Newbie weekly achievement thread

[Owlie]

Yeah, what they said. Idiot. At least he recognized that that was incredibly stupid.
Ouch. Get thee a new helmet just to be safe, and hopefully you aren't too stiff and sore tomorrow.

[Zippinalong]

Sounds like you need a different riding buddy. Joking around on bikes is not a joke and can really be serious. Glad it wasn't worse!

[Owlie]

A few things:

I mostly ride on flat trails. I checked out a new one today. This one has hills. One of these is really steep, then there's a less-steep section until you get to the top. I managed to get two-thirds of the way up the steep section before I had to get off. I turned back at that point. I didn't want to have to be picked up when I only had a vague idea of where I was. (My mom also has no sense of direction.) Guess I need more hill practice!

Related to my turning-around, I managed to descend this particular hill with only minimal freaking out and didn't wipe out on the corners!

I also discovered that I can now ride hands free for about two seconds, and can grab my water bottle and even drink from it. I can't, however, put it back! This discovery resulted in another one--what that plastic loop is for. Clearly, it's for holding your water bottle between your teeth so you have your hands free to brake, allowing you to stop and put the bottle back in the cage.

[Roadtrip]

Woo hooooo... Well for most of the H2o intake process.

What trail where you at btw? Curious minds wanna know!

Shannon

[Owlie]

Woo hooooo... Well for most of the H2o intake process.

What trail where you at btw? Curious minds wanna know!

Shannon

Lebanon Countryside.

[sunsfan]

This week's high:
I bought and installed a computer!!! It's a Cateye Strada Double Wireless. I was so excited when I got it that I almost doubled my usual distance the next day. I wrote down my numbers from this 1st trip: 27.4 mi, avg 15.1 mph, max 29.0 mph, and I tried hard to keep my cadence within 85-95 rpm like a good girl. Hahaha!!! These numbers may be pathetic but I'm just so thrilled to have the tiny computer onboard, its numbers flashing, keeping me entertained.

This week's low:
This morning I crashed and skinned my knee. I was going downhill. When I shifted up, I heard my chain make an unusual dragging noise. I looked down, and in that moment of inattention my front wheel fell into that depression at the edge of the road. I lost control and scraped my knee, palms, and a bit of my shoulder. Bike seems ok, though the front wheel is flat I'll fix it tomorrow when my palms hurt less.

[Velocivixen]

@sunsfan, sorry about your fall and I hope you heal quickly. I'm curious as to what the dragging noise from your chain was? Did you drop the chain? The only reason I wear gloves when I ride is in the event I fall I will have protection on my hands. Sorry to hear you're scraped up.
Nice job on your computer. I have the Strada wireless and I am always checking my numbers when I get back from a ride.

[Owlie]

I managed to grab the package from my pockets, consume food, and then put the package back. while riding. And I didn't crash. (Yes, I consider this an accomplishment.) I also managed to do 26 miles today. Not hard for me normally, but I'm still feeling the after-effects of that hill yesterday. I will sleep well tonight, if the sore muscles don't decide to keep me awake...

Sunsfan, I hope you heal quickly!

[Bethany1]

I'm so sorry about your crash. I hope you get better soon.


I finally got brave enough to descend the gravel road behind my house today. It's a half mile uphill to get there and I'm not sure how steep it is down. I'd have to use the app on my phone to check that the next time I try it. My son said he hit 35 on his bike despite the large gravel. Now that I have my full suspension Y-11 I knew I could do it w/o sliding off into the ditch.

I haven't put a computer on my Y-11 but I know I hit some high speeds as I pretty much coasted 3/4 of a mile until I hit the small hill slowing my decsent. If I wasn't such a wimp, I know I could have gone faster. Wow.

I don't know if I could do it with my 29er as the sliding and bumping are more obvious since it doesn't have the rear suspension. I slide down the hill doing 30ish in my car.

For my DH who is new to riding, he hit 30mph going down another hill for the first time. He about had a heart attack when I told him. He's doing so much better as a beginner than I have. He doesn't fall off his bike..LOL.

[tytbody]

Hi Mike and welcome

[Boox2]

Hi, I'm a total newbie too!! Was riding my really old mountain bike on roads for June & half of July, then decided to get a proper road bike. Have had it for a little over a month and have been lurking on this site for about a month too . This week I managed to install a new seat, pedals and shoes/cleats. Was so excited that it all worked out and felt pretty good. Got it all for a good price too so I was excited as I had been riding on SPD mtn bike pedals & really old mtn bike shoes (that were too small) .

Went on a ride today and had to stop to make a few adjustments to all the new gear but all in all it went great! Even finally broke my barrier and pulled out an average of 16.0 mph on a 40 mile ride... this was 1 mph better than 3 weeks ago so even though not considered 'fast', i was psyched!

I've been enjoying this forum, really inspirational & have learned a lot so far... thanks!

[Velocivixen]

Today while riding on the flats in a bike lane with a strong headwind, and out of desperation, I began coasting and gently reached down to my water bottle on the down tube, pulled it out of it's cage, used my teeth to pull the spout open and drank! The best part was that I didn't crash! I gently put it back into the cage. I did it by feel and kept my eyes on the road. Whoohoo, I'm making progress. I really didn't even practice I just did it.

[radacrider]

Today while riding on the flats in a bike lane with a strong headwind, and out of desperation, I began coasting and gently reached down to my water bottle on the down tube, pulled it out of it's cage, used my teeth to pull the spout open and drank! The best part was that I didn't crash! I gently put it back into the cage. I did it by feel and kept my eyes on the road. Whoohoo, I'm making progress. I really didn't even practice I just did it.

Awesome! Way to go.

[Catrin]

For the very first time I managed to pedal 22mph last night I was on my way home from my favorite park, and instead of taking the bike path down 56th I decided to play in traffic. I just put it in the big chain, shifted up and pedaled for all I was worth - talk about a sprint! There is a LOT of fast traffic on that street, and it is a narrow 2 lanes.

I have the most un-areo riding position possible, so am quite pleased with my .5 mile 22mph "sprint" Fine way to finish off a short, hot, and windy ride! We won't discuss how much the wind might have helped me reach that speed - but there had to be at least some tail-wind for part of that.

[radacrider]

For the very first time I managed to pedal 22mph last night I was on my way home from my favorite park, and instead of taking the bike path down 56th I decided to play in traffic. I just put it in the big chain, shifted up and pedaled for all I was worth - talk about a sprint! There is a LOT of fast traffic on that street, and it is a narrow 2 lanes.

I have the most un-areo riding position possible, so am quite pleased with my .5 mile 22mph "sprint" Fine way to finish off a short, hot, and windy ride! We won't discuss how much the wind might have helped me reach that speed - but there had to be at least some tail-wind for part of that.

Very cool, nice job!