I've been out for two half hour or so "fun" rides today. The first I just went round the park on my way to get the newspaper this morning rather than straight to the shop and back, then it turned into quite a nice evening so I decided to head out for another shortish one. I did about half an hour each time, although I didn't time them or work out how long they were. I am trying to hit some of the nasty hills in the park to get some practice on them, I'm really not a hill fan at all, but at least I haven't yet come across anything that I need to walk the bike up, I remember when I used to cycle as a kid there used to be plenty of those!

Way to go, Helen! Those were great rides! I'm not a hill fan either but living i the Pacific NW they are definitely a part of life. :) That was one nice thing about Fort Lauderdale when I lived there... FLAT and easy bike riding!! :bike:

arrrgh - back problems!
 

Hi all -

The weather is absolutely beautiful here, but I can't bike, because of my back. :cry:

Things are getting better, but essentially I overdid it last weekend, and by Wednesday night I was having trouble standing up straight and felt as though my back was close to going into spasms. This was very scary, because last summer I threw my back out and had a couple of episodes of spasms that left me pretty much immobilized for the rest of the summer and into the fall. So I took muscle relaxants and took off Thursday and Friday completely. The good news is that my careful balance of aleve, ice, rest and gentle, gentle movement and short walks seems to be working.

But I'm going to have to take some time off from vigorous exercise, and I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to bike again or whether I'll be able to train for the triathlon that I'd planned to do in five weeks. I'd already found another triathlon in mid-September, though, so I'm thinking that if I can't do it by the end of July, that maybe I could work towards doing that one, either by myself or as part of a relay team.... And I think that I'll try to get a referral to a physical therapist for some information about how I can strengthen my back and better protect myself from these injuries.

It's good to have a long term plan, but for right now I feel frustrated and disappointed, because I was so happy :) to be biking regularly again.

Sarah I am sorry about your injuries -- I know you must be disappointed! Hope you are feeling better soon and find the medical care you need!

Sorry to hear of your injury Sarah :hug: get well soon!!

I was reading my bicycle odometer last night and sine Mid-May
I've biked over 600k :D... I'm so proud of myself ...

Today I biked 16k, yesterday it was 30k...

Hmm... decision time. So far I've been doing 2 bike commutes per week. It's not hard (5 miles each way), and the new muscles are getting used to it. I'm wondering whether it's time to start adding in extra commutes on running club nights. It would be a bit more mileage - 5 to work, 3 from work to running club and then about 4 from there to home after the run. It would also involve running and cycling on the same day, but I did that today for a 10k run without any noticeable ill effects. There's a nasty hill between running club and home though, which would be right at the end of the day after the run...

(Although on the plus side, a quick transition from bike to run would be good triathlon training ;) )

Helen -- Try it out a couple of times and see if you like it... I love biking and running on the same days, sometimes back to back too...

Today I didn't bike nor run... I weight trained...

I've brought the bike in today to try it. Unfortunately the weather is absolutely foul. But then if I'm going to get wet running anyway, getting wet for a bit longer on the bike before and after isn't going to make too much difference...

Good point, Helen! Personally I love the rain but with biking one does to be very cautious as it could be slick. Can't wait to hear how the bike works for you

Hi all--

Helen-sounds like a good plan to run and bike in the same day. Great triathlon training! Nothing like a brick workout...

Misti-How is riding working for you? Conquer that hill yet?

Well, I've spent last weekend riding cross country at Whistler. With my 8 year old son! I just got him a new Giant hardtail, and he's loving it. We did some fairly technical trails (blues). Very fun. Plan is for more riding next weekend.

Hello everyone. Wow boarderchick sounds like you are really a RIDER!! :bike: Good job!

I haven't tried the hill again as instead I decided on Saturday to ride way on up to another intersection... but whew it was more hills all the way! I had to push twice LOL but that is not so bad! :)

I didn't just bike and run, I swam as well :carrot: I was absolutely worn out by the end of the day though!

Slight problem, my bike fell over when I got home last night and the chain came off. I've managed to get it back on, but the gears don't seem to be changing properly and it was making a really funny noise when I cycled in this morning. It think I might be paying a visit to the bike shop at the weekend if a bit more fiddling with it before I try to ride home doesn't pay off.

Oh wow one of THOSE types of marathons! No wonder you were exhausted!

Hope you get your bike fixed up!

new to biking
 

Ladies, I hope I came to the right place. I am new to the whole bicycling thing. I have lost nearly 40 pounds without exercise, but now I am a bit stalled. So I figured I am ready to add some exercise. My DH is an avid biker, so he suggested I try the bicycle. I was having a really bad day at work yesterday and was really tempted to comfort my self with food. So instead we (DH & I) went and bought me a bike.

It’s a cross/hybrid, or what’s called a city bike (faster than a mountain bike, more comfortable than a road bike), and it feels pretty comfy. I will try to insert a picture, hopefully it works. The plan is that he can go on his long and fast rides alone, but few times a week he will go with me on about 1 hr (eventually, after I build up to it) rides however fast I can manage.
http://bicyclerenaissance.com/images...1l_cu_07_m.jpg

I hope you ladies can give me whatever recommendations, suggestions you have. My DH can help some, but he is a boy and is now about 100 pounds lighter than he was before he got in to it, so he may not think of it the same way as a girl would.

Hmm, the gears are still a bit funny. It seems to be a case of randomly pushing levers until it gets into the gear you want without being clicky, but once it's there it's fine. I managed my fastest cycle home with a bag (I once did it faster without the extra weight) so it can't be affecting it too much), it just sounds noisier than it should and I don't want to do any permanent damage.

I had my first biker conversation today when another cyclist asked me what I thought of my bike as we were stopped at some lights, because he was thinking of getting one from the same shop.