Hi Caligurl,

Did you see the post I did on this thread Re: the Tour de Palm Springs? That was my first ride. I noticed somewhere that you wanted to do that one. It was great, except that I was really out of shape (not on a bike for 25 years!). My friends that I went with go to spinning class, so they were in much better shape. However, some of them had really not ridden an actual bike on a street so weren't used to shifting gears, or even what gear to be in, etc. I used to ride many, many years ago (in high school, 1950's '60's, 10-speed "high-end" Italian bike with my brother), then later with my husband in the 1970's (he used to ride then), so, at least I knew how a bike worked (except for the clipless pedals). But I was so sore, when we sat around after the ride, one of the guys did the 55 mile portion of the ride. I sat there and listened and said to myself, "no way in a million years could I do 55 miles!!" Now, I'm getting ready for the 50 mile Rosarita-Ensenada ride. I can't believe I'm doing this!!. That ride had a big hill at the 22 mile mark - 800 foot elevation over 2.5 miles. The web site says a lot of people walk it. That'll be me!!

I'm glad I found this Team Estrogen web discussion group. It's nice to know a whole lot us have a lot in common.

Keep on biking girls!!

Nina