Sunday, March 3, 2013

FIRST BIKE RIDE

The forecast for Saturday was so nice that Tom and I planned my first bike ride of the year.  A nice easy ride he said.  Well, we went round trip between here and Danville a "mere" 9 miles away.  I was game.  It was still hazy and there was a bit of a breeze when we started, on the  first stretch I spied some California poppies and some blooming trees and it was quite lovely.

After we were on the Iron Horse Trail Tom casually noted that it is uphill on the way there - only about a 2% grade - meaning you can't really see it but it is there.  At about mile 4 my knees certainly registered it!  We made it to our destination, meandered around the Farmer's Market, admired some dachshunds (missing Hilda) and then turned back.

The sun still hadn't come out as promised in the forecast, but my jacket was off and the reward of uphill all the way there was the much easier ride back. My knees were shaky the rest of the day (no Advil allowed yet so I just had to hang in there.)  Now I know what I need to work harder on at the gym! 

We have signed up for a bike event in May so I have a couple of months to get ready for that. Tom is planning to replace my big padded seat with a real bike saddle for our next ride. We'll see if that really does help with that other painful place -  the "bottom" - he swears it will...

4 comments:

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Good for you!

knittergran said...

Sounds like a perfect day. And you have someplace interesting to ride TO!
Here it's all subdivisions or strip malls. Yawn...

Tricia said...

Good for you. Still snow here so I am not out on the road yet.
Can I suggest that your knee discomfort may be caused by the seat position. Seat too high or low can put pressure on the knees also if the seat is to far aft or back it can create an improper angle of the knee and cause discomfort. I don't know your ride but a bike shop should be able to tell if you are in a good position when seated on the bike and make adjustments. Little adjustments can make a big difference.

Jennifer (Jen on the Edge) said...

What a great bike ride. I wish it were easier to bike around here, but it's really hilly.

I have a really nice bike seat and then I added to it with a great padded seat cover.