September 27th Rides

[xeney]

Since I am mad at my road bike, and since the last time we rode together my husband and I had a big fight about my going too slowly but not wanting to draft off of him, we have not been on a ride together in about a week. So tonight he asked me out on a mountain biking date after work.

We didn't have much time so we just went over the levee from our house and went about 10 miles round trip. It's mostly flat and unfortunately the dirt roads have been regraveled. I hate gravel. I also hate sand. I like rocks. Rocks are great. Sand sucks.

Still, it was fun. We went pretty fast because we wanted to get back before dark, so it felt like a workout even though there were just the ups and downs from the levee to count as hills. He said I was doing a lot better, which is good because I am the worst mountain biker in the world. I was mostly just proud of myself because I nearly wiped out in deep sand twice but I managed to keep the bike upright and keep going.

I was also testing out a new saddle and making sure my bike was dialed in, because I'm taking a mountain biking class this weekend and the last person to ride the bike was my 6'0, 200+ pound brother. (The three of us went mountain biking in Wyoming, and right at the trailhead my brother broke his rear derailleur. I had scoped out the trail and realized it was way over my head, so I handed him my bike and went out for ice cream with my niece instead.)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Xeney,
It's a wonderful and rare thing when one can ride bikes with the one they love and share that fun together. Many women have no one to ride with and wish so much that they did. Having fun riding together is way more important than how fast either of you go. I'm glad you got out riding again together today! I think it's so sweet when my DH asks me to go for a ride. I feel like it's a date (and I know he's totally checking me out from behind)

[Cassandra_Cain]

Lisa....Xeney...Popoki_Nui...great posts. love the pictures, the notion of bike dates, and the bike ham

On a practical note...

Rode for the first time since Sunday. Rode an easy pace for 20 minutes to start. Then the work. Did hill repeats. Basically five climbs....two on a 7.0% grade, one on a 9.7% grade, and two on a 15.1% grade, with the descent on each one being the rest period.

I'm trying to get 40,000 ft of climbing for september. Now if only I could get up a lot faster!

[Popoki_Nui]

I'm trying to get 40,000 ft of climbing for september. Now if only I could get up a lot faster!

Forty THOUSAND feet?? Ay carumba! I'm impressed!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Here's a picture of me and my husband enjoying one of our "biking dates":
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...6-09-20066.jpg

(well, sort of.....)

[Cassandra_Cain]

Here's a picture of me and my husband enjoying one of our "biking dates":
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...6-09-20066.jpg

(well, sort of.....)

funny!

[Haudlady]

Yesterday I rode my new bike ( http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=10501 )to work for the first time. It was very foggy in the morning (I didn't need to drink any water - I was absorbing enough just from all the moisture in the air!), but beautiful and sunny for my ride home.

Hey - it turns out that my new road bike is much faster on the commute than my moutain bike! Who would have guessed? Plus, with a real computer (instead of my best guess), I discovered that my half commute is actually 7.01 miles each way. I had been selling myself short, mileage-wise. I guess I am one of those "bean counters," Knotted!

I am still trying to get used to how the road bike handles. It is much more responsive. I almost keeled over at one point - trying to put my water bottle back in its cage, it brushed against the brake cable... - to my utter surprise, I didn't quite crash into the guard rail. It was close, though.