Petrified

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks so much for the support. I guess that having always had asthma, and being really petite, I have always assumed I just couldn't do certain things...but maybe that's just not the case. Must go ride now...

NSG ~ You can do it.

I was a gym drop out. Hated it, hated all sports! I also have had asthma all my life and was always tiny, weak, and pasty as a little girl. I like dolls and books. I hated sports! Well, I kinda liked gymnastics but wasn't very good. I hated any sport that involved a ball, which is like, most of them, right? My parents were very unathletic brainiacs so never encouraged me to develop any athleticism at all, just to hit the books. Just as soon as I didn't have to take gym, I stopped taking it.

However, my darling husband was into road riding. He bought me my first bike, back in the late '80s. I didn't warm up to it very fast. I rode off and on for years, but never very seriously, and I never stuck with it for long enough to make it a life-long habit.

Fast forward to 2002. I was in my early 40s and wanted to get back into shape. I finally got a decent road bike and got back into riding again. Since then, I've done five centuries (100 mile rides), numerous metric centuries (62.5-mile rides), and a nine-day, 565-mile, self-supported loaded tour of upstate NY last fall. I know how to ride in a paceline. I am an active member of a bike club. I'm on the girlbike.com test team. I have FOUR bikes in my stable. But best of all, I am an ATHLETE, for the first time in my pasty, asthmatic, sports-hating life!

You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself. You can be whoever you want to be, I'm living proof.

Emily

[notsportygirl]

Emily,

That's hilarious. You do sound like you were a lot like me. How encouraging. Wow...and now you're an athlete and have a "stable" of bikes. So maybe my pale, soft and curvy, bookish, slightly asthmatic, 5' tall self can sneak up on a little athleticism, too...

Thanks,

Miranda

[MomOnBike]

RE: brainiacs and bicycling.

DH is a bicycle commuter and the computer dude at his place of employment. He comments that he just THINKS better on those days he rides (most). Or to put it another way, he feels the bike makes him smart and the car makes him dumb.

And wasn't it the ancient Greeks who believed that a person should have both a fit body and a fit mind? (You just can't go wrong quoting the ancient Greeks...)

[CorsairMac]

and we've hooked another one! actually Miranda not only do I think you can do - I'm betting you will and it won't be enough!! You'll also realize it isn't the miles anymore it's the time.....miles are just numbers! I did my first 35 miles on a "comfort" bike with big tires and heavy as an ox so I KNOW you can do it. It sounds like quite a few of us are asthmatic - including me. I just make sure I take my meds and if my asthma starts to bother me I just slow my pace down until I can get my breathing back in control!!

Good luck and we want to hear a full report!!


PS: welcome to the board!! if you get a chance there's a thread under the open titled "getting to know you"! Gives you a chance to meet us and tell us something more about you!

[greenchick]

So, Miranda, what'll it take to get you to change your login name? Or at least add a big winking smilie to it? Because I really think that once you get out there and start logging the miles, you're going to find that you're a lot sportier than you ever suspected you were!

I'm another one who managed to think of myself as a total spaz for a lot of my life -- not only did I get picked last for every team; not only did I duck and cover every time a ball came at me in gym class; I thought for years that I was so physically messed up that I couldn't even ride a bike, thanks to having given up my faithful high school vintage roadie for a very cheap and ill-fitting knee-bashing one-ton mountain bike at around the time they first got really popular.

When I hit my 30s (and an unrelated career crisis), I took up fencing and really found my inner jock for the first time ever; when I started to get serious about beating a bunch of fast, aggressive, 20-year-old guys, I realized that my aerobic fitness was crap. Since running made my knees scream, I took another look at bikes, and found that with a lighter and properly-fitted bike, I haven't had a single twinge that wasn't related to falling off.

I promise you, you're going to be able to do your 35 miles and then some. If you can handle the big city on your old one-speed Schwinn, you're already a better athlete than you realize. You just need to believe it.

[notsportygirl]

Thanks so much for the support. It's made a huge difference. I've found that I actually am getting pissed off when something comes up in the evening to keep me from riding...that's new for me. I'm determined to get in a longer ride this week-end, even if it is "Hot as Hades".

Yes, I think I'll change my login name if I do the 35 miles and I'm not completely hating life while I'm doing it. That would mean I've transformed into "Newlysporty".

(And btw, this forum is keeping me sane during a mind-numbingly boring week of temping, where I have absolutely nothing to do but obsessively learn about cycling and read the news.)

So...I picked up my friend's bike yesterday (my loaner replacement for the vintage Schwinn). She can't tell me much about it, because she never rode it much. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, because I still have to adjust the seat for me. This is what it is: Dolce Sport, Specialized A1 Max...I think that's what it said on it. It seems blissfully light and bouncy, and the handlebars are really padded. My friend complained that it mushed her girl parts painfully, though, because you have to lean forward so much with a racing bike. That's one of the reasons she never got into riding. I'm hoping I can adjust the seat to avoid too much painful "mushing" up front...right? It does have that ergonomic cut-out seat, but she was talking more about, well, the clitoris area.

What's really intimidating about this bike is that there are no numbers on the gears. There are just tiny little levers that barely come out of the handlebars. Now, I know it's been a long time since I've been on a 10 speed, but didn't they used to have numbers to mark what gear you were shifting to? And why would you get rid of those numbers, making it more mysterious? How am I ever going to learn how to shift this thing? How can you see what gear you're shifting to?

Also, these pedals don't have clips, but they do have the little straps that go around your shoe. Are there any little tricks to managing these?

Obviously, I just need to take this bike out to a safe place and get to know it, but any tips you guys can give me ahead of time would be great. Besides, I won't have anything else to do all day...

Thanks!

[caligurl]

this may be your friend's bike:

http://specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel...v18orij.j27007

as they didn't do a sport for 2005.. i'm assuming it's a 2004...

i ride a 2004 dolce elite... i enjoy it... unfortunately i bought it at supergo so they didn't exactly get me on the right size (i'm pretty sure i needed the next size smaller... in hindsight)

i've ridden a TON of miles on that bike! and i've done a ton of centuries and metric centuries and a lot of climbing! i'm sure, as long as it fits you fairly well.. that you will love it!

you'll learn to shift.. and quite quickly, i'm sure! the only thing i had ridden prior to getting my dolce was a kmart bike that didn't shift for sh.... well.. you know! you'll figure out after a few tries which side does the front rings and which side does the back... and before you know it.. you'll be shifting like a pro!

you don't really need to see which gear you are in... you'll be able to see which on in the front just by looking down.. the rear one.. you can tell when you shift if it got easier or harder.... that's all you really need!

have fun!

[bouncybouncy]

A thread on clipless pedals i thought was very good...

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ighlight=clips

as corsair said...another one hooked!!! we will be looking for your report!

[Blueberry]

Fast forward to 2002. I was in my early 40s and wanted to get back into shape. I finally got a decent road bike and got back into riding again. Since then, I've done five centuries (100 mile rides), numerous metric centuries (62.5-mile rides), and a nine-day, 565-mile, self-supported loaded tour of upstate NY last fall. I know how to ride in a paceline. I am an active member of a bike club. I'm on the girlbike.com test team. I have FOUR bikes in my stable. But best of all, I am an ATHLETE, for the first time in my pasty, asthmatic, sports-hating life!

You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself. You can be whoever you want to be, I'm living proof.

Emily

Emily-

You are SUCH an inspiration! I had no idea you'd only gotten into riding seriously that recently - and to have recovered from your dog mishap and gotten back on the saddle! WOW!

I don't think anyone would ever call you pasty or suspect that you were asthmatic or disliked sports having seen you ride

[bouncybouncy]

another suggestion i have not seen on this thread yet...is for you to get your bike...even the loaner...fitted to your body! hopefully your *guy that you are dating* GTYAD has a bike shop he frequents and you could take your bike in there to get it fitted....maybe? at least play around with the comfort BEFORE the big day!!! i had a hard time finding a bike my size and let me tell you it was worth every penny getting a pro fit! no problems...i have not experienced any of the *typical* pains that alot of poeple feel from improper fit! i think there is a thread about bike fit around here somewhere...i looked but couldn't seem to find it...can someone help me out here

good luck!!! and i bet we will be getting at least a 50 miler report...

[RoadRaven]

Bouncy, I have to ask... what does GTYAD mean please?

[notsportygirl]

"GTYAD" is "Guy That You Are Dating" referring to the non-commital term I used earlier. We've only been dating now for a month and a half, so "BF" seemed premature, and "SO" is WAY premature. There was something else someone used in her thread once...DH? I can't remember...but I couldn't figure out what it stood for. I'm new to all these online abbreviations. I would say he qualifies as my boyfriend now, but am afraid to say it outloud. He very sweetly offered to take my bike up to his apartment near Central Park, by the way, so that I can ride around the park a few times without worrying about traffic while I get used to the new bike.

[CorsairMac]

DH=Dear Husband

or

DH=Down Hill

depending on context

so...your DH could be heading DH really fast if he starts misbehaving!!

or in my case since mine is now as ex:

DH=D*** Head (this is a family board but I'm sure you can fill in the blanks!)

[RoadRaven]

Thanks... somehow I missed that!
...the trouble with being away for a week and trying to "catch up"

[gretassister]

I Have To Say -- I Love My Clips !!!!!!