Newbie weekly achievement thread

[lovelygamer]

New rider here and a commuter. I cycled to work every day last week even in the rain. I got in 28 miles which is my record.

[Maye]

New rider here and a commuter. I cycled to work every day last week even in the rain. I got in 28 miles which is my record.

Welcome to TE!! I love this thread since we get to share our experiences and achievements which is very encouraging and great!!

BTW, I posted this in another thread but wanted to share it here also. Yesterday I did a long ride of 20 miles in one of the nicest trails I ever rode in my life. The trail is the West Orange Trail in Orlando FL. It's 22 mile long, so if you decide to do the whole thing, 44 miles will be your total I felt fine all the time, kept drinking water every 10 to 15 minutes and ate gel blocks every 30 minutes. It took me 110 minutes to complete the 20 miles. So went I got back to my car, I ate the last block and drank more water, put the bike on the back of the truck, turn the car on and waited to cool down a little bit then started the drive back home. Five minutes after I started driving, I felt a little weird, like a little bit confused, lost. I thought to myself, what's going on? Then my heart beat started to go really fast and I found myself gasping for air and that's when I got really scared. I thought to myself, calm down, don't freak out, drink more water and wait until the the block gets through your system. I thought about stopping the car. Five minutes later I was back to normal. I think I had a mini heat injury. I wonder what went wrong. I followed all the advice about hydration. I had with me 48 oz of water, plus another bottle in the car that used to splash my neck and face, 4 blocks and one Babybel cheese. I ate all of it. The temp outside was around 88 degrees. I'll have to start riding early in order to avoid high temps. What do you guys think?

[leah]

So great to read about everyone's achievements.

Last Friday I did my first 35 mile ride with my local women's bike club (actually it ended up being more like 40 because I missed the turn back to the parking lot and went 2 miles out of my way).

It was my first time out with the women and I was so excited that I could hold my own. I've wanted to do group rides for a while but felt I had to wait until I got my new road bike.

In the ride report, they even said I was a "strong rider" and that made me super happy. It definitely is lots of fun riding in a group - I've been flying solo pretty much up until now.

[kelleil]

I bought my first roadbike on Saturday and rode it today. Said bike is a Specialized Amira.

So today was 30 miles, 11 mph avg with sprints as high as 21. 451 ft of climbing. Very tired and searing wrist pain.

I also commute which is about 4 miles round trip, with some extra commuting between work sites on Wednesday.

[murielalex]

Congrats on the new bike! Hope your wrist pain gets better. That doesn't sound good.

I did my first group ride this evening, a small group (10) of women. I was the only one not in shape, but managed to keep up well for the first 18 of 20 miles. The wind kicked up at that point and it started to rain, and I huffed and puffed the rest of the way back and fell 100 yards behind everyone, though caught up again in the last half mile. I'm still nervous getting close to others' tires, but tried to keep within a couple feet when I was feeling brave, though noticed my whole body tensed up when I got closer than two feet and had to concentrate on relaxing. Had a ball and hope to do it again soon.

[kelleil]

Congrats on the new bike! Hope your wrist pain gets better. That doesn't sound good.

I did my first group ride this evening, a small group (10) of women. I was the only one not in shape, but managed to keep up well for the first 18 of 20 miles. The wind kicked up at that point and it started to rain, and I huffed and puffed the rest of the way back and fell 100 yards behind everyone, though caught up again in the last half mile. I'm still nervous getting close to others' tires, but tried to keep within a couple feet when I was feeling brave, though noticed my whole body tensed up when I got closer than two feet and had to concentrate on relaxing. Had a ball and hope to do it again soon.

I understand, group rides or my bf too close freak me out! Do it soooon!

Managed to get on my commuter this morning and a emitted an out loud "oh sweet lord!" due to nether regions pain. But I managed to ride slightly longer than usual on the way home. Wrist pain still there.

[hebe]

I've had a good month. Today was the best though - got an unexpected short ride in with my mister this morning. He left me trailing in his wake going up a steep short off-road section, but later, on my nemesis road hill, I dropped him a few yards from the top It was the first time that I'd done the whole hill in one go too.

[Tillybug]

Tonight was my first group ride ever. Had a blast, can't wait to do it again.

I think I'm hooked

[Munch]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to cycling. I picked up a rather old road bike off of craigslist last week for $20. Once I got it home I realised the brakes didn't work and it didn't have any shifters. I took it to a LBS for a tune up, fix any issues, and add shifters. I just got it back yesterday and while it obviously isn't the best or prettiest thing on the road, it's introducing me to cycling which is exactly what I wanted. The price of repairs was $68, then I had to buy a helmet, gloves, bar tape, a new seat, and some padded shorts. I'd say I'm in at around $147 for everything. If I end up falling in love with cycling (I'm swooning now!) I'll invest in a better bike fitted for me, but at the moment, money is a little tight and this is all I can do.

Anyways, I took a short ride yesterday and today when I hopped on my sit bones hurt really bad. I did almost a 5 mile ride and by the end the pain had somewhat subsided. (I just ordered the bike shorts today as I had wanted to give my seat a try before ordering them. I know just starting out the butt pain is common so I'm not too worried. I was pretty proud of doing almost 5 miles today, it felt great and was really fun. I'm suffering from runners knee at the moment and trying to build strength in my quads. I'll eventually start running again, though not sure when. My doctor says I can now, but I guess I'm a little afraid. So I decided picking up cycling in the mean time would be a good way to stay active and help my knee.

Sorry if I blabbed on too long!

[murielalex]

Congrats! Don't just be pleased with your five miles, be very pleased for getting yourself up and pedaling for under $150!

[Munch]

Yes, I'm definitely very happy about that!

[Catrin]

Welcome to TE Munch, and congratulations on your new bike and cycling explorations!

[lovelygamer]

Munch, welcome and congrats on your new bike and accomplishments. Your bike sounds cool for the cost! I hope you work out the seat pain.

I've started calling myself a yearling. I started occasional cycling last summer but when I exchanged my rusted out Walmart bike and bought a nice Raleigh Hybrid that changed things for me.

This year I joined the national bike challenge to get myself into a more regular habit of cycling and I track my rides through gps. This gives me insight to my abilities and ride durations which is something I had never thought about before. I love the incentive prizes and camaraderie in the challenge.

I'm still dealing with soreness as I continue to struggle to find the balance between resting and challenging myself to do more. I have a left hip replacement and get right knee pain because of the years of disability before the surgery.

Actually, this sport has taught me that I CAN set my own goals and meet them, even in something that seemed so hard at first. Normally I am not competitive at all so that is a revelation for me.

[Owlie]

Welcome, Munch! Good for you--both for riding 5 miles, and for doing it for not a whole lot of money!

I broke my 50-mile mental barrier last weekend. (I'm going for a shorter ride this weekend, though. I wasn't exhausted at the end, but it took a toll on my week!) I've done some goal setting: metric century by the end of June--if I can get in a couple more rides in the 50-60 mile range, I'll be fine--and a full century in October. Let's see how this goes.

[hebe]

Welcome and congratulations Munch! Congratulations also Owlie

I have cleared 100 miles so far this month, and should get a few more in before the end of May. Very satisfying.