Newbie weekly achievement thread

[GingerbreadGirl]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I went out in the roads today, which is new to me. It was scary but fun. I think I'm kinda getting addicted to this...

Goldfinch, I totally know how the heat can get you. That was my problem yesterday. I really suffered, and today I purposely took it easy and practiced skills and handling instead of endurance or speed. Tomorrow I plan a longer ride.

[hebe]

Well done and good luck to everyone struggling in the heat. It does gradually get easier, and where it doesn't get easier at least it gets quicker. Cycling has completely spoiled me, I feel quite resentful now when I have to walk someplace that I could go to on the bike. Walking just feels so slow and clunky now.

I'm frustrated with not riding at the moment. Mr hebe is in the States this week, and he was away for a week three weeks ago too. Nursery is on holiday for the summer so childcare has been cut right back - small girl does something 4 mornings a week, but a couple of those sessions are really short so I'm struggling to get the right combination of childcare and weather to get out. I'm hoping for a Friday or Sunday morning tht is neither too wet nor too hot.

[GingerbreadGirl]

Lol at walking being slow and clunky.

Well I've been a post ***** in this thread lately but oh my gosh, guess what?
I did 10 miles today I'm totally exhausted but very pleased with myself. I have to work late the next two days so I'm going to rest and then I can get out again this weekend.

Yay me.

[goldfinch]

I am pleased with myself too. It was much, much cooler this morning, down in the 60s. I rode 25 miles. My longest ride ever.

[GingerbreadGirl]

Way to go, isn't it funny how much of a difference you can have from day to day?!

[Bethany1]

Seems silly, but I jumped off my son's homemade ramp this evening with my 29er. I've never jumped off a ramp before so I was a little nervous. It wasn't that high, just a little over the curb, but I hit full speed and and went over. I thought I was going to bounce over the handlebars when the front tire hit the pavement but I did just fine.

The second time I went faster, went up the ramp and lifted the bike like my son and his friend said to do. The seat nailed me right in the crotch mid air and again when I landed on the ground much harder. I went completely numb for about 15 minutes.

Is there a way to safely land w/o your seat hitting your crotch this hard? And is it possible to land the wrong way and end up over the handlebars?

I had a great time but am leary of going over stuff if/when I do a real mountain bike trail now.

LOL. Now I know why DH bought a dual suspension MTB. I want a dual suspension 29er which runs at least 3000 so it won't happen anytime soon. LOL.

I am proud that I went off the ramp twice though.

[Tiffany_S]

Seems silly, but I jumped off my son's homemade ramp this evening with my 29er. I've never jumped off a ramp before so I was a little nervous. It wasn't that high, just a little over the curb, but I hit full speed and and went over. I thought I was going to bounce over the handlebars when the front tire hit the pavement but I did just fine.

The second time I went faster, went up the ramp and lifted the bike like my son and his friend said to do. The seat nailed me right in the crotch mid air and again when I landed on the ground much harder. I went completely numb for about 15 minutes.

Is there a way to safely land w/o your seat hitting your crotch this hard? And is it possible to land the wrong way and end up over the handlebars?

I had a great time but am leary of going over stuff if/when I do a real mountain bike trail now.

LOL. Now I know why DH bought a dual suspension MTB. I want a dual suspension 29er which runs at least 3000 so it won't happen anytime soon. LOL.

I am proud that I went off the ramp twice though.

From the sounds of it your timing was off when you pulled up on the front of the bike. It is also possible to land wrong and end up over the handle bars, especially when you jump higher because you land harder!

[Velocivixen]

My achievement this week is that I rode my new Surly Cross Check (compact double) from home to the Oregon Zoo on Tuesday. It was in the 80's and I hadn't eaten enough, so I stopped & had a Gu, then once I got there I had my snacks. I have done that ride on my Trek, which has a triple chain ring and plenty of low gears. One fear when I bought the CC is that I wouldn't have low enough gears to do this ride. Well, I made it! Whoohoo. It was a 20 mile ride all together with about 6 miles of hills on the way there.

[Nick]

I was terrified of using the Candy 3 clipless pedals after being banged up by the bike last weekend. But, I decided to give them another whirl.

My heart was pounding and I was dreading it, but I got on the bike, got moving, clipped in and kept going. My goals for the ride were simple: stay upright, keep moving, and unclip without falling. Success! I did a simple set of loops on the park paths for about 8 miles, followed by a brisk 2 mile walk.

Getting back on those pedals was my biggest achievement of the season so far…

[Velocivixen]

@Nick (applaud) good job. Your confidence will only build from here. KEep practicing.

[Nick]

@Velocivixen -- thanks so much! Looking forward to the day when I'll be able to say that my achievements include 20+ mile rides and 6 miles of hills .

[hebe]

I took the old pump and bracket off my Marin and fitted new bracket, pump and bottle cage. Yippee! No more waterbottles leaking through the basket onto the bike frame and no more wondering why on earth I had a red pump and purple panniers on the same bike

[Roadtrip]

Hummm.. I haven't posted here in awhile as I haven't done much riding as of late. Work has kept me crazy busy and we had a record tying 17 straight days with temps over 90 degrees with oppressive humidity. The city had smog warnings during that whole stretch.

During the Tour de France I stopped into the LBS to pick up some goodies DH had ordered and they were having a huge sale. I spied a 2010 older stock hybrid bike in my size (one "trim" level up from my current steed) and $150 off sticker price. I talked to the manager who knows us-- we've bought four bikes from this shop-- and asked if that price was the bottom line. He did some pondering and knocked off another $100 off the price saying in another few weeks the 2012 bikes will be out. I say to myself-- do I NEED the grocery getter "upgrade" and HOW much could I get out of my bike???

I went on vacation and when I got back the bike was still there-- so I went ahead and did it. I then posted my bike for sale-- to which I have a strong buyer lined up and were meeting in the morning for her to ride and test out the bike.

Ok. So far no real achievement here, but I had a slew of stuff on my old bike that I didn't want to sell with it. Ergo grips, fenders, saddle, tires, and recently upgraded brakes that are better then the stock ones I would rather keep.

I didn't want to pay the shop to move all of these parts to the new bike. I was confidant I could do most of it myself.. Except the brakes. The derailures and the brakes have been my nemesis. I took the brakes off one bike and used DH's bike as an example of how things were supposed to look if I got stumped.

Tires-- check x4
Grips-- check x4
Saddle-- check x2
Fenders-- nearly: hardware malfunction with the carbon fiber fork.. Original wouldn't work on front fender now
Brakes-- check x4!!! I finally got the brake calipers removed and adjusted and have working brakes-- wooooo hoooooo

Finding the right adjustments was frustrating, but once I stopped being afraid that I would 'brake' something, I realize I could do it

Shannon

[Velocivixen]

Road trip, so what kind of bike is it? I don't know what your current steed had been. I am totally impressed that you did that stuff to your bike. Good for you. Doesn't it feel great to accomplish something like that?

My, in comparison, small success was removing the front wheel off my new bike to clean the rims and to check the brake pads. I had to deflate the tire to get it out. Mentioned it to DH and he showed me how to release the brakes. Oh. Who knew?

[Roadtrip]

Road trip, so what kind of bike is it? I don't know what your current steed had been.

Trek FX 7.3, 2008... Trek FX 7.5, 2010

Also have the road bike, a 2009 Specialized Ruby, which I adore

I am totally impressed that you did that stuff to your bike. Good for you. Doesn't it feel great to accomplish something like that?

Thanks, it sure does!