On the road again

Janine and I went for a bike ride yesterday. Janine just purchased her road bike recently and was itching to get on it and try it out. My road bike has been hanging in my garage for over a year now. I didn't ride while I was pregnant and haven't ridden since I had Kennedy so I needed to re-familiarize myself with my bike.

Lets just say my bike had a serious layer of dust and dog hair on it. I cleaned it up first and then Tim helped me pump up the tires. I was a little nervous getting the bike ready just because it has been such a long time. Tim asked me if I wanted to take a spin around the neighborhood before putting the bike in the car. I thought about that for a minute and opted out of that because I didn't want to have to change shoes to my clip-ins, etc. I had to take my wheel off to get it in my Jeep now that I cant lay the seats down due to a baby seat. I need a bike rack! The bike shop wasn't open yesterday or today so it looks like I will have to do that next week on one of my days off.

Once I got to Janine's, I checked her tires and we got ready and were about to have Josh take a picture before we left and then the dreaded event occurred for all to see. I bit it! I fell too fast to even think, or blink for that matter. I had clipped my right shoe in but the clip is so loose I didn't hear the snap so I didn't think I was clipped and just as I went to pull my foot away - it wouldn't move and by then it was too late, I was falling sideways - FAST. Wham! There I was with Janine (who was nervous might I add) and Josh ready to take a picture and I busted my rear. I am sure it did nothing for Janine's anxiety level and for me, though it was embarrassing, it was more frustrating than anything. Oh well. What's a girl to do except get up and shake it off, right? Luckily all I have is a little scrape and a scuffed up bike seat to match. Its only fair that I have marks on both sides of my bike, right? I fell to the other side the last time I rode and those are the only two times I have fallen since the purchase of my bike - pretty impressive but boy is one of those falls humbling. I should have taken Tim's suggestion and warmed up around the neighborhood.

We had a beautiful ride. I was rusty at first and Janine was trying to grasp the shifting which is really hard to put into words for someone (especially when they are on a different bike). She picked up quickly though and we both got a great workout and a wonderful ride. We saw lots of horses, a chipmunk, a baby groundhog (too cute), and gorgeous landscape. Both of us were enjoying ourselves so much we didn't really pay much attention to how long we had been riding. We put the ride on map my run last night and it turns out we did 17 miles! Wow! Now, we weren't pushing ourselves but still - that's pretty flippin' sweet.

The after effects of a good ride (after a long cyclying break) are apparently a sore hiney, sore arms, and some random looking sunburn: ha! We had an awesome time and I think we are both looking forward to our next ride. I will post the picture Josh took below.

Today we will go watch the current TNT tri team do their practice triathlon and then head to the pool for a little swimming lesson.