LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE 5K Training Week 10 Part II

Me and my big girl bike...where do I start? Shane bought the used bike on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago as an early birthday present. It is a used 1999 Trek 2100 with a lot of owner upgrades including a Liberator seat with a cut out for, hmm... pc term, protect soft tissue. The previous owner tells me she treated it like her baby. It is in excellent condition except for a few cosmetic nicks on the frame. The people at the bike shop were pretty impressed telling me it is a great entry level road bike that handles really well, being a novice I smile and say, thanks. The bike parked in my garage for a week while I think about where I want to ride, and how to lose a little of the fears I am having. I had been doing spinning now for close to a month. I fell in love with cycling hard and fast. I wanted to maximize that feeling by going outdoors. The bike has the SPD clipless pedal system, which I have the shoes for from indoor cycling, but the bike in the gym is stationary. Even, with the stationary bike at the gym it took me a solid 4 classes to finally clip in and out quickly. Here is an example, on what clipping in should look like, mind you she is on a bike trainer so her bike is balanced for her.

I did some research on the net and found a local group in my area, The Woodlands Cycling Club. I figure with a group I would be motivated, learn some much needed pointers, meet other cyclists, and of course safety in numbers. I sent them an e-mail and was invited to join the Ultra Beginners Group for a 13 mile ride tomorrow, Saturday. I was excited this whole past week. I took my bike to the shop on Wednesday, where I had gotten my cycling shoes since they were so friendly and helpful. I got everything adjusted to where it should be for me. Except the handlebars, I feel they should be a little higher and inclined more towards me. It is at the highest level it can be at now. The guy at the bike store said if after my ride on Saturday it does not feel comfortable to bring it back and he can order a piece to incline it 45 degrees and bring the bars up a little higher. I take all this information go home and park my bike back in the garage thinking on Thursday I will go for a short ride in the neighborhood and be ready to go on Saturday. I take Lil' Buster to school, hit a spin class, and run home to go ride my bike. I take it in the sidewalk so Ill have grass on both sides for a fall. I do as I thought I should one foot on the ground, clip in the other, rotate the pedals and clip the other one in. Sounds easy enough, right? Fast forward to 10 minutes later and 2 bloody elbows, and 1 bloody knee. I freak out and do something I have not done in a while, cried in frustration. A few hours later, I take a breather call the bike shop, and the guy tells me to bring it in and he would put some good ol' fashioned pedals on them. He told me not to worry get the hang of being on a bike again and than I can switch back to the clipless pedals. I ride with Lil' Buster yesterday afternoon, which he was so excited to be riding bikes with his Mom. I than waited for Shane to get home and rode around the neighborhood for a few hours, practicing starting, stopping and shifting, there is 21 gears on that bad boy. I stopped for about 50 minutes for the community meeting, but than jumped back on the bike and felt the breeze blowing in my face...I was smiling ear to ear! I am feeling much more comfortable with it now, a lot of the fear is gone. My shoulders hurt from tensing up, but I did that with spinning the first few times too. Monica, sent me an awesome email. In it she gave me step by step instructions on clipping in, a video link as seen above, and a go get em' tiger pep talk. Thanks, biker chic...... I will try the clipless pedals again in a couple weeks and I will succeed. I will try to get a good nights sleep tonight and be ready for my ride tomorrow morning!