Hello - new rider

[winwatt]

Hello! I'm so excited I found this site. I've been avidly reading all week and have learned so much great information already!

I'm new to riding. When my sons were small I used to ride mountain bikes (from Walmart) with my husband with the kids in seats on the back and really enjoyed it, but haven't ridden regularly for many years. I never really liked my bike though and that was a deterent to ride.

I had a hysterectomy in the spring of this year and told my husband that after I recovered from surgery this was going to be my year to really get fit! So last week I went to a bike store and walked out with a shiny new Trek fx7.2 WSD. I love this bike! I'm 40 years old, about 20 pounds overweight, and very physically dis-conditioned, but I'm doing it! I've been working on short rides about a mile to 2 miles over the last week and I can already tell I'm getting stronger. At first I could barely make it out of the gently inclining driveway to the road and now I can whip right up it! My goal is to build up enough stamina that I can ride back and forth to work regularly. It's about a 7mile one way trip.

I ordered a cycling skort and got it in the mail yesterday - I can't believe how great it felt to ride in! When I first started reading what gear I should consider, I wasn't completely sold that I needed special shorts to wear on a bicycle, but WOW, you all were right. And to top it all off when I stopped at an intersection for traffic I got an appreciative honk from a passing car!

So anyhow, thanks so much for all the tips and tricks I've already read and really looking forward to more.

Windy

[redrhodie]

The song "Windy" goes through my head a lot when I ride, so I love your name!

You're going to love commuting! It makes going to work so much more fun. It also gets easier the more you ride, so keep it up!

[Owlie]

Welcome to TE! Good for you for getting out and getting stronger. (See, it does get easier!)

Have fun!