My Queen Victoria hurts! (Or, I rode a bike for the first time in 15 years today)

[Rebekah H]

Thanks! I'm so excited. I have a stress fracture from pushing a pretty bad case of shin splints on my way overly rotund behind and I was going stir crazy from not being able to get more exercise than walking, so I'm over the moon at being able to ride.

My husband will be riding with me next week and I can't wait! He is an awesome rider who hasn't ridden in ten years and it's going to be great to have him to bounce questions off of on the spot. I think he was just as tickled as I was when I was able to stop the right way (not on clip-ins) the second time I stopped.

[Rebekah H]

Fifteen miles today, day two on the bike! I'm so hooked! I can't wait until my Butterfly saddle gets here.

(And a little too liberal with the exclamation points.)

[KatzPajamas]

Rebekah H~There is no such thing as being too liberal with exclamation marks!!!! Especially when talking about cycling!!!! I too have returned to cycling after many years. Rode a nice Trek hybrid 20 years ago, but since May I have been on my new Synapse. Everytime I talk about it or post about cycling, the exclamation marks roll out like a couple of Shimano wheels with Schwalbe Lugano tires powered by the BB30 bottom bracket!!!!...see, what I mean!!!!

[Orange utopia]

I agree!!!! You can't exclaim enough when sharing your new joy in cycling!!!

Glad you are having fun, I have a butterfly on my road bike and no matter how long I have been away from the bike I never have pain after my first ride back in the saddle. A well fitted saddle is a beautiful thing!

[Owlie]

Just be careful about riding with a saddle that's too narrow for you.

Glad you're having fun.

[Bike Chick]

Glad you are enjoying it. It's addicting.

[KathiCville]

Fifteen miles today, day two on the bike! I'm so hooked! I can't wait until my Butterfly saddle gets here.

15 miles? On your second day? Kudos! When I returned to cycling three or four years ago I think I didn't break double digits until I had at least a month of riding under my belt.

Enjoy your newfound passion!! It IS addicting!

[ny biker]

I'm still stuck on "Queen Victoria" and "Principessa." Do these terms refer to the general hoohoo area, or something more specific?

[Miranda]

Good for you. It took me a while to work out my discomforts in cycling. Even with them, I still knew it was my passion. Where there is a will, there is a way. Just think how much more fun it will be when you are comfortable.

[Rebekah H]

I couldn't believe it either, but I was having so much fun. Yesterday was drinking day down here on the river so I only got in five miles. Yup, Principessa is my lady bidness. It still hurts like the Octomom after half of her deliveries but I can manage. The thing that's getting me the most is my hands. Even with gloves and repositioning, they keep going to sleep and are hurting like crazy. I'm assuming that my body will get used to this stuff and adapt.

At this point, I'm so out of shape that you could use me as Silly Putty and get some great images out of the comics on Sundays, so I'm just being patient and sucking down my trusty Aleve/Diet Coke cocktail that brings the relief.

Thanks so much for the encouragement and understanding about the !!!! Haha!

[Owlie]

The hand pain may resolve itself with a new saddle. With a saddle that's too narrow, you end up sitting on soft tissue that's not supposed to bear weight, and in order to take some of the pressure off, you automatically shift your weight to your hands. (Been there, done that.)

Hopefully the Butterfly gets there soon!

[KatzPajamas]

I'm still stuck on "Queen Victoria" and "Principessa." Do these terms refer to the general hoohoo area, or something more specific?

Apparently no one is going to let you know...I assume you are right with the "general "hoohoo" area.. I like it better than the Queen or Principessa thingy...

[Rebekah H]

No, I answered in an earlier post. It's just general Lady Bidness in your undies. Everyone has a silly name for it, that's just a couple of the ones I like.

In other non-vagina/bajingo/hooha/Principessa/coochie related news, I rode 16 miles today! Woot!

[Rebekah H]

A few things I learned today:

*When the olde *** neighborhood crippled dog starts chasing you and you're scared she's going to bite you, two things:
1. You're going too doggone slow. Literally.
2. No matter how osteoperotic the dog, don't put on the brakes. Putting on the brakes will land you in a Jeff Foxworthy/Darwin Award category that you don't want to be in no matter what.

*You can skip from doing five miles at a time to fifteen with no breaks if you have something to prove to your "I'm an awesome cyclist who hasn't ridden in over a decade" husband.

*I can go twenty total miles in a day after only riding for a week!!!!!!

*JayZ makes awesome riding music. Yes, ladies ARE pimps too, Jay. They certainly are.

*It's nice when your husband meets you in the driveway waving his jersey so that you can have a finish line parade, no matter how paltry your new rider status. Super sweet.

*Don't laugh at your husband when he doesn't see the mud while turning and eats the pavement. I know, I know. It's ALWAYS funny when someone bites it. Hell, America's Funniest Home Videos has had a 20 year run on that very premise (along with kids bonking daddy in the junk with a bat/golf club/baby bottle), but remember Karma. She has a long memory.