Couple of Newbie Questions?

[jenniferh]

I don't know what a paperclip is either.

I'm in Cypress on teh NW side of town and joined the Northwest Cycle Club for the group rides out near Hockley and Waller. i've been on 3 so far and LOVE it!

I don't think you can sign up for teams until the MS150 sign up happens in Oct. I'd love to join BP, but I'll have to see if I can find someone that is in it to join. I'm not sure if you can join BP as a "stranger". I know Sun and Ski also has a huge team that anyone can join. There is info on their website about it.

[kalimom]

My husband and I have been driving from California for the last few years for my husband to ride in the MS 150 Houston to Austin. It is an Amazing ride, there are riders of all shapes and sizes and levels. It is for such a good cause that it inspired ME to get on a bike and I am riding in the Ventura, CA MS 150 in october. Remember its a FUN ride for a good cause. You dont HAVE to do the full 150. The first year my husband only rode 1 day. Standing at the finish line i wondered how a lot of the people made it that far....and if they can anyone can!

[marni]

amy,

Just a word of advice not related to conditioning- If you plan to ride the MS 150, make sure you do several smaller organized group rides before and get comfortable with starting in a group and riding in groups because you will be doing just that. Since the ride is open to every one there will be a range of riders from absolutely never ridden before novices to experienced. The ride can be very chaotic as many of the riders are unpredictable so you need to be extra alert.

The other bit of advice I would offer is get used to spending TITS ( time in the saddle) time of at least 6-8 hours on a single ride since the first day is very long. The TITS time is almost more important than speed, at least in my experience.

You can totally do it and it will be a unique experience. Some people love it, others hate it and some change their minds from year to year.

[zoom-zoom]

I didn't have wrist pain, but I did have the shoulder thing when I first started riding for more than maybe an hour. I think part of it was the stress of being new at it.

As has been said, make sure your bike fits and that core thing is so important, too. Let your midsection do a lot of the work and take some of the strain off of your wrists/hands/shoulders/neck.

You can totally do 150 in 2 days. You have tons of time to work up to long days of pedaling. I did my first century after ~8 months of riding. I was no speed demon, but I never regretted for a minute making the commitment to do it. And it was a really fun day. The next day we went for a 25 mile cool-down and my butt felt great!