Tag Archives: cycling

by

Sometimes you just gotta say “yes” and see what happens…

If someone invited me to a party full of strangers I would be the kind of person who responds with a polite “no thanks.”  The thought of walking into a crowded room where I don’t know anyone scares me.  Sparking up conversations with people I don’t know is not a natural process for me.  However, I have realized that I seem to become friends with these type of people.  Probably because they approached me first.

My husband and I were in the pool the other day and we were sharing a lane.  As I came up to the wall I saw that he had stopped and was having a conversation with the woman in the next lane.  She had inquired about his Ironman bag.  All triathletes know what an Ironman is and they can’t help but be impressed when they meet someone who has completed an Ironman.  I stopped and introduced myself.  She continued to talk about training for a half Ironman and talked about the recent event she completed last weekend.  I just kind of nodded and was actually hoping to continue my swim workout, but I didn’t want to appear rude so I just stood there and interjected myself into the conversation whenever I could.  I think I said something like “I don’t know much about triathlons, but I did complete my first sprint tri in June and I am training for one more next month.”  It just seemed like such a minor statement in the scheme of what this woman was talking about.  She was discussing “real” Ironmans.  I am just in the minor league.

This woman started to get really excited about getting together to do some training.  I figured it might be something that Ed would be interested in because I was definitely not at her level.  I just kind of nodded my head respectfully, but I naturally assumed that we would never meet up to do anything.  I don’t know why exactly, but you know how some people talk about getting together, but then never do?

Boy, was I wrong.  Two days later my phone rang and I didn’t answer because it was an unknown number.  When I listened to the message I realized that it was the woman from the pool.  She was asking me if I wanted to go for a bike ride the following morning.  As I was listening to the message, I was already formulating how I would tell her “no thanks.”  I had just gone for a bike ride and a run that morning, so that was one excuse.  I had already left Ed to take care of the kids one weekend morning, so that was another excuse.  There was no way that I would be able to keep up with this woman and her friends, so there was excuse number 3.  I was scared of riding up and down hills and on busy streets.  There.  That should be enough excuses to get me out of this one.  As soon I mentioned it to my husband he told me that I should go.

All of a sudden a light bulb (in my head) came on.  How are you going to make friends if you always say “no thanks?”  How are you going to challenge yourself if you always think that you aren’t good enough at something?  For crying out loud, just take a risk already!  Really, what is the worst that can happen?  You have awkward conversations?  You tell them to go on ahead without you?

I called her back before I could change my mind again.  I told her “yes.”  I did not call back to say that something came up.  I did not ignore my alarm.  I got up and did just what I said I would.  Granted, I did have a weird dream about having a flat tire on my bike and not being able to fix it before everyone decided to leave me behind.  I just kind of ignored that thought and made sure to check my tires as soon as I walked into the garage.  They were perfectly aired.

I arrived at the house and she started talking about her wheels and how she needs to get a new pair.  I just kind of nodded because I don’t know anything about bike wheels.  I looked at my bike and was just grateful that I at least know how to ride it (for the most part) and change the tire if necessary.  Don’t ask me anything else because I haven’t got a clue.

The friend showed up and she also seemed nice enough.  It was time to get started and I just kept telling myself to go with the flow.  I was nervous about riding on the main road, but we were only barely cruising.  At that point I wasn’t worried about keeping up, but then I reflected back to last week’s track workout and I knew that I couldn’t really be sure of their “real” speed yet.  They mentioned going up Dinosaur Ridge and I remember that place very well.  We took my parents and kids up there a few weeks ago.  We decided to ride the tram because it is a very steep climb.  I remember seeing the cyclists going up and down the road and I thought that they were crazy.  Now I was going to be one of them?

Before getting to the crazy incline, we went down a rather steep hill that helped me pick up speed… too much speed.  I kept putting on my brakes even though they told me to get as much speed as I could so that it would help me go up the incline.  I didn’t listen to that advice.  I just kept picturing myself hitting a rock and flying 100 feet into the air.  No thanks.  I opted to have less power at the start of the climb.  As we started going up, the super Ironwoman flew past.  I didn’t try to keep up.  I stayed with the friend.  I was actually relaxed and we were able to have a conversation all the way up to the top.  I felt great and I knew that I really didn’t have anything to worry about.  I was ready for more hills.  And we did find a few more, but they provided amazing views that made the effort well worth it.  We stopped a few times to admire it all.  On the way back, I took the lead with confidence.

By the end of the ride, I was so grateful that I had finally opted to say “yes” even though I was a little bit nervous about taking that first step.  Seriously, you never know unless you try!  That is my new motto.  Now I have new friends who are already talking about the next ride.  I have more confidence and maybe I have gotten rid of a little shyness.

by

The Quest for New Running Buddies

Most normal (I don’t know if that is the right word… what is normal anyway?) people who stay rooted in one place all of their lives don’t realize how difficult it is for military families to move every 2-4 years.  They might assume we love it and that we get to enjoy endless adventures, but it isn’t always so much fun and definitely not so easy (especially in the beginning).  Besides all of the obvious packing and unpacking, there is the relocation to a new area where you most likely don’t have any friends or family to lean on.  It is easy to understand that kids might have difficulty adjusting, but the parents also have to learn a new place and find new friends.  Granted, some military folks are good at adapting and very extroverted so they instantly make friends with everyone on their block.  But, what about us introverts? We have to face more challenges in that aspect.

Of course, as a military family it is usually easy to get connected with other members who work with the military spouse.  Yet, we appear to be in a very unique situation here because my husband will not be working.  Instead he will be attending school.  A school where there is currently only two other military members assigned to our service.  I guess that doesn’t really matter to me much because I have always tended to befriend more of the “outsiders” (the people not affiliated with the military) so I am used to reaching out in different directions.

Now, here I am.  I have taken some initiative already since I have done years of research into finding my niche.  Anything that deals with running is always a good start.  Therefore, I opened up my laptop and started a search for local running clubs.  Hmm, I was surprised to see… hardly any in this area.  I didn’t type in “cycling club” but I have the feeling that over a hundred options would pop up if I did that.  But wait, I did find something that said “running and cycling” club.  I guess that is better than nothing.

I kind of thought about the club for a couple of weeks before actually getting up the nerve to attend a track workout.  You know, it is always hard to force your way into an already established group of people.  People naturally tend to stick with those that they know (unless they are extreme extroverts I suppose).  That’s not to say that people aren’t friendly, but you kind of just want to stick with what is most comfortable.  I know that I do.

So, I showed up at the track 15 minutes early (of course, because I am naturally punctual thanks to my VERY strict curfews as a teenager… I would get grounded if I was even 10 seconds late).  I watched the football coach on the field yelling at his little team of boys and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.  I was thankful that I wasn’t doing their workout.  But, then again, I had no idea what I was about to partake in.  Club members started staggering in and I tried to remember names, but it is almost not fair because they only have to remember one new name.  They all seemed really nice and the one thing that I noticed is that they actually asked me a lot of questions.  That always makes a new, introverted person feel more at ease (take some notes here!).  The coach arrived with his two stopwatches around his neck and I was starting to feel excited about this whole track thing.  I had never really trained on a track before and I suddenly felt like some kind of Olympian.  Then he started talking about 400’s and 800’s and 1200’s and I had to turn to the guy next to me and ask “400 is one loop around the track, right?”.  Fortunately, I didn’t feel like too much of an idiot for asking that question because I was already pretty comfortable with the group and I kind of played it off like this track might be different from other tracks (I mean, it was gravel and there were weeds growing on it).

So, we started off on a warm-up and I ran next to a girl that I enjoyed 2 laps of small talk with.  I remember thinking that it seemed like a great speed to me and that it should be easier than I had anticipated.  Well, then all hell broke loose when we started our intervals.  “Run this at your 5K pace” said the coach.  Okay, sure.  I am just going to run with these guys.  It appears that they run at my pace.  Yeah, they run my pace during the warm-up!  I was huffing and puffing and working so hard to keep up during that first lap.  I finally realized that there was no way that I was going to keep up during all of these intervals because my energy was waning.  I played off the altitude thing.  “Yeah, I just moved here from sea level.”

Needless to say, even though I thought I was about to keel over at the end of those 6 miles, I had a good time through all of the pain.  I love challenges and that was definitely a challenge.  I bid my farewell and promised to return to another training.  That night I received an email from one of the members asking me to run some extra miles during the week.  People asking me to go for a run?  Now that is a friendship in the making.

Funny thing before I close.  I just got a phone call today from a lady my husband and I met in the pool at the YMCA (we started talking about triathlons).  She called to ask me to go for a ride tomorrow.  Granted, I have never been on a group ride.  I am also very slow.  Not only that, but I have a fear of going up and down hills.  Yet, I responded with “sure.”  This will be another new challenge that scares the crap out of me!  I will let you know how it goes.

by

Hello Golden, Colorado!

Well, it has been awhile since my last blog entry but I think I have a pretty good excuse.  I have been moving my family across the country from Jacksonville, FL to Golden, CO.  We are still not completely settled, but there has been a lot of excitement surrounding our inquiry of the new area and all that it offers.  Let me tell you, it offers a whole lot!

However, as a runner in Golden, CO I kind of feel out of place.  I have been on an 8-mile run that afforded me the pleasure of encountering about 5 other runners.  That may seem like a lot, but I must admit that about 50 of my human encounters involved people on bikes.  I quickly learned that Golden is a biking town.  Oh, they are friendly enough and will often wave or nod, but I get the feeling that they might think I am some kind of nut.  I mean, who runs up these insane hills when you can bike up them and then sail faster than the cars as you glide down them?  As a runner, it takes work going up the hill and, whether or not you believe me, it actually takes some work going down them.  Then again, I would only fear for my life if I were on a bike.  I have yet to attempt that because I am still mustering the courage.  I just nod back and silently call those cyclists “crazy.”  Yet, everywhere you look in the quaint little downtown you see a bike rack (and oddly enough, they are actually shaped like bikes).

So, here is runner me gasping for air at 1.2 miles above sea level (yep folks, Golden is higher than Denver… and my neighbor just had to warn me about the fact that we get double the amount of snow during the winter).  Let me remind you that I just moved from flat, sea level Florida.  Granted, the sweltering heat and humidity totally SUCKED, but I am thinking that this altitude really STINKS.  Not to mention the fact that an onion I purchased at the store today nearly jumped out of the back of my SUV which was slanted at 45 degrees in our driveway.  If I wouldn’t have caught the darn thing then it would have literally rolled all the way to the end of our road and then down to the bottom of the valley.  What does an onion have to do with anything?  Well, my point being that we live on a freakishly hilly hill (if you think there is no such thing then I cordially invite you to visit my home). When the training plan says “rest day” I can pretty much throw that to the wind because no day is a “rest day” when you have to climb 200 feet up a hill.  Unless I can run down the hellish thing and persuade my husband to pick me up at the bottom.

Well, it has obviously been an adventure.  The adventure lies in finding a flat place to run, but I have yet to find any such place around here.  Since I should just consider myself screwed, my plan is to run like crazy here (I don’t even have to leave the boundaries of my neighborhood) and then make a trip to a lower, flatter location and run like nobody’s business.  I am sure I will make some kind of world record.  It’s all about making a positive out of a negative, right?

by

My First Ride

Well, I have had my new shoes since Thursday and today is already Tuesday of the following week.  It took me that long to get on the bike.  So Friday I had a lot of baking and babysitting to do.  Then on Saturday I was out fundraising and running (I just can’t say no to my weekly long run).  I thought Sunday would be the day.  Until I found out that there were 20 mph winds.  Then on Monday it was super cold.  I don’t know.  I guess I was just waiting for the perfect conditions even though I have always said that you just need to suck it up and do it anyway.  I just didn’t want my first biking experience to turn ugly because that would turn me off.

Tuesday morning finally came and I had my chance.  My husband was home in the morning.  Okay, so that meant I could sleep in while he got up to take care of get the kids.  No, I forced myself to get up.  For some reason it would have been easier if I were just getting up to go for a run.  I suppose you just get comfortable doing one thing and you don’t really want to reach outside your comfort zone.  Well, I had no other excuses.  The temperature was reasonable and the winds were calm.

Before I headed out the door I had to get on the trainer one last time.  My husband had to show me how to shift. He told me it was a lot like driving a car.  Good thing I know how to drive a manual transmission.  Yes, as I go faster I need to shift up.  When I was picturing it in my head, though, I just didn’t really see how I was going to be going so fast that I needed to shift up.  I was prepared for slowness.  When I first started running I was slow.  Slow, slow, slow.  Then as I practiced I became faster.  I really can’t expect to just jump on the bike and win a race… but I sure as heck would try.

I straddled the bike at the top of my driveway as my husband watched in anticipation.  Okay, he was actually yelling at me to get inside because of a dog running by.  This dog had been known to chase people in our neighborhood.  I suppose it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to chase me on the bike because I would most likely run him over and crash.  I waited for the dog to leave and then I was off.  Yeah, I made it down the street before I realized that I needed some more clothing.  I know what to wear for every temperature when I run.  I tend to run hot so I thought that I would warm up when I started riding until I realized that riding a bike causes more wind to hit you.  Well, duh.

Jacket, check.  Now I was finally ready to go.  I had already decided to go in and out of the subdivisions.  I knew that I didn’t want to go out on the main road.  I also knew that I didn’t want to cross over to the other side of our community because that would mean going uphill.  I love going up hills when I run and I think I might actually like doing it on a bike.  However, I know that I will dread going down a hill.  That just scares the crap out of me.  So, let’s stay away from hills for now.

Riding in and out of the cul-de-sacs was kind of a pain for me.  It was good for learning how to use the shifter because I would constantly speed up and slow down.  However, I just wanted to go faster and not have to stop, but that would mean getting out on a busy road.  And I wasn’t even sure what to do at a stoplight.  I mean, do people still use those arm signals?  What if I wanted to turn left?  I would be sitting there in the middle of the road with all of these cars around me. I guess I just kind of felt exposed.  I knew I didn’t belong on the sidewalk, but I also didn’t feel like I belonged on the street.

I felt like I could go for a long time.  I wasn’t even sweating so I wasn’t even sure if I was burning any calories.  It didn’t seem like a real workout to me, but I think that would be different out on the open road where I could really get going.  The only thing that stopped me from going more than 10 miles was the fact that I didn’t have any padded biking shorts yet and that my upper body was tense from leaning over in an awkward position.  Yep, I obviously don’t have the endurance for that yet.  Just like running, I would have to work my way up.

All in all, it was an okay experience and I will definitely get out there more.  I feel a bit more confident about a triathlon.  Now I need to focus on getting out onto the roads where all of the cars are.  As I was driving today, I saw a cyclist wearing a very bright green jacket.  Yep, that is a good idea.  It looks like bright and ugly will become part of my wardrobe.