Thought It's Time For Formal Introductions

[Velocivixen]

Hi All, you were so helpful about my gloves so now I wanted to run something by you and get your thoughts about shoes.
So, since you don't know me, I'll say that I'm 47, live near Portland, OR, and have had all the wrong bikes for years! In the 5th grade I came home from school to find a used Schwinn purple boys bike with a banana seat in the driveway- my father bought it on a whim. I LOVED IT. When I was 13 I inherited my older sister's like-new Schwinn La Tour 10 speed road bike and rode it to/from school for years! After it was stolen, I bought a 1960's era very heavy vintage bike. Rode it as main mode of transportation into my 20's. At age 24 (1988) I bought a car and never rode until 1993, when I was convinced that since I was so heavy at the time, I needed a mountain bike to carry my heft. Bought a Gary Fischer Whoo-Koo-E-Koo and all the stuff and rode it maybe 7 miles. It sat unused, brand new for years until I sold it. Then in 2005 I bought an Electra Townie 3 speed. I felt that it would be "safe" since I hadn't been on a bike in years. It was alright, but since I was out of shape, thought that more gears would help. Got a Townie 21 speed as a gift. More gears were good, but the bike was huge, heavy, didn't seem stable and so it sat in the garage. I sold the two Townies & Gary Fischer at a bike consignment shop.
Update to 5 months ago. I went to my LBS (in Portland they're practically as prodigious as Starbucks), test rode all sorts of bikes that I thought I would want, apparently didn't know myself well as each bike had "issues" I didn't like. The astute sales person brought out a 2011 Trek FX 7.3 and said, "Try this". I frowned and said, "Really? It looks 'sporty'", to which he replied "You're sporty!". So I reluctantly rode this bike and when I arrived back 20 minutes later I said, "How do I buy this bike?" So...I'm in love. I'm a biker by heart. I've reconnected with my love of biking that I had when I was a kid, when my bike was my adventure.
I live in the suburbs however there are regional bike paths nearby, trails, roads with bike lanes, etc. I ride mostly on streets that are low traffic or on streets with great bike lanes. So far I haven't ventured out to the country roads where the hardcore road bikers are. I'm more of an in town rider. I take my bike on the MAX (think electric train) to downtown or wherever and ride around by the river, that sort of thing. I'm experimenting with riding to places outside my comfort zones and I'm becoming more confident daily.
Thanks.
Sandra

[warneral]

Aww what a lovely biking story! Welcome Sandra

[Velocivixen]

Hi Alison,
I guess it could have used brevity, but I'm long winded sometimes. I guess that means I have excellent lung capacity! hahaha

[Tri Girl]

Welcome! The most important part of that story is that you fell in love with riding again- and you came here!

[TrekTheKaty]

Welcome!

[azfiddle]

Another welcome and thank you for your lovely story.

[Velocivixen]

Oh, I just re-read my post and see that I never got around to asking about shoes. I guess I started a new thread for that. Oh well.

[hebe]

Lovely bike! Welcome, and enjoy your riding.

[Trek-chick]

Welcome to the forums .

[Biciclista]

great story! what a bunch of miss-matched bikes!
I'm glad you found THE ONE.

[Velocivixen]

@Mimi, you said it! One extreme to the next. I will always appreciate that the sales person actually "listened" to what I had to say about each test ride and the bike he brought out (the one I bought) actually solved all the issues.

Thanks everyone for saying "Hi".