Mike and I went on a 50 mile bike ride on Memorial Day this past week. It was a little bit of a rough start because my gears started shifting without my help. It was kind of like riding an "automatic". Mike took some time to fiddle with the gears and asked if I wanted to turn back. This was only 7.5 miles into the ride. I flatly refused because my heart was set on doing a 50 mile ride. So he got it working for me and we persevered. It took a total of 3 hours riding time at an average of 17 mph. That's an excellent time for the distance! We told ourselves that we'd "take it easy" and not worry about the speed, just go the distance. But during the ride back, we were kicking it in at 19-20 mph with some other hot-shot cyclist and I guess we felt we had to keep up with him because he was on a mountain bike. As long as I was drafting, I was able to keep up, even after 40 miles!
I think only 3 people passed us (unless we were stopped). My legs were only a little sore the next day and only when going up or down stairs. But we still rode on Tuesday (13 miles). My goal is to do a century ride by the end of summer.
To celebrate this mini-goal, Mike and I went to the bike store to have them look at my gears and to buy me a new jersey! :) I'll have to get a picture posted to show it off! We're really enjoying this sport!
Idaho 2013
11 years ago
