Hi!

I actually just started posting here yesterday, so I'm very new =) I've been drooling over the inventory at the TE shop, and occasionally indulging myself, for a while now, though.

I'm a 26yo who bought my mountain bike last year. It's the first bike I've ridden in years. I ride it once or twice a weekend when the weather's appropriate. I'm definitely a fair-weather cyclist; when winter approaches, I don my ski gear instead.

I'm definitely still a newbie, but getting better with every ride. I finally saw a doctor for some knee problems, and it turned out that my kneecaps have been tracking at an angle for years and have caused cartilage damage. Whoops! The good news is that, while I went to the doctor about pain and stiffness, the physical therapy has already made me much stronger and faster on climbs. Well, I guess that makes sense, since they're all quad workouts.

I went to my first mountain bike clinic last weekend, taught by Tonya over at http://www.mtbchick.com/ Not only was it a great learning experience, but it's inspiring to see such an athlete up close and in person.

When I'm not biking, you might find me playing ice hockey (started about a year ago), skiing (since I was 16), practicing martial arts (15, I think), reading, or playing with computers (I'm a software engineer for fun and profit). In the interest of eating more healthy foods, I've also just started cooking, so that's been an adventure ...