Hitting The Road

Spring seems to have arrived in Wisconsin, so after work today, The Husband and I took full advantage of the warm weather and the extra hour of daylight and went for a bike ride.  That means I took the road bike on the road for the first time.  I. Was. Terrified.  The last time I attempted to ride a road bike outdoors was a few years ago when I 'test rode' one in a bike shop parking lot. That ended when I crashed it about 5 seconds after getting on it.  Looking back, that bike shop sort of set me up to fail by sending me out on a bike that didn't fit me at all.  Anyway,  I made sure my tires had air, loaded the supplies to fix a flat into the little bag under my seat, strapped on my helmet (never ride without one), and attempted to ride. 

I'm sure I looked ridiculous as I tried to get both feet into the cages on my pedals at the same time.

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I think this is an art form it's going to take me a while to master, but I intend to make it work since I'm nowhere near comfortable with the idea of switching to clipless pedals (special shoes lock you to the pedals) anytime soon.

After a few instances of wobbling, we took off on an easy 5 mile ride just so I could get the feel of riding outside. By about the second mile, I was getting a little more comfortable and was able to pick up some speed and really see what my bike is capable of.  I definitely think it's going to take me a while to get used to the way the bike shifts since it's very different than my old Beast, but I liked it a lot, which is good since the road bike (which is still without a name since we're still in the 'Getting Acquainted' stage) are going to be spending a lot of time together in the next few weeks.

My short little ride outside today gave me a short list of things I want to get in the near future. Namely a proper cycling jersey and a pair of cycling gloves.  My hands were freakin' sore!

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Distance: 5.31 miles
Time: 31:45 (stupid having to wait for traffic)
Avg. Speed: 10mph
Avg. Cadence: 64 (this needs to improve to around 80)

After we returned home and I returned the bike to it's position in my trainer, the husband challenged me to go for a really short run just to see what it felt like to transition from one sport to the next.  That was quite the experience.  At first my legs were numb, so I didn't really notice how heavy they felt, just that they were a little jello-y. After about half a block, I felt like I was running on two lead sticks and my muscles were protesting loudly.  The Husband took off with about half a block to home (show off!) and I dragged jello-legged self up the driveway about 30-45 seconds later. 

Distance: .44 miles
Time: 3:53
Avg. Pace: 8:45

I guess this means I've done my first brick (a week ahead of schedule).  This duathlon training thing just got very real and I realized just how much work I have in front of me.  Bring it!