First Ride on New Bike - the Saga

Before you read this thread, you must promise that if you laugh, you will laugh with me and not at me……..

So I finally purchased a bike. $58.00 big ones at Wal-Mart. I was kind of hoping that they’d reward me for spending my grocery money by throwing in the water bottle, but no, I had to purchase that too. Since I’m new to this Tri thing, I decided not to invest much money in it until I decided if it would stick….at least the biking part. While trying on helmets, I found that despite the many, many years of education I have and my pending MS degree, my brain is really not that big and I ended up purchasing a juvenile sized helmet. Now, if the rest of my body was “juvenile” sized……

I got the bike home (stuck it in the trunk of my VW and tied it down – thank-you-very-much) and attempted to mount the water bottle. I fancy myself as a fairly too-savvy female and much to my chagrin; I didn’t have the special tool to mount the bottle holder. Some funky, weird tool is needed and I’ve given up on trying to figure it out and purchased those clear plastic strappy-things. We’ll see how long they lasts. Yes, I know I could take it to a hardware store, but that’s not the point.

The bike sat in my very small living room for a week while I inhaled the smell of new rubber. I firmly believe if was taunting me – saying “you think you can ride me but you can’t”. Given that I purchased my bike at Wal-Mart, I didn’t get much of a chance to try it out but using my handy-dandy “how to find the right sized bike” print off from the web, I did well. The only problem was the seat. How ironic it is that at 200+ pounds and plenty of fanny padding, my bum would hurt from sitting on the bike. I immediately purchased the “Lazy boy” seat from Wal-Mart. I am now confident that should the opportunity for sex come my way, I’ll be able to feel it – of course, being the traditional girl I am, I’ll have to find a husband for that…but I’m sure he’ll appreciate that I had the forethought to think of him.

Today was the “big day”. I rushed home and tried to take the original seat off. No luck. I own several wrenches but of course, none fit the seat. After visiting several neighbors and coming home open handed, I walked to the hardware store, purchased the correct wrench and put the new seat on. Keep in mind; I’m trying to beat rainy weather that is rapidly moving eastward towards me. I put my juvenile helmet on, stuffed my sports bra with my DL, ATM card and a cell phone and off I went. I can not tell you how much better the seat felt. I’m sure I’ll fully appreciate it at some point in the future. I

My ride was only about 4 miles on a mostly flat trail. As expected, I ran into problems.

1. I’m afraid to go fast. I think this stems from a childhood bike accident where I was riding too fast, not paying attention and when I went to stop, the bike stopped but I flew over the handlebars and hit the ground. It was very dramatic. So, now I’m afraid to go fast. At one point, a woman was running faster than I was peddling. Going fast was not a problem when I was on a stationary bike but it’s a problem now. Also, the hills on the stationary bike are not very good at simulating the real thing. The natural momentum that should carry me up the very small hills is non-existent. I end up huffing and puffing up the slope. Will this fear of going fast go away with more practice?

2. My hands, arms and shoulders are aching. When I finished my ride, I was exhausted – not like when I work out in the gym (granted, it was in the high 80’s and humid). Part of the tiredness came from this feeling that I was holding myself up with my arms – as if I was propping the upper half of my body up with my arms. Is this normal? I thought I’d lower the seat to fix it but found the seat was at the lowest setting. Should my handlebars be raised? How do I know if they even can be raised?

So, my ride was tiring, and I’m disappointed at how hard it was. I’m beginning to think that I’ve bit off more than I can chew. Help! I'm nearly ready to give up (I'm such a wimp) and return to my regular eliptical workouts to loose weight.

painfully,
dwiggin3