (we were on mountain bikes), but DH just kept saying that doing 11 mph (average) on a mountain bike was pretty darn good and not to be discouraged. Hard not to be!

I was just happy that we finished the 25 miles before the people doing the 100 miles started coming in!