Adventures on Two Wheels

Chris and I are participating in the Bike MS event. His family is doing the ride in memory of his sister Marrissa, who passed away from MS last year. Let me say, I had no idea how expensive cycling would be. I naively assumed I could pedal my $100 mountain bike and be good. Chris and I both ended up getting road bikes. We go up to Lehi and ride with his family because there are some bike trails up there. I am embarrassingly out of shape and get behind everyone else when we ride. In order to give me all the help I can get, I got the shoes that clip into the pedals so that you use the full range of motion to propel your bike along. You have to turn your feet sideways to release your shoe from the pedal. I've already had a few low speed crashes trying to get free. When I mean low speed, I mean barely going. It still hurts though. Both my knees are scuffed up and bruised. Since getting them last Saturday, I've noticed a big difference in my performance. We rode on Friday and Saturday my legs were sore but I was able to keep a good pace. I can really tell the difference when going up hill. Instead of relying only on pushing down on your pedals, you can also pull up and push around. Your legs are already going to have to move upward, it might as well help move the bike while it's doing it. The ride is going to be 6 hours, so I need all the help I can get! Below are the aforementioned shoes and pedals.

I also bought a bike jacket with removable sleeves that is water resistant. A good investment since we had to ride in the rain on Monday. I kept nice and dry on top. Can't say much for the rest of me. I was really debating on whether or not to get the padded bike pants. Nobody, including myself, wants to see me in biker shorts! We've been going on 14 mile rides and even that leaves you a little sore. I ended up getting some cycling capris that have removable padded bike shorts inside. It had good reviews and I'm pretty pleased with them. They also do a good job of hiding my cottage cheese on my thighs. If you've never worn padded bike shorts before, just imagine wearing a diaper. That's what I feel like I'm wearing when I put them on. You feel really silly. After wearing them in the rain, I felt like I was wearing a loaded diaper.

I rode Monday and Tuesday this week and I feel like I'm getting better at keeping up with everyone else. I have to stay really focused while riding or else I really struggle. If I let my breathing go crazy, then it's all downhill. I get super winded and parched. I have a computer on my bike that tells me how fast I'm going and I usually try to keep above 14 mph. It was so windy on Tuesday that we were going about 10 mph and it was a battle. Imagine your legs doing a steady burn for an hour straight with bouts of major burn when you have to go up hill. It's definitely a workout! The ride is a 2 day event. The first day you can choose to ride 40, 75 or 100 miles. The second day is 40 or 75. I think the family is planning on a 100 mile ride. Right now, I'm lucky to be making my 14 mile ride! I'm going to need major training!

Now that I've invested all this money into riding. I better keep with it. I leave my bike at my mother in law's house and go up after work. I keep telling myself that I'll go downstairs and jog on the treadmill, but I don't. At least when I tell her I'm going to come up and ride, I don't talk myself out of it.