Someone said 'show us yer bike'.
Mar. 21st, 2010 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iamnaiad posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bicyclesI'm absolutely terrible at these intro posts, but here it goes anyway.
I commute to work about 4 days a week on a Giant Upland SE with panniers stuffed to the limit with work clothes, lunch and other essentials I can't live without on a work day. I've only been commuting for about 9 months, and works means that I sometimes can't ride for weeks, but in that time my fitness has improved astronomically. The first few rides were full of huffing and puffing and a lot of pushing my bike up hill. Since then I've found that one of the most satisfying things about riding regularly is realising that I'm now going up the same hills in increasingly higher gears.
My next goals are learning how to maintain my bike properly (does anyone have links to good books or online guides for do-it-yourself maintenance), riding five days a week and going on some social rides with a club. I'm also thinking about a getting new bike some time in the next six months. I'm suddenly finding that I want my hands to be about 6 inches further forward than they are and think something closer to a road bike might be more suitable.
So that's me. I'm glad to have found this community and look forward to reading what you all have to say.
I commute to work about 4 days a week on a Giant Upland SE with panniers stuffed to the limit with work clothes, lunch and other essentials I can't live without on a work day. I've only been commuting for about 9 months, and works means that I sometimes can't ride for weeks, but in that time my fitness has improved astronomically. The first few rides were full of huffing and puffing and a lot of pushing my bike up hill. Since then I've found that one of the most satisfying things about riding regularly is realising that I'm now going up the same hills in increasingly higher gears.
My next goals are learning how to maintain my bike properly (does anyone have links to good books or online guides for do-it-yourself maintenance), riding five days a week and going on some social rides with a club. I'm also thinking about a getting new bike some time in the next six months. I'm suddenly finding that I want my hands to be about 6 inches further forward than they are and think something closer to a road bike might be more suitable.
So that's me. I'm glad to have found this community and look forward to reading what you all have to say.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-21 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-21 09:57 pm (UTC)Isn't it great, how the fitness improves and the measurement of it is so practical? As I've become stronger, I get to work and home with greater ease, and less sweat, and sometimes faster, and with less mental pre-hill anxiety.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 09:15 am (UTC)When I first started riding I saw someone in a forum say that people who drive to work look for ways to make the trip shorter, but people who cycle find ways to make it longer. And it's true. The ride in isn't a slog anymore, it's something I enjoy and I don't care if it takes time because I know I can make it up those hills.