Meet Lulu

Let me to introduce you to the newest member of our family….Lulu.  She is my birthday present this year.  She is yet another attempt to find a bicycle that I actually like to ride.  I am not getting rid of my road bike….Lulu is just another lower-maintenance option.  She is more comfortable & I can ride her around the neighborhood and I don’t have to worry about gears (she has gears but just a dial on one handlebar) and clip-in shoes & pedals, etc.

I have been talking about getting a cruiser for about two years…since I rented one in Orange Beach and LOVED it.  Here I am with that one:

I rode from our condo all the way to the Flora-Bama, which include going over a huge bridge/hill.  But it was so fun!  We rode bicycles so much during that vacation and had a blast.

So, tonight I took Lulu to the VA.  I have been riding her a little bit up & down Fairmont Drive (careful to avoid hills, of course), but this was our first real ride.

It was about 7 o’clock, but still pretty hot.

You can see Brent airing up the tires while I take pictures of myself. It is obviously who is the mature, responsible one.

Red light pictures!

The VA is a great place exercise…it is so peaceful & calm here.

This is me when I got to the top of a hill -- I fully expected to have to get off & push, but I made it!

And then I played on the playground while I waited for Brent to come & get me.

What a perfect summer Sunday evening!

Monday Evening Ride

I say: When cycling, the only thing worse than having a headwind on the way out is having a crosswind on the way out.

Brent says: Who are you?

Tonight we went on a nice little bike ride out Sanders Ferry, our favorite route the only route I can ride because it has no hills.  There was what felt like a headwind on the way out and I didn’t realize until we were on the way back that it was a crosswind.  It was actually worse on the way back, in my opinion.  But I don’t like to complain, you know?  Yeah right.  This was an actual conversation during the ride tonight:

Me: GOSH!!!

Brent: What?!

Me: This SUCKS (sorry, Mama!) SOOOOOOOOOOO BAD, but I’m trying not to complain!

Brent: Hmmmmm, looks like you are going to have to try harder…..

Honestly though, I can’t help it that I got a toe cramp as soon as I clipped in tonight, or that it was windy the whole way, or that three other bikers got up behind me and scared me.  It makes me feel better to express my frustration rather than letting it build up inside me.

On a positive note, we did see some “wildlife” tonight:

And the weather (aside from the wind) was really nice…cool, but not cold.  Just about perfect, temperature-wise.

 

I’m so mature.

While Brent stretches, I sit in the Explorer and take pictures of myself & my Brent’s supercool striped socks that he lets me wear.  What?!  Stretching is for wimps.  Ha!  Just kidding, sweetie!

Look at my hair!  What does it remind you of?

Ha!

When we came home I had a mahi-mahi burger + sweet potato fries & a Yoo-Hoo.  It wasn’t 5 Guys, but it was okay.

Until next time…..

Weekending: Sunday Headwind

Well, today was a big day for me + cycling:

Allow me to introduce you to my first pair of cycling cleats.  I suppose now I am “official.”  We went out to Sander’s Ferry and Brent showed me how to clip in and out, get started and stop.  Not that hard!  I thought I would never be able to learn, and I was wrong!  I almost fell over right at the end but caught on to Brent and he helped me steady.  Clip-in pedals just make you more efficient on the bike.  I had been riding with tennis shoes + toe cages and this was not good because it made my quads work harder (and fatigue quicker) and it gave me foot cramps.  Today with the pedals + cleats it was unbelievable how much easier it was to pedal (=less work) and how much more balanced I felt on the bike. I was able to get down in the drops (the curve of the handlebar) & even stood up a little bit – something I have never been able to do with the toe cages.  I used to not even be able to reach down and get my water bottle while riding!  So I was very encouraged by the pedals + cleats today.

Unfortunately, it was a hard ride (and shouldn’t have been)! It was windy today!  It felt like we had a  headwind out + back.  My legs were also really tired from yesterday (boo!), so we just took it easy.  Not going to lie, it was a little discouraging because it was so hard today.  Maybe that’s because I also kept looking down at my shoes the whole time. Ha!

The scenery was beautiful, as usual!  It was not too hot, either.

 

Can I just say that it feels very good to do things that I don’t think I can do?  I have mentally discounted cycling for so long because I had this vague idea that I would never be able to get used to clip-in pedals and would never feel comfortable or balanced enough on the bike to stand up, draft, etc. I thought that I would never understand the gears or be able to make it up hills without wanting to die.  Basically, I gave up on cycling because I didn’t think I could do it.  And it was really hard when we started out at Oak Mountain (5 years ago?!?) and obviously I need much much more training.  But it is getting better, definitely!  I actually want to ride and I can’t believe that!

Three cheers for proving yourself wrong about yourself!