Newbie weekly achievement thread

[Bike Writer]

16 weeks of riding since I bought my bike and I finished this week with 49 miles and 5 days of riding. We were very fortunate to have a very mild streak of weather all week. I'm not where I want to be with hill climbing but I've improved a lot and my stamina has really grown along with my strength. More importantly the stiffness from arthritis has improved dramatically along with flexibility. I am more flexible now that I ever imagined that I could be.

Wish I could say that my klutziness has improved also but I took my hardest fall yesterday. My elbow met the ground sooner than the rest of me and the momentum jammed my shoulder. I saw stars accompanied by shooting pains, luckily I fell on soft grass. Several good Samarians came by to lend assistance. I am surprised at how little pain I am in today, it's mostly just tender. I'm lucky I didn't dislocate my shoulder.

[jelee1311]

Yesterday my DH went for a ride with me and as usual pushed me hard. I complain but I know its good for me. I was already tired from a pretty fast 15 mile ride the day before and a hard PT workout on my quads. My husband rides a lot and fast,we started out at about 16mph-18mph for about 4 miles with me lagging behind. Then he took me on a road I've never been on before that turned out to be a nice long hill. This was the first hill I've done since being back on the bike and I was worried I was going to hurt my achilles again. I just kept spinning and felt a bit panicky because the hill just kept going. My DH just stayed by me up the whole hill going slow and encouraging me until we got to the top. The view of the lake was amazing. We rode a few more miles then turned around. Going down we got up to 32mph I was so happy!!! I rode with DH for a few more miles then he broke off to do his real hill work out. Heading home I decided my legs felt good and it was such a nice day that I was going to keep going. I rode 20 miles and still had some legs left but I didn't push more baby steps.

[jelee1311]

BIke Writer good job on all that you've accomplished I'm sorry you crashed and I hope you are okay. I'm glad the weather has still permitted you to ride (I read some of your oher posts) and it sounds like you are enloying fall riding.

[hebe]

BW, I'm so sorry about your fall. You've done so much since you started 16weeks ago that it's such a shame to fall towards the end of the reasonable weather. I've enjoyed all your posts and your blog too, and well done on all your health improvements through cycling. That must be so satisying. I wish you a speedy recovery and some good weather so you can get back out on your bike soon!

Wow Jelee, that sounds that a good ride. I am in awe of all these higher speeds and longer distances!

I had a funny old day today. No riding, as my bits are (still) sore from finally getting up that hill on Wednesday. I bought a new reflector for my bike, as my current one is obscured by the super-handy underseat bag, and fitted the reflector myself so was very proud of myself for that. Then I cleaned off most of the mud from the bike, and noticed what seemed to be a huge long crack in the frame. I was gutted, and asked dh to look at it too. He very gently told me that it was a clear piece of protective plastic that was just starting to peel off I was so relieved, I thought I'd broken my bike. He also showed me that my mini pump actually has to be screwed onto the valve in order to work I've always used the floor pump but thought I should probably get the hang of the minipump too.

The really lovely news of the day is that he asked me if I'd like a mountain bike for Christmas . Honestly, you can see my smile from the moon. We are going to the super-nice not-so local LBS next Saturday for me to choose one. He wants to borrow my Marin sometimes, which I think is absolutely fine. He adores the saddle on it.

[Roadtrip]

We got out for a short ride today and ended doing about 5 miles, but some of that was into a 16-18mph headwind that was like climbing a hill! Left me feeling a little like I had Jell-O in my legs. Still adjusting to this new saddle and found myself shifting, trying to find the right position, plus my hands started getting numb-- something I hadn't encountered before. I was trying some new gloves today and may have had the closure too tight, but when we paused to decide if we wanted to continue to push into the wind I noticed "pins and needles" in my pinky/ring fingers on both hands like if I'm sitting wrong and my foot goes to sleep.

Shannon

[Kerry1976]

I have had my bike exactly one month today (just realized that). Today was my first-ever 20 mile ride. Breezy and cool, but sunny and beautiful. YAY!

[Bike Writer]

This is a great thread to read about everyone's accomplishments, milestones etc. Some stories are warm and fuzzy and others are awe-inspiring and encouraging. I'm ok and thank you jelee and hebe for concern.

Hebe you had me cracking up about that plastic tape, I would have had that same sinking feeling had I discovered it.

Congrats and good job to all of us!