Oh, Yes I Can!

I have always loved the feel of the wind in my face - from riding with the windows down; racing down the lake in the boat; skiing down the snowy slope; standing outside on a windy day; running my horse; sleeping with the window open; to riding a bike.  The caress of the wind against my cheek is almost always sure to bring a smile to my face!

Getting home from work one day in last July, I sat for the better part of three hours in the shade of a big oak tree watching Kevin Horch finish building my new bike. She began to take shape... from the gears, pedals, brakes to the new handle bars with black speckled tape. However, sadly, a few parts were missing... So, the maiden voyage was waylaid.

Riding a road bike is really different... I was certainly apprehensive about the whole being "clicked in" thing, where your feet are stuck to the bike pedals. It just doesn't seem right to be stuck to something... However, the day was quickly approaching when I would get to experience this.  My darling boyfriend told me, "Don't worry.  You will fall once, and then you will never fall again.  You will remember to un-click before stopping." Hummmm.... sounded like fun. NOT!

It was kinda exciting shopping for my riding equipment at Sunlight Ski & Bike Shop. Let's see... there were the Pearl Izumi bike shoes. The bike shirt which has pockets in the back to put stuff in like chap stick, your phone, and other stuff. The "diapers" which are bike shorts with much appreciated padding to help cushion the girl parts. And, the Hoo-Ha lotion which helps... never mind. And lastly, the cute helmet with brown and pink paisley flowers on it. I was ready to ride!

A new bike is worth grinning from ear-to-ear!

Growing up, my parents never placed much importance on good sporting equipment... my first bike didn't even have a seat on it. And the 10-speed that I inherited in Junior High came with a rusted chain and brakes that barely worked. So the anticipation of getting this new bike was really quite a thrill for me!

My sweet red bike was finally ready in early August and off we headed out to ride the Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail. The trail heads out East along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River and offers the most beautiful scenery of the majestic river flowing below the steep canyon walls. We rode out to Grizzly Creek and back, which was a fantastic12 mile ride. On the way back to Glenwood Springs, we stopped at the Glenwood Canyon Resort which is about half-way back down the trail. Sitting at their outside bar, we enjoyed the sunshine, beautiful scenery of the Colorado River and a well deserved beer to celebrate!

Peter and Cheryl at Glenwood Canyon Resort

It was a little confusing for me to figure out the gears.. High gear, low gear, spinning, cadence? Huh? There is a big gear, a middle gear, and a little gear in the front. Then, in the back there are five different gears... And somehow, you push the smaller black lever with the right hand to make the back gears go from easier to harder. By pushing the silver big lever, it makes the gears go from harder to easier. (So, is that going up or down?!?) Then, with the left hand by pushing the small black lever it makes the front gears go from biggest to littlest or push the silver big lever and the gears go from littlest to biggest. So... the smaller the gears, the easier it is to "spin" or pedal and, as far as I can understand, this is considered a "high cadence". I simply have had to put this all into my own language... Big gears make you pedal harder but you go farther faster. Little gears make you pedal easier, but you sure don't go very fast - however, this is the gear you want to be in when trying to go up a hill. Capiche?

Braking. The back brake is on the right and the front brake is on the left. It is wise to remember to use only the back brake when going down hill... or you can flip the bike. The front brake is apparently just to make the left hand not feel left out because it is the right hand who really has all the control. Or, maybe it just seems that way to me because it seem all I ride down are hills?

How about pedaling? Since your feet are attached to the pedals, you not only gain momentum while pushing down, but also when you bring your foot back up. So instead of pedaling by just pushing your feet down, you do a continuous motion kind of like scraping gum off the bottom of your foot. I was amazed at what a difference it made in speed and distance!

Several rides later and no catastrophes with un-clipping my feet from the pedals lead to a little bit of false confidence. Ha! My darling boyfriend and I took a short five mile ride on the Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail to No-Name and back. Pulling up to the parking lot, I un-clipped only my left foot getting ready to stop at the car and turned my handle bars to the right... Really? What was I thinking! Ka-boom! I fell over to the right, my leg hitting the curb and the rest of my body bouncing on the grass. I couldn't get my foot off the right pedal quick enough to catch myself! Snap! Boy was I was sore, but thankfully not injured.

At this point, it was about a month until the Tri-Glenwood Triathlon that my friends Cindy Jo Robinson, Brian Wells and I had agreed to compete as a team together in. Cindy Jo would swim the 825 meter swim, Brian would run the five miles and I would bike the 15 miles. It was time to start some serious training... Except, at work on August 8th, I dislocated several ribs. Double snap!

Peyton, Dennis, Cheryl and Peter

It was about two weeks later that I was healed enough to get back on my bike. So, on a beautiful Saturday morning Peter, Peyton, Dennis and I headed out on the Rio-Grande Trail. It was an easy ride at a slow pace full of good conversation and laughter. The ride was a little painful getting on and off the bike and I found myself to be quite unsteady, however, it felt so good to be off the couch and outside on my bike again!

The next day, the darling boyfriend and I rode 10 miles up the Rio-Grande Trail again to the city of Carbondale. While he participated in the Yoga in the Park practice, I enjoyed a good conversation with my dear friend and then relaxed under the trees watching the clouds float by until he was finished. It was a well need break for my aching ribs. We biked over to Beer Works for delicious brats and a beer and then headed back down the trail towards home. It was my longest ride so far - 21 miles round trip.

I was still apprehensive about un-clipping and falling again, probably more so because of my rib injury, even though I was gaining overall confidence on the bike.  I talked to the darling boyfriend's sister, Becky, and she so wisely advised me to "just un-clip both feet early when coming to a stop." So simple! This helped... Did you know that most advanced riders are able to maintain their balance for several seconds when stopped without un-clipping. I wonder if I will ever be able to do that?

Grandson's First Bike Ride!

Grandpa is Ready to Hit the Trail with
Grandson in tow!

Due to our travels out to the Pacific Northwest at the end of August and my rib injury, my training really didn't start until we got back. September 2nd through September 10th, I rode a total of 82 miles training, building my confidence and strength. Thanks to Dailymile.com, it's been easy to map where I have ridden and keep track of the miles.

The day before the triathlon, the darling boyfriend and I got up and were ready to go ride the course by 6:00am... "Why so stinkin' early?" you ask. Well, we had to ride the interstate with all the big trucks and crazy drivers so the earlier the better (less traffic).  The 15 mile course leaves the Glenwood Hot Springs parking lot, heading west on Interstate 70 to Canyon Creek and then back. I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion... It was the most brutal ride I have ever done! The darling boyfriend has a saying, "The miles between the ears are the longest." And that morning, there were thousands of miles between my ears. That ride took every ounce of strength, will and determination to continue to ride against the gusting head winds, cold temperatures and body aches I was experiencing. I wanted to cry. I felt like throwing down my bike, calling it "Stupid!" and stomping my feet! But I pushed through... The darling boyfriend's gentle encouragements kept my head above the waters of "I Quit". I felt like I had been hit by a fly swatter... twice.

Saturday night, preparing for the race, the darling boyfriend pulled my bike out to make some last minute adjustments and said, "Well, now I know why you had such a bad ride this morning. You have a flat tire!" I rode over 21 miles with a flat?!? YeeHaw! There WAS HOPE for my race in the morning!

Well rested, dressed, prepped, and ready to go I left the house about 6:45am Sunday morning and rode my bike down to check in. I put my bike up on the rack, visited with other races for a few minutes and when I turned around... there was a red feather laying by my back bike wheel! I knew then, my Dad was smiling down on me and it was going to be a good race!  It was really exciting to see the 250 athletes getting ready. I met up with Cindy Jo and Brian by the pool and we offered each other those well needed words of encouragement. It was going to be a perfect race day... mid 70's and very calm winds. "The Go-Jo's" were ready to do this!

Cindy Jo's swim started at 8:12am. After 7 smooth laps, she emerged from the pool and ran to the transition area in the parking lot where I removed the chip from her leg and attached it to mine and then I took off towards the exit and began my 15 mile ride...

I was so thankful for the darling boyfriend's words of instruction and wisdom that kept playing through my mind. Those thousands of miles between my ears from the previous day were reduced to just the few inches that were supposed to be there during the race. I kept remembering his words: Don't pour it all out on the way out, so that you have strength for the ride back. Maintain my own steady pace. To breath through my nose when I felt winded. That peddling in a high cadence you can actually recover and maintain your endurance. In the strong head winds, pull you knees in and get your head down. Shift before you go into a climb. 

The Finish Line

With the encouraging shouts from the volunteers along the path echoing in my ears, I arrived back into the transition area safely and began to laugh as I got off my bike and ran across the parking lot to where Brian and Cindy Jo were waiting for me because my legs felt like jello! I couldn't even stop when I got to them and we all were cracking up as I was saying "Stop me! Stop me!" We were quickly able to get through the transition and Brian was off and running for the last leg of the race.

We gathered my bag and bike from the transition area and headed to drop it off at the car so that we could get back to the finish line quickly.  Brian is a swift runner and finished strong! The Go-Jo's completed our first triathlon in 1 hour and 56 minutes! We placed 11th out of 25 teams, and took 6th place out of 11 co-ed teams. (Actually, we were 6 seconds from making it in the top 10 teams...Not bad!)

The Results

I had cut 10 minutes off my time from the day before! What a great feeling! We celebrated our grand achievement at our friend, Nava's home that evening and toasted to our first triathlon! It was an exhilarating adventure and one I look forward to doing again in the future!

However, until that opportunity comes again, I am content to feel the caress of the wind against my cheek as I coast down the trail on my bike and the sheer joy it brings me... So, with thankful heart for the darling boyfriend and all of his help in preparing me for this adventure, I look forward to pedaling into the future and the next Grand Adventure...

Loving Life on the Trail Together, the Darling Boyfriend and Me

Happy Trails,
-Cheryl