AG & TG Training Ride: Alex's First Training Ride!

After picking up my new bike from Performance on Thursday night, I was very excited to go for my very first training ride! I also had my fair share of worries--it was my first time ever riding on a road bike, and I have a small fracture in my foot! (Don't worry though, I have
clearance to ride).

Tracy and I started out with the basics and rode around our apartment parking lot to make sure I was comfortable on my bike. After about ten minutes, I was MORE than comfortable. In fact, I was amazed at how smoothly a "real" bike rides! Once I was good to go, we set out on a nice ride "around the block," which ended up being a nice tour around the back streets on our side of Tempe. I got used to manuevering my bike, using my safety signals,and switching my gears.

The riding itself, which I expected to be painful in all sorts of ways, was actually wonderfully relaxing. It was great to feel the breeze and have time to think about the journey ahead of me. I've been homesick for the autumn weather on the East Coast, but the nice, cool breeze in the morning was reminding me of back home. I got a chance to think about what is ahead of me--the ups and downs of training, the flat tires, the learning and growing. Slowly but surely, as the ride went on, my nerves completely disappeared and I became comfortable.

The ride went well, but after about 6 miles, I started to have some pain in my foot and Tracy's outer calves started throbbing. It wasn't until then that she started to realize how important it is that she gets a proper bike fitting! Her alignment was all out of whack on the bike, causing some strain on her lower legs. We cut the ride short to make sure we were taking care of ourselves and not getting injured. When we hopped of the bike, I made sure to lead us in some stretching--its important when using new muscles!! Tracy is heading right into Bike Barn this week for a fitting, and I've got a few new rides planned for this week (short ones while I'm healing, though)