Newbie weekly achievement thread

[Mako]

hansbrea,

Just wanted to say hi and welcome!
I'm new here too and joined because it seemed so friendly!

All the best with your cycling! It's totally addictive, you'll keep upping your mileage in no time

Good luck!

[hansbrea]

Thank you, Mako!

I went for a 6 mile ride tonight since I am still sore from yesterday's 10 mile ride. Sigh, I'll get there eventually. I had 20+ mph winds at me for half of it and I pushed myself to try and get better time. Plus I removed 2.4 lbs. of stuff off the bike. I still wound up with the same time I've had of 5:30/mile.

Tomorrow I am going to work on getting the bike geared up, hopefully figure out something for tires as apparently I have "really aggressive mountain bike" tires, figure out something for a new cushioned recessed seat or get a gel cover for the one I have.

I am look at tires on http://www.nashbar.com and am not sure what to get. What would be good for road racing tires? I have a low budget but want something that won't cause me to slide off the road, too.

[jelee1311]

Welcome to all the new ladies of the past week. I've had a crazy week I broke my deraileur cable right in front of my house,we fixed that then 2 days later when I went to go for a ride my back tire was flat. I fixed it and then struggled to get the tire back on when I finally did the tire went flat again. I pinch flatted it and then had no more good tubes , covered in grease I sat down and cried. DH fixed my flat that night when I was at work. The next day I was 2 blocks away from my house and my chain fell off.I walked home and was cracking up when I called DH to tell him.I'm. Getting some good practice with bike maintenance and I consider myself sooo lucky that the problems happened near or at home. Four days without riding was killing me so tonight my DH went for a 20 mile ride with me. The weather was perfect so we went around a local lake and it was beautiful. Its good for me to ride with DH because I wouldn't be alone if I had anymore bike technical difficulties. Maybe next week I will have better bike carma

[Nick]

Hello again everyone. I had my best ride yet today. I've been practicing skills I learned at the mountain biking clinic, particularly going downhill with my body pulled behind the seat, with my chest low. Today I took the rather steep incline (but not overly long) which is paved and a good place to practice descents. A multigenerational family was walking up the hill as I made my way up. When I sped past in mountain biking downhill position, I heard a "wow, daredevil!" -- coming from one of the younger adult males. That was so funny, lol! Going downhill terrifies me, which is why I keep practicing... and I use the body behind seat position because it feels so much safer, not to be daring. It was a good ride, and my one handed riding is going well -- both sides are getting much stronger at that. I have a lot more skills to learn, though, and need to build stamina for those uphill climbs.

[hansbrea]

Ah, hugs, Jelee1311!

Hmm, the clinic sounds interesting. I didn't know people even gave clinics on how to ride but it makes logical sense people learn technique somewhere. I am going to try the seat trick downhill, too, and see if that makes a difference for me.

I rode the 15-mile race route today for practice. I also bought new tires and tubes today - and they are WAY too big. I'm going to have to return them and go the bike store instead. Apparently WalMart doesn't hack it.

The ride went well at least and I finished within a minute of the time I wanted to. I'm hoping with slicks and adrenaline I can do a little better next Saturday. No headwind would be nice, too. I spent 5 miles battling the wind.

Oh yeah, and I also got hooted and hollered at by a two cars full of teenage boys speeding around. It took me a second for me to register they were yelling "love you butt!" as they waited behind me for a car to pass. I figured it out when they were hanging out of the car waving at me, etc. That is first time in my life I've literally had anybody hoot or whistle at me, literally. My thought was "don't they see I am a mid-30's overweight lady?" as I got a big smile on my face and laughed.

[Velocivixen]

@Jelee, I'm so sorry to hear of your frustration, but you're right it's making you stronger and giving you opportunity to learn and practice. Of course at the time it can be frustrating. How are your women's rides? I still haven't done a group ride!

@hansbrea, welcome. I'm interested in about our bike and set up, and what type of riding you've been doing. Sometimes it helps if. We know a little more specifics so we can offer better or more appropriate suggestions. Happy riding.

My "newby" achievement is that I finally bought my first road bike in 27 years! It's being built up now. It's a Surly Cross Check in "Robin's Egg Blue". I can't wait to get out and practice on it.

[Roadtrip]

I did my longest ride of the year today!

Twenty-three miles on my new saddle and the entire ride was clipless. I didn't really even feel the saddle until mile twenty when I "felt" the cutout a little and repositioned myself a little every so often.

I've also swapped out the SPD pedals for Speedplay Frog pedals and I VERY much like them. I had a few "oh crap" moments, but stayed upright, which is a good thing!

Feeling good about today

Shannon

[hebe]

Woot! new bikes, new achievements, new personal bests and fingers crossed for better karma for Jelee this week

I had a surprise morning of riding today. Mondays are normally sacrosanct for housework, but the Mister set off to a meeting with the child car-seat in the back of his car. So I got to ride small girl to nursery which was lovely - she's not been too keen on it for a while and I went off it a bit after tipping the (empty) trailer over in traffic. Anyway, it was fine. The nursery let me leave the trailer there, which was great as they have some lovely off-road riding just a few hundred yards away. So I did some riding through the sun and cornfields, then nipped home for a cuppa before riding back to nursery to collect Small Girl and her trailer.

I think I might have finally got close to doing 10miles, just need to check on the map (forgot my Garmin). The problem isn't stamina so much as finding routes. Hopefully a new map will help with that.

[rubysoho]

*happy dance* I brought out the clipless pedals that I bought a couple months ago. Originally I put them on right away but practicing inside (with no momentum) made me super nervous because I was super unsteady. Well, put them back on yesterday, played with them some this morning and went out to a parking lot to practice. And guess what! It was GREAT!

I'll be honest, this morning that same fear crept back in. I do not advise practicing indoors trying to move forward when you really can't go anywhere and can't get any momentum. Just practice clipping in and out, one foot at a time, nothing more!

I did put them on their easiest setting and that also helped. But did an easy 15 mile ride this evening (which was beautiful, passed a herd of deer including two spotted fawns) and even felt good stopping and starting at stop signs and crossing the roads that intersect the trails.

So yay! I am happy I conquered a fear (one I probably didn't need to have in the first place!).

[itsalldownhill]

Hi all! *waving madly* I'm new and thought this was a perfect thread to say hi in!

I hadn't ridden a bike in 15 years before last year a friend convinced me to go on a ride with the See Jane Ride girls (if you haven't found them - check them out - very cool concept). I rode for a little while with the Janes that fall, maxing out at about 12 miles a ride, and then of course, winter hit, I became sedentary again and life just fell apart.

4 weeks ago, I got the cycling bug again, and started back up. My Schwinn Wal-Mart comfort bike took me for the first 200 miles, but just wasn't comfortable for longer distances.

All that to say my accomplishment for the week was riding my brand-new (to me) Jamis Satellite Sport on a 43.94 mile ride on Sunday, and making it! It was hilly, hot (88 degrees) and humid. The thought did cross my mind numerous times that I was going to have to call my husband to come get me. But, I made it, and that's the longest I've ever spent on a bike!

[hansbrea]

Wpw, ladies, way to go!

Itsalldownhill, 43 miles would kill me I think. I go 15 and my "seat" is pretty uncomfortable.

Velocivixen, I am riding a Gary Fisher Marlin mountain bike that I got new when I graduated from high school in '95. It's been left outside all one winter on accident (we have acreage and my son got it out), brakes don't work perfectly, same old seat I started with that is very uncomfortable (although I bought a new gel cover that helps a ton), and the gears are CRAPPY to say the least. Some day I would love to buy a new bike but can't justify it at all seeing how much they cost. The bike weighed 26.4 lbs. before I changed tires (probably close to the same weight?) and added the heavy gel seat.

Roadtrip and Rubysoho, why are they called clipless pedals if you clip your feet into them? Or, am I thinking of something else? Do they make a difference in how fast you go?

Hebe, glad you had a good time and got a surprise ride in. I bought a van with built in car seats just so for DH moments like that.

I did my first "bike race" on Saturday. Turns out it was just a fun ride and not a race at all. That didn't stop me from trying to get done first, though. There was a husband and wife that passed me when I stopped to adjust my seat and I never did catch back up to them. I ended up getting done third out of a group of 16 I think. It doesn't say much, though, because 4 of them were ladies in their 50's who hadn't been on bikes in years and were all more overweight than me, 2 were youth about age 10, 2 more were the dads riding with the youth and that leaves 6, including me. I don't know what the other 3 people were like because I didn't look around enough before we rode off. Everyone else was out for a leisurely ride it seems - even the couple who were both in good shape. He kept looking back to see if I was still behind them and if I got close he'd weave around and take up the whole road. Haha. Goof, he could have ridden me into the ground anytime but was staying with his wife who also had their toddler on a seat on her bike. It was fun, though, and I finished it 6 minutes faster than when I practiced.

There is a bike race this Saturday I am looking at that is an hour away. We'll have to see what the family plans are but right now I think I might be able to work it in since it is at 6:30 in the morning. That's WAY too early for me but I'll force myself out of bed anyway. Fortunately I can stay at my in-laws which is about 10 minutes away.

[hansbrea]

I forgot to add that we ordered several bike jerseys off of bikenashbar.com. I am hoping I ordered the right size but am worried they will be too big. I usually wear a large or xl in ladies shirts. I got my bike shirt at the fun ride last week, had ordered a large, and it was HUGE. I ended up switching it for a medium. I did order one medium jersey but also two larges. They were awesome prices so I got several. I am SO excited for them to get here as I don't have any decent riding shirts that are long enough except the one I got Saturday. HURRY UP FEDEX!

[rubysoho]

Roadtrip and Rubysoho, why are they called clipless pedals if you clip your feet into them? Or, am I thinking of something else? Do they make a difference in how fast you go?

*shrug* I keep thinking the same thing. Apparently the "clip" pedals clipped onto your toes????? I don't really know. I still "clip in" to my clipless pedals.

I definitely noticed a difference in how smooth my pedaling was. My knee also wasn't bothering me like it sometimes does, but I didn't push myself on the ride either. After much fear, once I figured out how easy they were I actually liked them. I've almost lost my platform pedal before trying to go super fast. Since I set them to the easiest setting I also never felt "stuck" or trapped - which was a huge fear of mine.

[Bike Writer]

Wow we have a lot of new folks around here since the begining of July. Welcome!

I see many of our "old" newbies have also set some personal bests and milestones. Woohoo Congrats all around!

Last week I posted my longest week of riding this season. Just a tad over 56 miles. Many folks here do twice as much in a day, but for me, that's alot and am happy with how my riding is progressing this year. Speaking of which, where did this year go? I can't believe I just took up riding again nearly a year ago. I feel so comfortable and my skills have improved quite a bit. I'd been off a bike for so long it was almost like starting over.

Well, ladies new and old, happy riding and congrats again on the accomplishments. It's a great forum with loads of information and great comraderie.

[hansbrea]

THEY'RE HEEEERREEEEEE!!!! I got home from cub scout day camp today and notice a package stuffed in my mail box. I was like a kid at Christmas ripping open the package to try on the shirts. I've decided it's a good thing I got larges and realizing I probably should have gotten x-larges. I REALLY need to lose weight! I've put on 15 pounds since February and am having trouble losing it. Weight loss is one of my motivating factors for riding. So, hopefully the shirts will fit soon.

The two I got for $9.99 look great, the $14.99 is okay but really makes me look fat. It is more comfortable, though, so I am okay with that since looking skinny right now is a hopeless cause anyway. I'M SO EXCITED AND WANT TO GO BIKE RIDING TONIGHT. Too bad DH's jersey is on back order but dad's came so I am happier about that. It is going to be his Christmas present. If we never get DH's and I get a refund, I am perfectly fine with that since it was an impulse buy for someone who never rides a bike.

The order came with a catalog so of course I had to look at all of it, right? The stuff I ordered is for "sale" for at least twice as much as I paid for it in the catalog but there are still lots of other good deals. Right now I am good, though, the short are tempting.