ThermionicScott 

Very cool, glad to see it wasn't a fleeting curiosity for her!

Also, this has to be the step-through-iest bike I've ever seen...


- Scott

Doohickie

It's a Biria Easy Boarding Top 3.

Sun Bicycles (an LBS "house" brand) makes something similar.

Doohickie

Just for reference, this is what we look like when we clean up



with my younger son on the left and my older son on the right.

Doohickie

Another bike date last weekend. And this exchange just now via PM:

B (my wife): I will be late tonight

P (me): Ok

B: I really want to go for a bike ride so I will be as fast as I can

Doohickie

We didn't get out last night; she got home too late. We did, however, get out this evening.



We did 5 miles and she rode stronger than she has in a long while.

Doohickie

Perhaps a first this Saturday: I mentioned something about a city-sponsored group ride this Saturday. My wife has expressed an aversion to group rides up until now, but for this one she asked about the distance and the route, then declared that she'd like to try it.

We go riding together several times a week, usually about 6 or 8 miles at a stretch. Last night we crossed over a major road into a new neighborhood and discovered a whole world to explore. I can see doing 10 or 12 mile rides with the expanded territory. So she should be up to the either 5 or 9 mile distance of the upcoming group ride. The cool thing is that she is the one that is initiating the rides; she asks me if I want to ride with her. I think it's a little selfish on her part, because she knows I'll ride on my own if she doesn't offer. She's doing several other things to try to get fit (she's already pretty slim, but wants to tone up), including Wii Fit and yoga (via video) and stuff like that, as well as watching her diet. She's looking pretty good for a nearly 50 year old woman, if I do say so myself.

I think it all had to do with letting her know that I'd like for her to ride, but not pushing it at all, and once she did start to ride I made sure I rode as slowly as she did. Now her speed is increasing and it's more pleasurable to ride together, although she is still pretty slow by the average cyclist's standard.

Doohickie

We have had so many positive moments with the bike lately, but this morning wasn't one of them. We did the group ride and, well, she pretty much hated it. She didn't like having to try to keep pace with everyone (we were near the back), she didn't like the route which was significantly hillier than I thought it would be (although she was able to get up the hills), and she just wasn't too fond of being told where to go.

That's her on the right in blue



It turned out well though. We met a few people during the day, and a friend of ours (pallen's wife) hung back with us for a good chunk of the ride. She appreciated the bicycle police who escorted the ride and how encouraging they were. She just isn't a group ride person.

After we cut off from the main group (to take the shorter of the two routes), we pedaled around by ourselves for a while, and stopped so I could have some breakfast (my wife had eaten; I hadn't). Then we took the bikes over for some trail riding in Trinity Park before getting a bite for lunch and going home. It turned out to be the most she's ridden in one day (13 miles). So even in failure, success.

Doohickie

It was a good weekend. Saturday, my bride said she wanted to do a ride on the trail. Knowing the wind direction and wanting to head upwind on the outboard leg, I suggested the bike lane/off street bike path route to Benbrook Lake. The off-street path is very scenic, including a canopy of trees and a small waterfall. She was a little disappointed, though, when I said there really wasn't any place to stop and eat along the way. We got near the lake and she saw on her new odometer that if we went a little further, she would set a new personal best by the time we got back. There was a kind of steep hill though, but there was also a turn off into a residential area. She opted for that, and what I didn't realize is that we were just a few blocks from a major highway. We thought maybe we could something to eat there, so we went exploring. I forgot the lock, so we stopped at a Tractor Supply Company and bought a cable lock designed for a dear blind (i.e., it painted in camouflage colors). Good enough. Then we saw an antique mall that had a tea room. We had a great lunch in there (tea rooms in antique malls are a great change of pace for eating out if you didn't know). Then we headed for home and.... I got a flat. Never fear, I had a spare tube with me. I pulled a piece of glass out of the tire, put the tube in, started riding and.... got another flat. Turns out the glass I found wasn't the one that caused the first flat. Now we were dead in the water. We called my son who brought a patch kit and extra CO2 cartridges and we were able to finish the ride.

There were several points where my wife could have bailed out of the ride, but she was determined to keep going: where the trail came out to the street, where the big hill was, where we got the second flat. But she can be stubborn and in this case that was a good thing. She set a personal best for a ride at 14 miles round trip.

THEN.... today (Memorial Day), she decided she wanted to ride to the Paris Coffee Shop for breakfast. I asked her if she was serious, since it is about 9 miles from the house. She was, and we did the ride. It was quite easy with wind at our backs in the morning, and I picked the flattest route I could find and we set out. We made the trip in just under an hour, including traffic and a brief break to drink some water. We headed for home and it took a little longer because of one significant hill that she barely made it up and a bit of a headwind. When we we got close to home, we decided to ride through our neighborhood so she could say she rode 20 miles. When we finished she had 22 miles for the trip, shattering her previous best from a couple of days before.

Yes, she rode this behemoth 22 miles



Breakfast (she had pie for breakfast)



Stopping to smell the roses



A stop closer to home.



It's been a fun journey so far.

Doohickie

10 miles yesterday afternoon that turned into evening.... my wife's first "night ride." She said she needs a better headlight. I think she's starting to understand all the money I spent on bike gear a few years back when I was starting.

Yo Spiff

Way to go!

I seem to be having an easier time getting my own wife out on the tandem than the singles. Not sure why it's that way for her. The tandem is a beast for an inexperienced tandem team to handle. Perhaps it is that the experience for her is that she can go farther and faster for her effort, but it slows me down, so our experiences of the bike are opposite. But it gets her riding with me.

Doohickie

The 10 mile ride was through the neighborhood between McCart and Crowley, up to the SW Baptist Seminary. Then we crossed over McCart into the neighborhood just west of there (South Hills) and came back. We crossed I20 on McCart which was more than she was ready for, especially since it was fully dark by then. We walked our bikes across the freeway and ducked into the neighborhood south of it.

I think part of the reason she likes riding her own bike is the challenge of climbing hills. She wants to build up those muscles so she can eventually ride with groups without slowing them down.

Yo Spiff

Sounds like she is motivated. (I-20 and McCart? Very busy intersection for an inexperienced rider to negotiate!) It does take some time and miles to build up the stamina to even keep up on a short ride. Ellen had a hard time Friday. We've done that kind of mileage and pace before, but not without her being able to take some major breaks along the way. I could tell when she got tired as the tandem became less stable and I was pulling harder than usual. When I got out on my road bike Sunday morning, it felt like there was nothing under me for a while.

BTW, you made some major "nice guy" points with my daughter the other day for sticking with her when she bonked on the C.M. ride. Seems she had only had a small bowl of oatmeal to eat that day and we didn't know it. I appreciate what you did. I won't let her ride again if she hasn't fueled up well beforehand.

Doohickie

If I'm near the end of a group ride, I always act as a sweeper, staying back with the slow pokes. It just seems like the right thing to do. The ride leaders view CM as a way to communicate to drivers that bicycles belong on the streets, but I also see it as a way for new riders to experience street riding for themselves. If they bonk or are slow, and no one hangs back with them, they will become discouraged and may stop riding.

I knew I-20 and McCart would be kind of tough, but you may recall the storm clouds were rolling in from the north last night. We never really got the rain, but I didn't know that when we were riding. A preferred alternate would have been Westrcreek, but I didn't want to ride that far out of the way, considering the weather conditions.

My biggest challenge when I ride with my wife out in the streets is that I've trained myself to be ready to go NOW when the light turns green, and she's definitely slower off the line. I need to take that into account for some of these traffic lights we encounter.

Yo Spiff

Exactly. On those long club rides in the country, I will tend to stay back with someone slower than myself, rather than struggling to keep up with the fast kids.

One of my wife's problems on the bike is that by the time she decides that it is clear to go, the opportunity has passed. I think it is mostly a matter of self confidence and experience. And you've seen how long it takes us to get rolling on the tandem. Like an aircrew going over a checklist on the way down the taxiway. But the consequence of pushing off when your stoker is not expecting it is potentially worse than just being slow to get moving.

Doohickie

When B said she didn't want to try Paul's Donuts (the destination of my club's breakfast ride this morning), I thought that meant I would ride with the club and she would stay home. But she said she wanted to do a breakfast ride (just the two of us) this morning. She got home late last night (several teachers ate dinner out after graduation), so we didn't get rolling until well after 10 am. That was a mistake.

The ride started out fine. We rode through the southside neighborhoods to the Corner Bakery downtown.



https://sphotos-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/h...59280418_n.jpg



On arrival at Corner Bakery



After breakfast, we went to the bike shop. B was getting too much sun in her face, so she tried a cycling cap. Then we made a wrong move: We were feeling pretty good and decided on a different route back- West on 7th to Trinity Park, through the Colonial Country Club and TCU areas, then home. The heat and the hills in that area turned out be too much for us, especially B, who hasn't done too many hill climbs yet. We stopped at the McD's and got some refreshment and cooled off. From TCU we set a course that would minimize further hills but still be close to the shortest possible ride. We headed to the SW Baptist Seminary campus. By the time we got to the south end of the campus, though, B was done (and I wasn't far behind). Our son drove over to pick us up.

She ended up with a pretty ugly heat rash/sunburn on her legs. Very red and blotchy. It doesn't hurt so I think it's more heat rash than sunburn. I think she might have finished the ride except for that. We learned to start our longer summer rides earlier day, or if we start later, to plan for a shorter, simpler route with fewer hills. Sometimes a ride is successful because it helps you find out where your limits are.

gregoron

There's something about riding a bike that puts smiles in people's face. Good job "Job"!

jameswoo360

Nice posts. I recently got back into cycling & also wanted to get my wife to ride as well.

Anyway, I bought a folding bike & my dear wife who hasn't cycled in a long long time initially needed help to get going & balance herself. We joked about putting on training wheels on her 1st ride but thankfully on her 2nd ride, she could ride without help although she still have trouble making a tight turn

With 3 short rides she got the hang of it & I'm slowly hoping she will enjoy it more. If she enjoy it more, I may get another bike to ride together. The other option is for me to use an old steel racer kept at my parent's place.

The folding bike is great that both of us can use it though the seat was almost too tall for her even at the lowest position.

Doohickie

After having hand surgery last year, my wife's been off the bike for a while, but she recently started up again. We rode to dinner tonight; it was over 100*F when we left the house. We had to stop once for her to cool off a bit, but otherwise we made it there okay.



It was much better riding home after the sun went down.



Altogether we covered about 14 miles, the most for her so far this year.

Rowan

Doohickie, I love that bike. It just seems... so right as a town bike.

And after for your wife's progress... and your patience.

Doohickie

We did my wife's longest ride of the year Saturday, 20 miles, with BF member Yo Spiff and his wife. We rode to dinner at the Fort Worth Stockyards, then rode back home. The next day, we were out for a shorter ride, only 8 miles, but on the way back my wife got stung by a wasp on her neck. We finished the ride but she ended up going to the urgent care clinic because it aggravated her asthma (which had been doing pretty well lately). She's doing better a couple days later.

Doohickie

The wife did a personal best of 27 miles with me today. We rode to breakfast, then to the bike shop, then for a snack at the bakery. She would like to ride more often, but she's trying to make the most of her rides.

atbman

Good on the two of you - it's been an interesting thread.

I caught the bit about the temp being 100F - ouch! Living in a country where 80F constitutes a heatwave, I salute both of you. Being a member of a club where 5 of our coaches are women, we (the women coaches that is) are now running a weekly coaching session for women riders ranging from newbies to experienced, using our 0.5mile purpose-built cycling circuit (lucky us) as the base and a local 7.5m MUF to vary the training.

I don't suppose you two and Yo Spiff and spouse could set up something for women (and/or others) on the cycle path you've described, could you?

By the way, has she hassled you for a lighter bike yet? Or should I not ask on the grounds that this might start something?

fietsbob

just looks like the seat to pedal distance is a bit short , but moving it up a 1/4"at a time , may be less traumatic , till its at a nice EZ spinning height.

Doohickie

Yo Spiff's wife actually hurt her shoulder on a ride and isn't riding again just yet. She had started a group called Slow Spokes for beginning riders and recently got someone to continue while she's off the bike.

She's been working on it. We moved it up a little more the ride before last and her effort is doing much better. She's fighting some demons relative to the fall she had when she was a kid, so if she feels safer with the seat low, I don't argue. At this point she understands the concept of the seat being too low and she's getting comfortable enough to raise it a bit now and then. When we were in the bike shop she was eyeing a Mode Stella bicycle (which is pretty beautiful) and she said if she got one she'd go with the 8 speed model. 3 speeds really aren't enough with some of the hills here (they're not too bad for me, but they kill her).



It's still not a light bike, but it's lighter than what she's got now. She loves her Biria though and even if she gets another bike, she'll keep that for short rides.

fietsbob

buck and wing was an old dance style see: wiki/Clogging