Veronica, I sort of knew that you were kidding (i.e. the lycra comments...), but I always feel inadequate compared to the people who ride 5,000 miles a year and can do all of their own mechanics. In fact, I feel like a poseur (sp?) a lot of the time. Yep, I've ridden 2500 miles this year and I can climb pretty well for an old lady. But I don't know how much more I can improve. My speed has gone up a lot, but I seem to have reached a plateau. It takes me longer to recover now that I have been doing more longer rides (50-100 miles).

This is sort of like when I taught aerobics. I was constantly comparing myself to the 20 year old instructors who had strong dance backgrounds and had nothing better to do than to hang out at the gym. It made the whole thing not fun. I don't want this to happen with cycling. You have to put it all in perspective. Most "regular" people, who don't ride or even do any exercise at all think all of us are amazing. When i started thinking that a 50 mile ride is not a big deal, i knew something was crazy...