I say "training" because although I was gone for about 3 hours, I only logged a total of 10 miles. But, before you laugh, you should know I made two VERY important stops:
1)
Ski Market. When I pulled my bike out of the storage closet, I could easily depress the tire with my pinky (definitely not good). I stood outside calculating how long it would take me to walk to Ski Market when another cyclist from my building pulled up and let me borrow his hand pump. With about 60 psi in my tires I made it to Ski Market and spent some time there getting my bike fitted and my tires filled (I was amazed to find out that they take more pressure than most car tires), and learning about how expensive a hobby cycling can be.
I purchased this awesome BLINKY SUPER FLASH bike light. It's touted as the "Best Tail Light on the PLANET." I can see why. With it, I shall be a rider of the night, fog, and rain. It has two settings, bright and bright strobey light thing. This thing is so intense it's like the sun - if you look at it directly you may go blind (I exaggerate... kind of).
I will be purchasing clips in the near future so get excited for the disaster that I will surely become while learning to use them (the guy suggested I start on the grass in a park).
2)
Animal Rescue League Boston. If you know me at all, you know that I have a border-line obsession with dogs. After riding through the city and subjecting myself to the wrath of cabbies and only-in-Boston-potholes, I couldn't go by without stopping in (also, Kevin had never been there). They have some great cats and dogs there so if you are in the market for a pet the ARL is a great place! I am especially in love with a shepherd/lab mix named Duke. He's ten years old but has the energy of a dog half his age (you can't see it very well, but he's the dog I am petting in the picture below). If I could afford it and had enough time I would adopt him in a second.
Despite its brevity, the ride was fun and gave me some good experience riding in traffic (as I said in my first post, I have always been a path and sidewalk kind of gal).
Next up: A REAL ride -- 30 miles -- on Saturday AWAY from the city.
At the very end of a wonderful Friday afternoon 13-mile ride, I battled some T tracks in Cleveland Circle and lost. My back tire got caught in some street level tracks when I was trying to make a left-hand turn and I fell over my bike and slid on my hands/inner elbows down the street. Some of the swelling and bruising in my quad has gone down but it's still pretty nasty looking. My hands are healing nicely after a soak in some salty water so I should be back on my bike (which was thankfully unharmed) this weekend.
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