My Channel on Photoshow!

Okay, I've figured out some of this picture stuff. If you click on this link:
http://www.photoshow.com/members/cat2bike/my_channel
You have access to all the pictures I post. Which right now is only the race pics that I've taken.

But I have pictures of rides that I've done through the season, although they are not all worthy of "photoshow". So I will have to take the time to go thru them. I also like the ones with music, but I'm picky about the music...no lyrics, unless they are about cycling.

Well, this Sat, October 20th is my 56th birthday! I'm ready for the birthday, but I will be visiting my sister's crazy kid-filled house, spending my birthday watching one nephew play football, and being forced to eat birthday cake.
Now, i will admit, that this same nephew rated a rather nice 1 speed bike for his birthday last year. I got him a Redline single speed, with coaster brakes....he destroys bikes, toys, everything, so I didn't want to complicate it with gears and more than one hand brake. His brother, refuses to ride his bike, even tho' it still has training wheels on it, and was ready to give back his patch he earned in Cub Scouts, just so he didn't have to ride it....lost cause........
But he's the soccer player, and has played baseball for 2 or 3 years with his brother, so he's just not comfy balancing on a bike. That's okay, I barely learned to ride a bike when I was a kid.

I decided 3 yrs ago, I was going to ride a bike. In college, I had a boyfriend who would take me riding, and I enjoyed it; but when the boyfriend was gone, the bike was left in storage. And never ridden again. That, by the way, was in the early 70's.

So after 2years of spinning classes, and falling in love with Pro-Cycling as a sport; I was ready to ride on 2 wheels. All the learning to ride again, is very tedious, includes a broken wrist, and eventually, I bought an Electra Townie, because my feet could touch the ground. But I wanted to do more than cruise the Greenway trails. And by the end of that season, I knew a new bike was my big 2006 purchase.

So with fear of typical road bikes, tires too skinny, handlebars with drops, not used to more that 7 gears, etc; I was fitted and ended up with a cyclo-cross custom Serotta, with Jones handlebars that are like a semi-circle with a couple of extra posts on it, for a variety of hand positions. They put huge touring tires on it for me, and platform pedals. I spent the whole year trying to learn how to shift, and get over my fear of my new bike. My longest ride that summer was 25-30miles. Mostly I did, 10-15mile rides. That's after riding the dickens out of my Townie...but I was determined to ride a road bike.

2007 started with a new goal. 1000 miles by the end of the season. All rides after May or the first of June, 50miles or more. Except, of course, the training rides before work that where about a hour long. I FINALLY have learned to shift gears!! I no longer drop my chain 3 times while I'm out on a ride, and I didn't hit the ground this year...could've, might have, but didn't, me and the bike stayed partially upright! There was the time I fell in a ditch, but I was reaching for my bike, and was dehydrated and dizzy and had no idea there was a ditch there! I sagged the next 5 miles, by the way. So that doesn't count, cause I was on my own two feet at the time!

I'm pretty proud of myself. I also found a woman who rides about my speed, and I found that a lot easier on the long rides to have someone to ride with, than to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere by myself. I wouldn't give up. We don't mind being last and next to last coming in at the end of a ride.

This fall/winter/ and spring, I'm starting a strength training program. We just see if that doesn't help next year when it's finally warm enough to head out in the spring!