Happy Memorial Day! Please take a moment to thank a veteran. Chances are, you know one (or at least know where to find one). I happen to have one in my house so... Thank you Ray!
Training has been going well. I knew I would have a tough time with the bike, and that is oh, so very true. I warned my coach that she was going to have her work cut out for her with me on the bike. She laughed, and asked me to get serious - everyone can ride a bike! Yes, that is true. I can ride a bike, but I am still incredibly wobbly and spastic on it! We set off on our first ride last Sunday at a leisurely 10-11 mph pace. I still don't own a "road bike." You know, the light as air, finely tuned, aerodynamic bicycle with the impossibly skinny tires (think Lance Armstrong). No, I was going to get my miles in on my own bike, thank you very much. It's called a "hybrid" which basically means it's not tough enough to be a mountain bike, but not fast enough to be a racing bike. It has a nice wide comfy seat, medium knobby tires, sturdy handlebars... Good thing I love it so much because everyone else on their road bikes left me in the dust!! Oh well. I got my 10 miles in (slowly), and decided I probably needed an upgrade. Do you have any idea how expensive a racing bike (even a basic beginner bike) is? Let's just say we spent that much money on our last weekend at DisneyWorld.
So, on to plan B - Looking for a used bike! A co-worker of mine (code name: Superwoman) happened to have an old road bike she was keeping as a spare. She is a super athlete and has raced several triathlons on her trusty Schwinn - and she said I was welcome to use it! Yay! Let's hear it for the free bike!!
Well, much like free lunches or free kittens... a free bike doesn't exist. A quick trip to my local bike shop resulted in a new seat, handlebar tape (I picked the holstein cow print), spare tube and tire changing kit, fancy light, and a quick lesson on how to change my new gears. Free? No. But much better than dropping $1000 on a new bike.
Guess what? I'm not much faster on the road bike.
Why, you might ask? Well, it might have something to do with me wobbling back and forth all over the road on the impossibly skinny tires like my daughter without training wheels. Sigh...
Oh-well, I'll catch them on the run.
Maybe.
When you get the chance, please visit my Team in Training donation page. Here you'll see why I'm scaring myself half to death on the bicycle with the teeny-tiny wheels. Thanks!
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