first longer ride-mixed feelings

[jsdilks]

I'll second Jiffer's comments about a tandem. My DH has had to deal with my anxiety in many areas and he's been very patient. I was terrified of going down any incline, turning any corner, or going into the street when we started riding in April. So he backed off on his desired cadence level and I've gotten stronger. We're on bike paths for the most part too - I wouldn't be very comfortable in the street. Some of our rides now get us out into streets more than when we started - but I'm reassured because I know that dh is making eye contact with drivers at intersections and we always follow rules of the road (even while other bikers all around us blast through the stop signs or turn in front of cars...makes me nuts.) He gets a good workout too, because our efforts are at different levels. Some days he just ends up pulling for us both because I give out. But I warn him ahead of time when that's coming. And we have lots of communication all the time - that's the basis for tandem riding for us. Comfort level increases though with time and repetition. And then confidence will generate into better rides for you too!!

[gingerale]

DH doesn't ride bikes so when I do ride with someone, it's usually my dad. LOL! Of course, it's a little embarressing because my dad is 67 yoa and is amazing on a bike. The man can climb hills like he's in his 20's! Not me. I'm a hill slug through and through! LOL But he enjoys when we ride together so he refuses to go ahead of me, even though he's stronger. He'll go as slow as I need to go, which I admit does sometime get a little annoying. I do push a little harder when he's with me because I don't want him to have to go too slow. But all in all, we enjoy our time together when we can ride. And even though I know how to change a flat, he's awful handy to have around when I have a tire go down! LOL

I did agree, for the first time the other day, to ride with him on a long stretch of a semi-major roadway. We didn't see a ton of cars, but it was enough for me. There's a difference riding in the state park where I ride and a car pass me at 30 mph versus one passing me at 65-70 mph! I have never been so happy to finish a ride in all my life!! Won't be doing that again anytime soon, I don't think. My dad is way too much of a daredevil for me.

[Tuckervill]

That is so cool that you get to ride with your DAD. Cherish that, my dear.

It also points out a difference between older and younger men (or maybe husbands and fathers). Patience. My dad would be just like that with me, if he were a cyclist. There is an older gentleman who leads a beginner's ride. He can smoke almost anyone, but he won't, because he says he enjoys "smelling the flowers".

You are so lucky to have your dad to ride with. Make sure you tell him thanks!

Karen

[gingerale]

That is so cool that you get to ride with your DAD. Cherish that, my dear.

It also points out a difference between older and younger men (or maybe husbands and fathers). Patience. My dad would be just like that with me, if he were a cyclist. There is an older gentleman who leads a beginner's ride. He can smoke almost anyone, but he won't, because he says he enjoys "smelling the flowers".

You are so lucky to have your dad to ride with. Make sure you tell him thanks!

Karen

I will. Thanks!

[channlluv]

I'm with you. My favorite route is around (and around and around) the five-mile paved path that rings a reservoir near my house. I did 25 miles there today. Almost no car traffic at all, and those that were present are limited to 15mph.

There were a lot of kids on bikes there today, and I'm pretty sure their parents bring them there for the same reason I'm there. It just feels so much safer.

Of course, that said, I've wrecked there twice (once when my daughter crossed in front of me and I slammed on my breaks and flipped my bike, and the other when was strapped in - damn straps - and, yes, tried to get off the bike. I was going zero mph and approaching my own car, slipped one foot out to lean toward the ground, and leaned the other way...Roxy fall down go boom), and one of my daughter's little friends went over a rocky 12-foot embankment into some bushes when a pedestrian didn't yield the middle of the path and the girl couldn't safely pass her on the left (a blader was coming), so she had nowhere to go but over the edge to the right. So, really, it's only sort of safe. But, man, that 25 miles felt good today.

My knees tonight are feelin' it, but the whole time I was riding today, I was singing to myself, "I am powerful, and my body feels great. I am powerful, and my body feels great." And then I'd go into my "135" cheer, over and over again, like a rap song, "One-thirty-fiiiiiive, one-thirty-five, one-thirty-fi-i-i-i-ive, one-thirty-five." A friend loaned me her copy of The Secret on CD and the weight segment advocates focusing your attention on your ideal weight rather than losing weight. It is supposed to help re-program the brain to get my body to my ideal weight. My actions have to support my thoughts, though, so 25 miles is my new workout goal.

I'm not sure I could do it in traffic, though.

Roxy

[trinena]

I'm with you. My favorite route is around (and around and around) the five-mile paved path that rings a reservoir near my house. I did 25 miles there today. Almost no car traffic at all, and those that were present are limited to 15mph.

There were a lot of kids on bikes there today, and I'm pretty sure their parents bring them there for the same reason I'm there. It just feels so much safer.

Of course, that said, I've wrecked there twice (once when my daughter crossed in front of me and I slammed on my breaks and flipped my bike, and the other when was strapped in - damn straps - and, yes, tried to get off the bike. I was going zero mph and approaching my own car, slipped one foot out to lean toward the ground, and leaned the other way...Roxy fall down go boom), and one of my daughter's little friends went over a rocky 12-foot embankment into some bushes when a pedestrian didn't yield the middle of the path and the girl couldn't safely pass her on the left (a blader was coming), so she had nowhere to go but over the edge to the right. So, really, it's only sort of safe. But, man, that 25 miles felt good today.

My knees tonight are feelin' it, but the whole time I was riding today, I was singing to myself, "I am powerful, and my body feels great. I am powerful, and my body feels great." And then I'd go into my "135" cheer, over and over again, like a rap song, "One-thirty-fiiiiiive, one-thirty-five, one-thirty-fi-i-i-i-ive, one-thirty-five." A friend loaned me her copy of The Secret on CD and the weight segment advocates focusing your attention on your ideal weight rather than losing weight. It is supposed to help re-program the brain to get my body to my ideal weight. My actions have to support my thoughts, though, so 25 miles is my new workout goal.



I'm not sure I could do it in traffic, though.

Roxy

love your mantra Roxy. I talk to myself & it helps. I also think of K.West's song "stronger." funny, i actually ordered the Secret from netflix but it's way backordered.

[trinena]

DH doesn't ride bikes so when I do ride with someone, it's usually my dad. LOL! Of course, it's a little embarressing because my dad is 67 yoa and is amazing on a bike. The man can climb hills like he's in his 20's! Not me. I'm a hill slug through and through! LOL But he enjoys when we ride together so he refuses to go ahead of me, even though he's stronger. He'll go as slow as I need to go, which I admit does sometime get a little annoying. I do push a little harder when he's with me because I don't want him to have to go too slow. But all in all, we enjoy our time together when we can ride. And even though I know how to change a flat, he's awful handy to have around when I have a tire go down! LOL

I did agree, for the first time the other day, to ride with him on a long stretch of a semi-major roadway. We didn't see a ton of cars, but it was enough for me. There's a difference riding in the state park where I ride and a car pass me at 30 mph versus one passing me at 65-70 mph! I have never been so happy to finish a ride in all my life!! Won't be doing that again anytime soon, I don't think. My dad is way too much of a daredevil for me.

How awesome Gingerale to have your dad to ride with! Come to think of it my fret fret dad was always coming up with the most dramatic scenarios/chain of events of how i could get hurt doing such and such yet he cheered me on playing rough in soccer. go figure!