The Nellie Spot

On Thursday, I went for my first road bike ride with a coworker (Brian) and a coworker's husband (Doug). Brian gave me his old road bike and will be pushing me to go out frequently to get into shape. The bike is an older GT aluminum frame with shoe lock pedals. I rode the bike around the neigborhood a little to get a feel for the bike and the gear changing.

We met at Doug's house back behind Pinnacle golf course. Brian held the bike for me while I practiced unlocking my feet so I wouldn't fall when coming to stop. He also warned me that EVERYONE falls the first time. I was determined to disprove that. The results? They're coming.

Brian told me we'd ride between 10-15 miles. To me, that sounds like a really long way, but I was willing to try it out. I stopped a couple of times, mainly going up small but long hills. I stopped at the turn for about 2 minutes to rest, then started my way back toward the house. After a couple of miles of slow and steady climbing, I decided to stop for a break. Brian and Doug came back looking for me after a few minutes. When I felt like I could manage going on again, we started up the hill. And this is when I fell. The difficult part of the locking shoes for me isn't getting my feet OUT...it's getting my feet locked IN. Thankfully, the fall didn't hurt too bad. We continued on back to the house. At one point, Doug circled back to ride alongside me and chat. I asked him about how far this ride was going to be...he said 21 miles! When Brian said 10-15 miles, he meant 10-15 miles OUT, not round trip. Suprisingly, I wasn't as mad as I should have been. I actually felt relieved that I wasn't SOOO out of shape that I couldn't ride 10 miles! We finally made it back to Doug's house after an hour and a half and no broken bones or skinned legs.

It's crazy to think that my first time out was 21 miles. That's the same distance it is between my house and my office in Bentonville. That drive takes me 25 minutes going 70 (ish) on the highway! The next day, my legs didn't hurt at all, but I was a bit...um...saddle sore. I took every opportunity to stand up throughout the day and give my laurels a rest. :)