Newbie weekly achievement thread

[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!

[linzq]

Congrats on fixing your flat tire, jessmarimba! That's something I need to learn before I get out on the road!

[hebe]

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!

So, did you ride in the red heels yet, red?

Not a riding achievement.

But I've had a bike for 5 years and just changed my first tire. ... All fixed. Now it's too dark to ride, but at least the bike is ready for Sunday!

That sounds like an achievement to me! Enjoy your ride tomorrow.

I've a couple of small achievements. I fitted both my Specialized and my daughter into my little car, and got both bike and girl to the bike shop without either of them coming to grief. I've ordered a child trailer too, so from next weekend I will no longer need childcare in order to go for a ride!

[redrhodie]

So, did you ride in the red heels yet, red?

Not yet. We a couple of rain days, and those boots are vegetable dyed, and can't get wet. Today is my city's very popular St. Patrick's Day parade, so again, not riding to the store. Too crazy here this weekend. I'll do it during the week.

Excellent on getting the trailer! She's going to love it, and I bet it will be a lot easier to maneuver. The days of dropping the bike with her on it are over!

[Nats]

Hi all, I'm new round these parts and am very glad to have found somewhere to discuss my new interest..cycling.

I used to be very into cycling but this was 16 years ago (I haven't sat on a bike since); I am now I am 33 years old and morbidly obese..5'2" and 16st 12 (236lb)

However I have finally gotten round to buying myself a bike and am determined to shift some of this weight, get fit and have fun. My family and I have booked a holiday to Mexico in August so this is part of my motivation!

The bike I bought is a Voodoo Marasa hybrid. I got it 2 weeks ago and have so far been out every day.

The first day I went out I was really shocked and embarrassed that I could only do a meesly 1.12 miles (in 12 minutes) - but I am now doing a quite hilly route of 3 miles in 20 minutes which comparing to you guys is nothing - but I keep telling myself it is better than doing the nothing I wasn't doing before!

So hopefully I can share the rest of my firsts here with you!

(sorry for the long post!)

[hebe]

Not yet. We a couple of rain days, and those boots are vegetable dyed, and can't get wet. Today is my city's very popular St. Patrick's Day parade, so again, not riding to the store. Too crazy here this weekend. I'll do it during the week.

Excellent on getting the trailer! She's going to love it, and I bet it will be a lot easier to maneuver. The days of dropping the bike with her on it are over!

I look forward to hearing about the first red-boot ride!

I'm so looking forward to getting the trailer. It's definitely going to be much safer for me (and her) than the bike seat, that's for sure.