FMadridRN

Granted it was a measly 2.71 mile ride, it was my fastest, but only by choice because it started raining lol. Just a little over ten minutes when my average for this route was 13-14 min. I was going to start earlier in the month but got plagued with sickness. It pained me to see bright sunny mornings that I couldn't participate in. I almost forgot the feeling of that "rush" after riding. Now that I'm glad I got started, I am going to strive for more miles in the future. My ultimate goal for this year is to participate in an MS 150 in August. I am hoping to stick to this forum once again to give me courage and motivation to reach that goal.

Wooden Tiger

Good job! I've also been getting that "after-ride rush" after my rides, especially after a bit of MTBing! Unlike previous years, I'm just somehow motivated this year to get out there and pedal my ass off and keep at it, though I'm not sure how I'll feel come Summertime when the real heat hits; heat and I just don't get along and I feel really ill whenever riding in temperatures higher than around the low-mid 80s. I just get really bad stomach cramps and feel nauseous, regardless how much water or food I've had or hadn't had.

My goal has been to get at least 10 miles in per ride. Thus far, I'm achieving that goal while riding myself but my wife, who has always been a stronger rider than me, has been having some difficulty with it. Maybe it's because I've had a few more chances to get out than she has or maybe it's because I have a triple chain-ring on my MTB and she has a double chain-ring on hers. We've been doing a lot of riding along the C&O Canal together, which is fairly flat with very little grade. I've found myself having to slow down so we can ride together. On road bikes it's been a different story in the past with her ALWAYS leaving me AT LEAST 1/8 mile behind, despite my best efforts to keep up with her.

Last year we were in an automobile accident and lost our MTBs. We just replaced them in February. In 2011, we were just simply not motivated to get out and probably went on about four rides for the season. I'm not sure where the lack of motivation came from but it was there. I think some of the lack of motivation stemmed from really not liking the double chain-ring on our bikes, finding ourselves discouraged with the difficulty of having to use more energy to climb than on our old triple chain-ringed MTBs, and just simply being out of shape and feeling very far behind the eight ball, so to speak.

GeoBigJon

Congrats!