Yay! Finally got back in the saddle. It's a gorgeous day out there, I had the foresight to take an antihistamine, and to my amazement my butt didn't complain at all! I need to get out the bike path map and plan some longer routes: today was 20.36 k, and I could go a lot further, especially if I pack a picnic.

Courtnie, I thought I had posted a welcome to you yesterday, but it disappeared along with another post. But anyway, it's not too late to join; as you can see, there are many of us with very low mileage to date. I'm on km's too

Woohoo! So glad to join :)

Yesterday I did double time on the bike (2 hours) so I manged to get in 48.59 km (that is a little over 30 miles). Normally I only get about half that. I will add today's up later :)

Welcome newcomers! :hug: Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Classes just started up again (ugh) and I've been putting in 10.5 hour days at work, too. :p I've been slacking overall on my weight-loss efforts, which obviously concerns me, but I still keep finding excuses not to go to the gym. (bad Janis!) Tonight I'm going. I'm not putting in another ridiculously long day... I need to go the gym, darnit!

Well, one piece of good news is I finally made my 100 miles of walking challenge. The bad news, is I didn't particularly do anything special to do it. I just wore my pedometer every day. Apparently taking the dog to the dog-walk area at the apartment and walking from the parking lot to my office, and office to cafeteria is enough to put in about 3 miles a day. Then there's parades and stuff, but I didn't have my pedometer on for those. (I should - one of these days I'm going to have to do a study to see just how far we march in a year). I bet that's a study nobody's ever done. (*sob* I'm such a geek)

Better yet - I could go home early, and ride my bike to the gym, workout, and go back! :-) That should be good for another 10+ miles on the bike.

--Janis

HI Courtnie! Glad to have ya! I just joined not too long ago and haven't been able to ride much, so I'm way low in mileage! I hope to fix that soon.

Janis, I bet the parade miles do add up! How many parades do you do a year? That would be a fun way to get exercise!

Ugh...weight loss efforts here are down the drain for some reason. I haven't been eating the way I used to, but I haven't been really, really careful! I'm still not drinking sodas, so I'm sure that's a big help. Just so much stress lately! Between docs appointments, 2 kids in karate 3 times a week and an orphaned baby squirrel I'm trying to keep alive, I'm almost pulling my hair out here! I'm not eating bad, I'm mainly back to the point of making myself eat during the day, instead of one big meal at night! For a few days it was not eating all day and a small meal at night, then snacking later :o

Well, better run! Gotta talk hubby into taking all 3 kids to karate with him so I can get a ride in..hehe.

Kim

Wahoo! My rides just keep getting longer and longer! I've been dreading a ride, because of my eczema causing my hands to crack and bleed from gripping the handles, but I said screw it and went....16 miles in 1 hr and 20 mins! My mph average went up .6! I'm well, well on my way to my goal of a 30 mile solo, self sustained ride! I think the goal may be low! I'll go with mini goals though...lol. I may just really check into the AIDS benefit ride for this September, and see about riding all 5 days. Plenty of time to train! I felt great after the 16 miles...like I could have done it again!

I was wondering if y'all would be interested in having a 'team' on bikejournal.com? I don't know if any of you use it to log your miles, but it's a great site for that! After every ride I add my miles, time, avg speed (will total that for you if you don't know...my bike comp keeps up with it though) and all that...you can add rows and columns for different info you like to keep up with such as weight, route, and all sorts of things! It's neat, and motivating to see your progress!

If you're a member of a team, it keeps track of total miles between the team, which is neat! I thought it might be fun here!

Kim

I did 22.88 km today :)

I am going to get out bikejournal.com it sounds super!

Awesome! I love the bike journal thing! There's a seciion where you can look up organized rides in your area if you're interested in that. I'm hoping to work up to doing one or two. Not for competition, but just to be able to do it! I think it would be great fun.

Kim

Did a 20.2 mile ride last night! It was nice and breezy (ie strong headwind...lol) so I stayed cool the whole time and didn't realize how sweaty I got till I stopped! My legs wanted to seize up once I got home and sat down, so I went for a walk around the block to loosen them up some after being on the bike for an hour and 50 minutes! After that took a warm/cold alternating shower, sat on the couch and massaged them pretty hard...got hubby to massage them before sleep and they're not hurting today, wonder of wonders!!!!

On another great note, I've kept off the 5lb loss that I figured was a fluke in the scales! For the longest time I was between 181 and 176, no matter how much diet and exercise I was doing, and it dropped to 175.6 2 days ago and this morning it's 175.4....so my motivation is back!

Hope everyone is doing great!

Kim

Did 34.46km today :)

Welcome, Courtnie! Glad to see you here and it looks like you're off to a great start.

Kim, congrats on the 20-mile ride and the 5-lb loss!

Brandy, hope your weather is better and you're able to ride. Glad you're still spinning. I've stopped for now and am doing all my biking outside on weekends.

Carla, glad to see you posting that you were able to ride!

Janice, sounds like you're crazy-busy and hope you can find time to exercise. Congrats on achieving the walking goal! And yes, you should wear your pedometer during a parade! And there is nothing wrong with being a geek (Have you taken the inner-geek quiz??? http://www.innergeek.us/geek.html. The geekier members of my family and I have been enjoying it for several years now.)

Well today hubby and I had planned a long bike ride but it is super windy, and it's rainy and cold! So we only went about 13 miles and hope the weather is better tomorrow for a long ride. Ya know, it figures ... The day we rode last weekend it was rainy and windy. It was nice and sunny during the week. Now today it's rainy and windy. Hmmm.

I am contemplating competing in a triathlon. Have always wanted to, the idea of the multiple activities appeals to me. There is a sprint triathlon near my home (http://www.pacificsportsllc.com/hunt...i/hbtInfo.html) that I'd like to do. I feel pretty good about the bike ride, obviously, especially since the bike course is where we ride almost every weekend. And I'm a decent swimmer. Grew up swimming in the ocean and with practice I think I'd do fine. Just don't like to run. :( So I'm gonna do my exercising as if I'm training for it, meaning I'm going to gradually do more running and less walking, and if I think I can handle the running will sign up.

Also interested in your thoughts on mountain bike vs. road bike for a triathlon. We can ride either in this particular race. I know I'd go faster on a road bike. But 1) I don't own one yet and 2) I've never ridden in a pack and I do like the stability of a mountain bike and might feel more comfortable my first time on a stable bike. I think about all the times I went over the handle bars as a kid (showing off with no hands, and frequently no feet, most of the time) and sure don't want to wipe out in a race.

Got 21 miles in yesterday and a mere 12.6 today :( Got caught in a downpour (was nice when I left!), stopped under a shelter till it lightened up alot and went on home. I had pnuemonia in April and I'm not anxious to have it again! Figured I should get warm and dry soon! Oh well, a light day is good now and then, huh?

Wow, a triathalon! That would be a great thing to try! I'm not a runner either :/ I have no idea how people do it! My hubby does and I've tried going with him. Bad knees and running don't mix. Keep us updated on if you're doing it, and how your training is going! That would be interesting to follow!

I have no idea on recommendations on a bike. I'm on a mt bike now, and haven't been on a road bike for YEARS, so I can't help ya! I am working myself up to buying a roadbike though...scared...lol. Good luck though, I know you'll figure out what's best! If you haven't seen it yet, there's a good women's cycling site that has beginners to people that have ridden for years and years...it's www.teamestrogen.com It's a great site that has tons of good info on bikes, and really anything to do with cycling!

Kim

Hey all, we got in our long ride this morning. 27 miles in 2 hours! Not bad for a mountain bike with fat, knobby tires. Can't believe it, when we first started riding regularly it took us about an hour to go 9 miles. Cannot wait to get a road bike to see how fast we go then! :bike: The other nice thing: it is sunny this morning! We rode in the sun which was wonderful, haven't ridden in the sun in weeks.

Kim, thanks for the website. I found it very interesting and plan to read some more as we prepare to buy road bikes. So much more to think about. I had no idea what a big deal proper fit is! When we bought our mountain bikes, I think the only thing we worried about for fit was our inseam. Though I think my frame is a bit small for me; the seat is as high up as it will go.

Over the next couple of weeks I plan to try a tiny bit of running. If I don't totally hate it, I'll begin "training" for the triathlon. I worry a bit about my knees, too, but since I've been lifting weights they are much stronger and might be able to handle running. I am not signing up until later this summer, subject to how I do with the running. :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

I did 25.03km yesterday and working on today's ride right now :) Trying to make the time go faster today because I had a real hard time getting off the couch :(

I did 21.5 miles today. Great ride! Weather was perfect for it!

Hehe Courtnie, I know the feeling....hard to get goin sometimes, huh?

sf40, do you have any idea what kind of road bike you're gonna get? I post over at teamestrogen as kimct! Glad to know you liked the site! The women there are 'real' women, most complaining from time to time about extra fluff! So they're not all super fit, eat hardly anything gals! I think that's why I like it so much. That and they don't laugh at the newer people trying to get into cycling!

i've got my eye on a Bianchi...but will probably get something cheaper so I can get it faster, and save up for the Bianchi...probably as a reward for something or other...like 20lbs lost, or 50 mile ride, something like that. Hubby almost fell over when I pointed out what I wanted and he saw the price! Oh well...I'm hoping to go to work this week (please call, PLEASE call...lol) so I'll be saving the money on my own! I've been looking for a hobby for a long time, and I think I've found it!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Kim

I only got it 15.59km yesterday (only did 40 min) and today I got in 24.13 :)