Anne--what a great plan! That's a good ride. Weird you should say that, because i was just about to start a modified version of the same thing. I was going to throw my bike in the back of my truck and drive part way to work, then ride the rest of the way in. Then, on the way home, I'd ride a bit further (no time restriction) and then pick up my truck again. That's the plan for next week.
I rode today, did about 45 min--still being a baby after my 1/2 marathon weekend. Felt really, really good to be back out there! I'm now arranging a group ride for this weekend.
Haven't started the bottle catching thing yet. Don't want to injure myself quite so soon in the season. Having said that, i already have shin gouges from my spiky pedals. *sigh*
Anne--what a great plan! That's a good ride. Weird you should say that, because i was just about to start a modified version of the same thing. I was going to throw my bike in the back of my truck and drive part way to work, then ride the rest of the way in. Then, on the way home, I'd ride a bit further (no time restriction) and then pick up my truck again. That's the plan for next week.
I rode today, did about 45 min--still being a baby after my 1/2 marathon weekend. Felt really, really good to be back out there! I'm now arranging a group ride for this weekend.
Haven't started the bottle catching thing yet. Don't want to injure myself quite so soon in the season. Having said that, i already have shin gouges from my spiky pedals. *sigh*
Right, I'm going to jump in here. I don't have a bike yet, but the plan is that I will have one by the end of the weekend
It's sometihng I've been planning to do for a while, and I've finally decided it's time to take the plunge and go for it. I'll initially be using it for commuting a couple of days a week (under 5 miles each way) so I'm not going for anything expensive or fancy, I want to see whether I get into it, and get a better feel for what I am looking for in a bike before I spend lots of money on it. I'll also have to leave it outside the office while I'm at work so don't want anything too stealable I've been surfing bike shops and forums this evening to get a better idea what to look for when I go to the bike shops at the weekend, so fingers crossed I'll be able to report back on how it went soon!
I find I have to be a lot more creative with the bike since there is so much more equipment involved. Jackie, I've considered doing that same thing. I'm also pretty lucky that my DH shares a lot of my athletic interests and we can help each other out.
Did my first bike ride to work today. Looks like it's going to be good. Planning to do it on Tuesday and Thursdays. Going there it took around 25 minutes, so I'm going to park further away next time. Going back I added an extra route to make it an hour. I'm peached!!! It was fun.
Helen - - I bet when you get into the biking you're going to start doing triathlons?
I've been biking a LOT lately, at least 20k/9m daily ... I love it... Today it's raining and I promised myself that on the first day of rain I would do legs at the gym, so I'm off to the gym... TTFN ...
Ilene - that's kind of the plan, if I like it. I want to try one, to give me a bit of variety, although I'm not sure when in between all the marathons I want to do!
helen - I find triathlons make a nice break actually. If you decide to accept just "doing" triathlons instead of "competing". They force me to do the X training that gives my legs a break while boosting my cardio. But I dont take the time to train on all 3 events and taper and all that. I just bike some and swim some and I use them as my easy days between my runs.
That being said, I am looking at my mileage schedule for this summer and trying to decide if a triathlon sandwiched into my "easy" week is a good idea that late in training.
Still havent gotten my bike set up, but got back on the stationary bike yesterday. Did I say real bike twice in may? better get moving!
I already do 2 hours per week swimming as cross training while I'm preparing for the marathon, so if I start cycling to work it would actually all fit together fairly easily. I might have to cut back the mileage a bit to make up for the cycling, but in terms of having time to do it the cycling would replace "dead" commuting time rather than running time. I guess part of it is I want to find a beginner friendly triathlon where I don't need a proper road bike or the full kit, and can just rock up for a bit of fun.
I did remind myself not to use my new bike before the marathon though on my run tonight - we ran past a boy who seemed to have fallen off his bike on the canal tow path, surrounded by two ambulances and loads of concerned looking people. I'm sure cycling isn't that dangerous, but I'm not planning to take any risks next week!
Lots of familiar faces here. I love my bike, and will love it even more when it gets out on the road! It's been a cold windy wet spring here, and "biking season" has been delayed. Plus I'm walking a half-marathon in June, and training for it takes quite a bit of time. But, I will be biking more starting this weekend. I like to park my car at the gym and go from there. The main bike path goes right past there, plus there's a short (2 mile?) loop that goes off in a 90 degree direction. I usually do the loop for warm-up and then head off on the main path - which goes immediately into a steep hill, hence the warmup on the loop. Having that downhill to finish riding is great, however.
And as a plus, when I bought my "new" car 6 weeks ago, the guy threw in a bike rack. I have a CRV which has the spare tire mounted on the back, and this bike rack integrates with that. I priced them before (as my previous car was an older model CRV) and they go for over $100, so I've been just putting the bike in the back, but that's a nuisance. The bike rack is great!
Split my commute with DH again today. It was WINDY on the way in and I was absolutely crawling. I think it took 20 min longer to get in today than last week. Aiming for a swim or run tomorrow.
helen--yeah, I do fun triathlons with my hybrid bike. Of course I get my butt kicked on the bike portion. Im usually somewhere around 25th percentile on the swim and run and 75th on the bike.
Swimming is what I am struggling with now. Finding the time with childcare. If I do a tri this year i probably will only have 2-3 swims under my belt
I've just been to pick the bike up and I rode it home. It took a bit of getting used to because I haven't been on a proper bike in ages (just the exercise bike at the gym, which doesn't really count due to the lack of potholes, parked cars and traffic), but I was getting a bit more confident by the time I made it home.
Now I just need to resist the temptation not to ride it until after next Sunday