A+

So we did yet another ride in the park today. Rick adjusted his seat to a different angle and had one whole day of rest, so things did not seem quite as uncomfortable. This time, instead of going on the trail we rode around and around the different parking lot sections, all of which are on a slight incline, so it actually was a good workout. There were hardly any cars or people (except for some kids smoking weed in one car parked out in the middle of the lot all conspicuously *sigh*). This was much easier than having to worry about steering off a narrow path or worrying about traffic. We did not go much longer than the first time, mainly because SOMEONE thought wearing a muscle tee would be sufficient and got a bit chilly. 2.6 miles is still a record though. Our goal is to beat our time on each ride. Hopefully we will be doing 5 mile rides in no time!

-L-

Day 4

Day 4: Butt still sore from days 1 and 2 but looking forward to another few miles this evening in the park.

-R-

Woof!

When I decided to test out my bike this morning after Rick put the chain back on, I got an unexpected companion. Guinness decided that he needed to go too, and thus ran alongside my bike as I did laps on the street right in front of our house. He absolutely loved it and he is a great bike buddy. I would not ordinarily permit him to run untethered in the street and likely will not do so in the future, but there is little traffic in the middle of the day. It was very promising to think that he might be able to go to parks and stuff with us when we get our riding level up. I suspect we will need something like this. As for Turbo, I think we're going to have to go with some kind of wagon. He would pass out after about 2 minutes if he had to run.

-L-

Asking Around

One thing I love about working at the YMCA is that there are so many knowledgeable people, some of whom have lots of bike knowledge :) I just got a recommendation to check out Cycles De Oro in Greensboro, as they might have some cool ideas about increasing bike comfort and stability. They have a bike fit service that could potentially be helpful.

While on their website I found an announcement about a spring bike ride to benefit the National MS Society and I am all over that because one of my favorite people has MS and it is terrible beyond words. *Note to self: go visit her today with some FroYo.* I really like the idea of this turning into a hobby that can be used for great purposes other than my own health & well-being.

The bike ride is at Bur-Mil Park, which is on Lake Brandt in Greensboro. It looks like an amazing, fun place to ride bikes. There's even a trail that goes right over the lake! I wanna go this weekend!

Lastly, I bought Rick and I each a new bike toy this morning, hopefully this will hold my lovely Zune, too.

-L-

Need an Asspirin (pun intended).

We went out for another ride today, despite our butts protesting.  We made it 1 . 6 miles. Rick is feeling worse than yesterday after today's ride and will be walking like a cowboy tomorrow, bless his heart. I think we are going to look into some other seat options, such as this one on amazon.com.

We rode mostly in the neighborhood, which was less up and down hills but it required lots of navigating around cars parked in the street while watching for traffic coming both ways and trying not to ride in the gutter and fall over.

Then there was the cold. It never seems that cold out until you get going 5-10 mph on a bike and your ears and fingers and nose feel like they are going to fall off.

Oh, and my bike chain came off during the uphill pedal to our house.

Yay team!

-L-

The first step is the hardest.

So, we went on our first ride this afternoon.

We chose to start over at Bill Cooke Park, which is right behind our house in Graham. There is a one mile paved trail  there, so we figured it would be a good place to start. It's never fun getting used to riding am 18-speed bike again and having to worry about traffic at the same time. Mile one was okay, minus our butts being a little unhappy. Why are bike seats SO uncomfortable? We even had special Cloud 9 seats put on :/  Mile two was frustrating for Rick because the shifter that goes to the lowest gear went a little too low and threw the chain off the track when he was trying to go uphill. Yikes. There were some four letter words and some "why the ---- did we even think this was a good idea?!"  But we got things back together enough to ride home and cool off. Gonna take his bike back to the shop and have it looked at tomorrow, hopefully.      

I am sure it will be an easy fix. It's too soon to get frustrated!


-L-

"Try not. Do or do not! There is no try."

We have decided to start a blog to document our new adventure in bike riding! We both are wanting to get healthier, and so far the traditional routes haven't stuck. This has a little to do with busy schedules and a lot to do with differing physical abilities. Lena suffered a totally torn ACL in the summer of 2010 and Rick has some compressed nerves in has back and old football injuries that can limit his range of activities. A trainer suggested bicycles as a great option for the two of us... so here we go! We bought some used (but awesomely reconditioned) mountain bikes at the Elon Bike Shop yesterday. Mike, the owner, was super nice and helpful. We also got ourselves some sweet helmets and a new bike rack in hopes of venturing out of our neighborhood, once we get the hang of this.

We have a few goals for this blog, and they are as follows:
-share our experiences with others
-maintain accountability 
-generate a support system (we're going to need a lot)
-track our progress

Today it is supposed to be almost 60 degrees out, after a wet and gross few days in the 30's. We are looking forward to taking our first official ride together!

- R & L-