I got up with Robert at 7:00, and fixed his lunch while he showered. I packed him some French onion dip to go with the potato chips, a butterscotch pudding, and a bottle of water along with his sandwich and little bag of chewy candies. He sent me the sweetest note about it later in the day.
Joe arrived at about 9:50, and we went to Sears to pick up my grill. It took way longer than it should have to get it. Joe saw my bike when he first arrived, and immediately started getting excited about the possibility of doing the Tour de Friends with us. I hope he does. We talked about it all the to Sears and back.
Once back he showed me a few critical things about my bike after asking me how it shifts, and me not knowing the answer. He showed me how the front wheel pops off. (This would have been handy last night when I got the bike in my trunk as best I could at Flythe’s and left the trunk bouncing up and down on the way home!) Seems like those guys at Flythe’s could have spent some time with me when I picked it up
We read and read the manual, including taking it with us to lunch at Subway, to try and figure out how the gear shifts work. We never could discern it from the manual, so when we got home, we took it outside in the parking area, and played with it.
Joe and I chatted more about the event, and about skiing. He’s a good candidate to go to Gay Ski Week with next year. I’ll have to remember that. I know he’s easy to travel with from our experience in P-Town.
I decided not to ride my bike to the post office, as I’m still not comfortable with the brakes and shifting to be out on a road with traffic. I ran there in the car to check the TCW mail. Junk mail. Wasted trip.
At about 4:00, I took my book to Lake Johnson and rode for 9 miles. By the third lap (of 3 miles each), I was starting to get comfortable with it. As far as aches and pains, surprisingly, the only thing that hurt a little was my neck.
THE TRAINING ROUTE
– I picked up my new bike yesterday, and took it for my first ride today.
– I rode three laps around Lake Johnson in Raleigh, with each lap being 3 miles, for a total trip of 9 miles.
WHAT I LEARNED
– Biking is fun!
– A new bike takes some getting used to!
– I can’t start off without holding onto a tree or pole because I can’t get my second foot into its toe clip while moving.
– You really need to anticipate the hills; it’s too late to start shifting when you’re almost vertical.
– It’s going to take some practice learning to judge the curves. A few times I needed to turn sharper, but was afraid to because it felt like I’d lose control.
WHAT HURT
– Surprisingly, not my butt or my back, but my neck. I think I’m going to ask the guys at the bike shop to give me a 1.5-inch height adjustment on my handlebars.
HOW I FEEL
– Exhilarated about the commitment I’ve made.
– Excited to have a new bike.
– Great about getting some exercise that was fun to boot!