New rider here...Hello!

[TrekTheKaty]

Welcome! I think you can meet your goal. Your first few rides will tell the tale. My first ride was 8 miles, but I was a little sore after. If you add a few miles each week, you should be fine. Mark the date on the calendar and work backward.

Tri Girl--thanks for the century program links.

[CyborgQueen]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling more inspired. I wasn't sure if 35 miles will be a daunting task in a short span of time.

I test rode a road bike yesterday, (Norvara Camara Pro), and whoa...it's a heapload better than my crappy 10 year old Schwinn bike. Mind you, my bike still works well and I think it still has a lot of life left (aside from the stupid gear set up...you change gears like a twist on the handle bars...not exactly very easy to use), but it does leave me struggling to ride. I am doing the best I can, and get the miles going, then I will decide on a bike in about a month. I'm taking training classes specifically geared towards the 35mi charity ride. But, I rather learn about the saddle fit, bike size, what to look for, etc before getting the bike. I don't want to turn this into "not another 'what bike to get' thread", but frankly, I'm kinda stuck on choices because I'm 5' and I think I'm roughly 43cm...that doesn't give me a whole range of bike to choose from.

Anyways - thanks for the encouragements!

[indigoiis]

Hi there and welcome to TE! You've got the enthusiasm and 35 miles by October is very doable. And you will learn a lot on this site about everything - someone will have an answer to your questions.

[arielmoon]

Hi and welcome!

Sounds to me like 35 miles is an achievable goal!

There are quite a few vertically challenged riders that I am sure can give you some tips when you are ready to look for a bike.

Best of luck!

[MamboGirl]

I'm "vertically challenged" -- my son took my measurements to enter into a fit calculator for cycling, and he said, mom, I don't know if they make bikes for your size. He was quite surprised - they do! I'm only 4'10"-1/4. I got a 43cm Trek with 650c tires. It's the 650c tires that made the big difference for me.
My bike is small - like me!

Trek, Felt, Fuji, and GT make women specific bikes that come in 43cm or so, with 650c tires. The problem I had was the bike shops didn't have 43cm for me to try. But then the third bike shop was a privately owned shop next to a college campus and it had two 43cm bikes, both in my price range and with what I was looking for.

[leathela]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling more inspired. I wasn't sure if 35 miles will be a daunting task in a short span of time.

I test rode a road bike yesterday, (Norvara Camara Pro), and whoa...it's a heapload better than my crappy 10 year old Schwinn bike. Mind you, my bike still works well and I think it still has a lot of life left (aside from the stupid gear set up...you change gears like a twist on the handle bars...not exactly very easy to use), but it does leave me struggling to ride. I am doing the best I can, and get the miles going, then I will decide on a bike in about a month. I'm taking training classes specifically geared towards the 35mi charity ride. But, I rather learn about the saddle fit, bike size, what to look for, etc before getting the bike. I don't want to turn this into "not another 'what bike to get' thread", but frankly, I'm kinda stuck on choices because I'm 5' and I think I'm roughly 43cm...that doesn't give me a whole range of bike to choose from.

Anyways - thanks for the encouragements!

Hi and welcome!

Congratulations on how far you've come with cycling in the past few months! At this pace, you will definitely be able to ride 35 miles in time for your event.

The 35 miles will be much easier, not to mention more comfortable, with a newer, WSD bike. I think you owe it to yourself to get one! Not only is it an exciting purchase, it is an extremely pragmatic one.

I may not be the best receptacle of knowledge regarding bikes for petite riders, but two of my very good friends are short (5 feet at most) and both ride Trek Madone 4.5 and highly recommend it. Might be worth checking out? I've heard good things about Giant as well, but am not sure which bikes would be best.

Welcome again!