Newbie weekly achievement thread

[hebe]

Wow Funsize, looking forward to reading more as your time improves!

Shannon, you've had such bad luck with the weather these last few months. Hopefully the rain is a sign of things warming up and it won't be long before you're out on your clean new bike much more often.

I've had a brilliant morning. It was my first session with my cycling instructor since last November, when she broke her hand. We had a recap, then she showed me another route into town which basically takes out a stretch of very busy road. I also rode in the very centre of town for the first time, couldn't quite believe I was doing it, and it was nowhere near as bad as I'd imagined. The new route into town will also give me a flattish route to dd's nursery with less traffic, and I'm still really tempted to get a trailer. Anyway, my instructor was really thrilled with how my riding has improved over the winter, and she has offered to ride with me whenever I want for no lesson fee now, which I appreciate hugely though I'll still give her something for her time.

My mountain bike is due in for its first free service, and my Marin is also due in for a free check. It will be wonderful to ride the Marin to the bike shop myself

[linzq]

I love this thread! What a great way to cheer on progress!!!

I just bought my first road bike (Cannondale 2011 CAAD10 Women's with Shimano 105) on Tuesday!!!!

My partner (a very experienced and speedy road rider) will show me how to set it up on the trainer tonight! We're talking about picking up a second trainer this weekend at the local bike show so we can train indoors together.

I am super excited to get out on the roads once it warms up here, and start adding my improvements to this thread!

[jelee1311]

I'm so happy, I finally got the okay from the Doctor to ride clipless.Its been really windy snowy so I wanted to wait to use cleats because I felt and still feel a bit apprehensive about them. Its been almost a year since I injured my achilles so its been a year since I clipped in. I just jumped in and did it ,I rode 15miles,up some hills and I didn't crash! I'm still a little shaky about using them cuz I have crashed a few times when I couldn't unclip. It felt good to be able to go faster easier. Next I plan on actually getting my butt out of the saddle on the big hills

[redrhodie]

Hey, I get to post in the newbie achievement thread! I just rode to the store in street clothes. I had on a dress and boots. I always ride in cycling clothes and shoes. This might be a life changing ride, where cycling becomes more spontaneous, and less planned. I felt very chic, I must say.

The funny thing is, I still turned my ankle to unclip even though I wasn't clipped in. You'll see, once you get used to clipless pedals, riding without them feels really weird, especially on those tiny little SPDs. I've had this idea that I would forget how to ride without clipping in, but it was all good. Yay!

[hebe]

I like cycling in normal clothes, and am looking forward to buying a couple of cycling-friendly dresses when the weather warms up a bit.

[Tri Girl]

I just rode to the store in street clothes. I had on a dress and boots. I always ride in cycling clothes and shoes. This might be a life changing ride, where cycling becomes more spontaneous, and less planned. I felt very chic, I must say.

YAY!!!!
That's the way cycling SHOULD be: spontaneous and less planned. I need to go somewhere so I get on my bike and GO!
Even tho I ride every day to work, I've only done it once in my work clothes. It DID feel nice to just get on the bike and ride. Because you posted this- I'm going to try to ride to work in my work clothes more often (well, maybe in April once it warms up to the 60's in the mornings).

[redrhodie]

I may have created a monster, because now I decided if I could ride in my engineer boots, I should be able to ride in these (with 3" heels that I totally can't walk in, and I walk a lot). If I can ride in them, I'll actually be able to wear them! I still think I won't be able to ride on clogs, yet, my shoe of choice most days. We'll see what happens by summer. Maybe by then I'll be more skilled, and will be able to master the backless shoe! A goal!

It would be great if cycling becomes even more integrated into my life. Right now, it's still a "sport", even though I do commute to work by bike. There's still the clothes changing, and bike readying. My work commute is 14 miles OW, so do need to wear a chamois and cleats, but for riding around town for errands, I should be able to ride more than I do.

Oh no, am I headed toward getting a Mixte? I really, really, really don't have room for another bike (unless I move to a bigger apartment ). I'm signing a new lease this month. Any new bikes will have to wait at least a year.

[jessmarimba]

Not a riding achievement.

But I've had a bike for 5 years and just changed my first tire. Got to the parking lot to go for a ride, pulled the bike out, and the back (oh yes, I had to start with the hard one) tire was completely flat. I suppose this was inevitably what I deserved for going to ride knowing that I had no spare tubes or air source with me.

The only bad part was inflating the tire. I have presta-to-schrader adapters on my other bike and I thought, oh, let's make this easy and use those! Only they unscrew the inner part of the valve stem on these tubes when you take them off, and then ALL of the air goes out, immediately. I found this out after I inflated the tire the first time, and it took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to make my floor pump shove air into presta valves.

All fixed. Now it's too dark to ride, but at least the bike is ready for Sunday!