RR... my first respectable ride, uh sorta

"Tacomaboy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

What a day. I love my bike 🙂

There you go. Welcome to the cult.

CC

"Tacomaboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Today, since I didn't have a lot of daylight left, and because I really feel the need to improve
my endurance levels, I decided to ride the Veloway. The Veloway is paved, and therefore, not the
most fun I have ever had. But it is relaxing and peaceful, yet can really get your blood going,
since it has lots of twist, turns, and hills. Today I decided to do 10 miles. 10 miles isn't much
for most of you, I know. But I have been riding three weeks since my last period of riding years
ago, before my bike was stolen. Not to mention I weigh 230 (225 after that ride hehe), and I am
5'10". Also my bike is full suspension, which isn't exactly known for street riding abilities. I
decided, midway through my second lap, that this was the day I could really get my third lap in.
Each lap is about 3.2 miles, so I needed to actually go more than three laps to hit my goal. At
the 9 mile mark, I knew I had done it. Alright! Now I call myself a bicyclist. The end of the
third lap marked 9.5 miles. Hmm... fortunately the Veloway has a few cut throughs for smaller
laps. I decided to run one of the small laps. Of course, at the 10 mile mark, I wanted to raise my
arms and cheer... but as luck would have it, I hit 10 miles exactly in the middle of a sharp turn.
Oh well.. maybe when I hit 15 miles. So, as of now, that's my best distance. And I did a 14 mi/hr
average to boot! However, my best ride yet started off with my worst start yet. I replaced my
drive side crank before the ride, and forgot to put the gears back on a lower setting. I had both
gears on the highest ratio. Ughhh... So, when I arrive, I am feeling great, ready to ride, looking
good on my shiny bike with new cranks. Clip my pedals in, without bother to kick off. Push down...
pedal.. won't ... turn... cant.. maintain... balance... uh... oh... falling... SMACK. Fallover on
my right side into the gravel. And of COURSE there were plenty of people to witness my graceful
dismount... you know, the type where you can't unclip fast enough and end up scraping your elbow
and knee all over the gravel like a moron. Some girl asks if I am ok... I reply, well.. only my
pride is hurt, how freaking embarrassing. I know I know it happens, but not when you JUST get on
your bike!! Ahh well now I have some goofy carnage tale, and I feel like doing a more technical
ride tomorrow. What a day. I love my bike 🙂

Sounds great, keep it up!

I'm not sure if the trail you were speaking of is also frequented by roller bladers,
walkers,families teaching their kids how to ride bikes, and idiots who think "multi use trail" means
"social gathering spot to stop dead center on the trail and talk", but if this is familiar to you,
that's all the encouragement you will need to point that bike towards the dirt and ride off road!