monogodo

We're about to embark on it as soon as we eat lunch.

We went to three different bike shops today looking for helmets for her. The first two had no selection and offered no customer service, so we drove all the way up to Richardson Bike Mart.

We ended up getting her a Trek Vapor 3 helmet, a pair of Pearl Izumi socks, a pair of Pearl Izumi gloves, a Specialized Expedition saddle, and a new set of Specialized grips. I've installed the new saddle and grips.

We're going to go on an easy ride, about 5-10 miles.

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

PWRDbyTRD

I'm waiting for a report...you really should get some pix too!

Litespeed

Sounds great, hope your wife enjoys it and wants to really get into it after she has done a few more rides. Keep us posted on her progress.

monogodo

Well, it didn't go as well as she would have liked, but I'm proud of her nonetheless.

We rode about 2.5 miles together before the heat got to her. I gave her my cell phone and I zipped home and got the car and went back for her. She's resting now, and apologizing for being a wuss. I keep telling her that she did very well for someone who hasn't ridden a bike in about 10 years. We kept the speed low -- I let her set the pace. The biggest problem she had was with the toeclips.

We also determined some changes we need to make to the bike to make it better for her. I need to replace the flat bar with a riser bar, and the Ultegra toeclip pedals with platforms. I'm also going to look through my parts graveyard to see if I can get a wider range cassette for her. It's 1989-vintage Ultegra 7-speed, so it shouldn't be that big of an issue to build a cassette out of the parts I (hopefully) have.

Even though the heat got to her, she still wants to ride again, which is a good sign. I'll update our progress as it develops. Thanks for the support.

notfred

How hot was it?

tulip

Congrats to you wife, and to you for being so cool and fixing her bike up just right and being a sport about the heat and ride in general. Gotta start somewhere! Next time, if you can manage it, go for a ride in the early morning before it gets too hot.

I hope she goes out on another bike ride with you. Many more for that matter.

Pedal Wench

Take that girl clothes shopping! Biking shorts with some padding will help, and a proper jersey might help her keep cool by wicking sweat. If she was wearing a cotton tee-shirt, it's no wonder she overheated.

Retro Grouch 

I'm so sorry that she had such a bad time. I'd remind her that the road to fitness starts always wherever you happen to be today. You can't wish that you were somewhere up the road and start there.

phinney

Considered a tandem?

monogodo

We're working the purchase of cycling clothes for her into our budget. She has some CoolMax shorts she can wear, and we'll go through her closet and look for a light-weight shirt for her.

A tandem wouldn't fit our budget.

We went out last night looking for platform pedals. We first went to a bike shop. All they had was 1/2" (bmx) pedals. From there we went to two different sporting goods stores, one only had bmx pedals, the other had no pedals at all. We ended up going to, of all places, WalMart where we picked up a set of Bell platform pedals for $6. We'll go on our second ride tonight, after work. She's really eager to go riding. She wanted to go on one last night after we bought the pedals, but it was too late at that point.

jeff-o

I wish my wife were so eager to ride. I bought her a new Trek 7200FX and she has taken it out twice in 90 days. Now she wants a trainer so that she can ride it indoors instead, but I'm having doubts that she'll follow through with that either.

I don't know what to do now. There have been plenty of opportunities to go out riding, but she always finds an excuse not to go. Usually it's that she's too tired, which is why I doubt she'd use the trainer if I bought it.

Right now it just feels like there's a beautiful $500 bike wasting away in the garage. Perhaps I should talk to her about this, rather than complain on some anonymous online forum.

colinm

I cannibalized my wife's MTB for parts, as it hadn't been ridden in 3 years. About 6 months later she bites my head off and decrees that I get it back together immediately.

Done. Sits. Ugh.

Good luck, Mono, keep her motivated and entertained.

monogodo

So I got home from work yesterday to find her waiting for me dressed out to ride. She was so eager to get going that she almost didn't let me use the bathroom first.

We went on a 3-mile/30-minute ride (lots of stoplights). She did much better than she did on Sunday. Much more confident with the platform pedals than with the toeclips. Her t-shirt kept snagging the seat when she'd start up from a stoplight, so she's wanting a jersey (which would be a good idea anyway). She's also wanting to go clipless.

I also thought of a solution to the gearing issue. Currently the drivetrain is 105SC front shifter (downtube), Deore 7-speed thumb shifter, Ultegra FD, old 105 RD (the blue finish one), with an Ultegra 7-speed cassette (12-21). I have a set of Ultegra 8-speed wheels on my Vitus that I don't ride. The cassette it has is 12-24 (I think). I'll swap wheels out between the two bikes and adjust the limit screws to shift the whole range. I confirmed with my brother that the Deore 7-speed shifters have 8 clicks and will work. He's also going to send me a 'bike care package' with parts I might be able to use (24T & 26T UG cogs, smaller chainring, new chain for my road bike, etc.).

This weekend I'd like to look into getting riser bars for her to replace the flat bars. She's been riding with her hands in an odd position to give her more height, and make the ride more comfortable. Riser bars should fix that.

She's also becoming active over on the Team Estrogen boards, and is learning more about cycling every day. We were discussing clipless pedal options on our way back from grocery shopping last night, and she used the terms 'mash' and 'spin' properly. It was cute.

tulip

Cool! Tell her to check out the Women's Discussion on this forum. There is another woman just starting out (well we get second hand info from her sister--a regular forum poster). It's inspiring, and she might like to find out how another beginner is doing and ask questions that she might not want to ask you

Special-Kay

Velogirl,
Where are the women's discussions on this board?

Special-Kay

overthere

Hey, I have a large woman's jersey, looser fit, that I got from a girlfriend that no longer rides. Too big for me, but I could send it out to you, if you're interested for your wife! It's a plain pale grey, black trimmed, short sleeved jersey. 3 back pockets, front zipper, Zoic brand. Post me a pm if you're interested.

tulip

Send me a pm if you are interested (and female!)

Litespeed

Watch out -- you have now officially created a Monster -- sounds like there is no stopping her now. Have a great time!

monogodo

We went on our third ride this evening. Right at 5 miles. We'd have gone farther, but the trail was shut down for a 5k fun run thingy. We ended up improvising the latter half of the route, and had lots of little hills and stop lights/signs.

I put the 8-speed wheel on for her, giving her a lower gearing option. She tried different positioning and found a way to make her wrists not ache.

I'm just glad she wants to keep at it. Cycling is something I've always enjoyed doing when I did it, and missed doing when I didn't ride. It's easier for me to ride when she wants to ride, too. Tonight, for example, I really wanted to just veg on the couch watching CSI. But no, we had to go ride (we taped CSI). I don't mind riding. I'd rather ride than veg in front of the TV, but it was a tiring day at work. I do feel better though.

redsail

Its great that you and your wife are sharing this adventure. It should be very rewarding. 2 months ago my wife didn't really know how to ride a bike. We started in the backyard where she felt more comfortable if she crashed, and a few days later moved to a school parking lot. I couldn't tell you the joy I felt helping her get the hang of it and then the first time she zoomed off on her own (freaking out the whole way..) . A couple weeks later we actually rode a meandering 10 miles with a stop off a friend's house in the middle. I definately enjoy my slow weekend rides with her more than my commute to work.

I hope you guys can keep it up, I look forward to years of riding with my wife.

effulgent

Thanks for all of the encouraging words. (This is Monogodo's wife, btw).

It's a bit of a trip learning how to ride a bike again in downtown Dallas. Lots of stops and lights and cars and whatnot. I'm looking forward to being in good enough shape to easily ride down to the local trail so I can ride for more than 3-4 minutes uninterrupted on fairly level ground.

overthere

Welcome effulgent! I just started biking last September, and just love it. I wish I had a nice hubby like you that would fix me up a bike and go riding with me! I always feel a bit like a kid again when I get on a bike.

Special-Kay

Welcome! I just got a new bike myself and am getting back into riding after YEARS of not riding. I had a bike all that time - a Hybrid, but it was just a hair too large for me so I didn't like riding it. Sold it to a taller friend and picked up a Specialized Dolce for myself. Fortunately, I live just a few minutes away from the Sammamish River Trail which is a great place in the Seattle area (connect to the Burke Gilman Trail) for a nice flat ride. I took her out for my innaugeral ride the other day - 10 miles. Like I said though - flat trail, no traffic and we sure don't have a heat problem up here! Hopefully DH and I can go out together this weekend before he heads out of town for a week! Have fun!

wabbit

I think your wife should learn clipless. Just show her that they are easier than they look and let her practice with them in a non-riding environment, like in the backyard or on a trainer. SHe'll see that it's so much easier and she'll never go back to toe clips.

monogodo

We agree. We're working on saving the funds to get her shoes and pedals. There are more important cycling purchases that need to happen, though, such as shorts for her.

We've gone on 5 total rides in 8 days, totalling just over 30 miles. She's really enjoying it.