What a beautiful day here in New Jersey! The sun was shining and the wind was blowing just enough to keep the air moving. I went out for my first ride with the Princeton Freewheelers' Bike Club (even though I've been a member for almost a year). We did a "D+" ride that was 23 miles at an average pace of 10 mph. I rode from my house to the start point, so door-to-door mileage for me was 30.0 miles (on the dot). It was the longest I've ridden on one ride and it was great! The pace was perfect for me for a leisurely ride. We had another guy who was riding for his 2nd time in the club and he had tried another ride with the group and they left him. On his FIRST ride!
Our ride leader, Pat, was fantastic at stopping and chatting with us, keeping us at pace and pointing out some of the more interesting sights -- like the house that was almost falling apart (from fire, age and/or wind damage) that had the sign on the door saying "Not for Rent!" Too funny!
So, this was a great kick-start to a summer full of riding fun!
Hope you all moved all you wanted today!
Ginger
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Pictures from Bike to Work Day
OK -- so do I look like the ultimate Trek Woman Who Rides? Notice the Trek FX 2.5 bike (named "Red Scare"), the Women Who Ride jersey and hat? This was around the 17 mile mark at the Little League fields. Thankfully some of the parents are the kinds who remember their cameras and are willing to snap pictures for those of us who don't.
I'm ready to do it again!
I DID IT!
Thursday night, I did it! I rode the bike home from work. The safer route I picked out was 21.4 miles ... quite a little hike. Of course I forgot the camera but I did get a friend to take a picture, so it should be posted soon.
Highlights of the trip? The bike canal along the Pennsylvania side was very nice. I had practically no traffic to get there and of course, no traffic along the path, so it was a very leisurely ride. I was enjoying it so much I almost missed my turn off the path! Thank goodness it's a state park and there was signage talking about the Washington Crossing bridge that was my path ac
ross the Delaware River. The bridge itself it really cool -- the cars have to creep along about 5 miles per hour and sometimes fold in the side mirrors to keep them from hitting the supports. There's a separate bike/pedestrian walkway, so you can cross almost as fast walking as driving. (This isn't my picture, but it's my bridge!) On the New Jersey side, I had bike shoulders and bike lanes almost the entire way. The only 'scary' part was a traffic circle with a lot of traffic. I just had to run across the individual roads feeding into the circle.
Of course, being a mom of 3 kids, I didn't get to go straight home ... I had to go to the Little League park to watch my youngest play in a baseball game. He was very proud to tell his friends that his mom rode from Pennsylvania to see his game. And he was more than happy to go through my backpack and eat the bananas and plums I had packed for the ride. I finished the ride home after the game and got home about 9:00. That's not too unusual of a day for me with an after-work game but it was weird finishing up that late on a bike.
The biggest challenge was mental -- about 7 miles into the ride I started thinking "why am I doing this?" It's so much easier to ride with a friend or take a shorter route than to do it on your own. But the pride and sense of accomplishment is worth it all. It really is going to have to become a regular ride!
Highlights of the trip? The bike canal along the Pennsylvania side was very nice. I had practically no traffic to get there and of course, no traffic along the path, so it was a very leisurely ride. I was enjoying it so much I almost missed my turn off the path! Thank goodness it's a state park and there was signage talking about the Washington Crossing bridge that was my path ac
ross the Delaware River. The bridge itself it really cool -- the cars have to creep along about 5 miles per hour and sometimes fold in the side mirrors to keep them from hitting the supports. There's a separate bike/pedestrian walkway, so you can cross almost as fast walking as driving. (This isn't my picture, but it's my bridge!) On the New Jersey side, I had bike shoulders and bike lanes almost the entire way. The only 'scary' part was a traffic circle with a lot of traffic. I just had to run across the individual roads feeding into the circle.Of course, being a mom of 3 kids, I didn't get to go straight home ... I had to go to the Little League park to watch my youngest play in a baseball game. He was very proud to tell his friends that his mom rode from Pennsylvania to see his game. And he was more than happy to go through my backpack and eat the bananas and plums I had packed for the ride. I finished the ride home after the game and got home about 9:00. That's not too unusual of a day for me with an after-work game but it was weird finishing up that late on a bike.
The biggest challenge was mental -- about 7 miles into the ride I started thinking "why am I doing this?" It's so much easier to ride with a friend or take a shorter route than to do it on your own. But the pride and sense of accomplishment is worth it all. It really is going to have to become a regular ride!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The big day...Bike to Work Week
OK ... the bike's on the back of the van ready to be taken off and ridden (roden, rode?) home (19.9 miles by mapmyride.com)! The sun is shining, the path is all planned out -- I found that I can take one of the canal paths through the most treacherous part of the ride, so that's great! Thank goodness for the Trek FX that has the "in-between" tires -- perfect for canal riding. I'll even try to take pictures!
Have you heard about the free bikes Lipton is giving away? It's a WIN-A-BIKE competition -- you could win a Fuji bike? How cool is that? There are lots of places where you can enter, but here's one at FindingFlabuless' website.
If you read through the (sparse) blogs I've written, it's easy to see that 1) I love riding and 2) it's been very important in helping me lose weight. I'm down 30 pounds since last June with about 30 more to go. I've been stuck at the 170 mark for a while, but I feel healthier and happier and I'm not gaining any back, so that'll work. Riding has given me a great sense of empowerment -- feeling like I have gained power back in my life after giving it away for so long. Every hill I look at and climb (or walk) over, helps me know I can do hills in one way or another. Every time I make a choice to get out on that road and ride even though the traffic's a little scary and I could drive instead, I feel like I'm making another healthy choice.
Now, where to put another bike? My Trek lives in the kitchen and my mountain bike is on my ex's balcony down the street ... maybe the bedroom??? :) I'm actually thinking of mounting a multiple bike rack on the kitchen wall -- sounding a little hardcore???
Have you heard about the free bikes Lipton is giving away? It's a WIN-A-BIKE competition -- you could win a Fuji bike? How cool is that? There are lots of places where you can enter, but here's one at FindingFlabuless' website.
If you read through the (sparse) blogs I've written, it's easy to see that 1) I love riding and 2) it's been very important in helping me lose weight. I'm down 30 pounds since last June with about 30 more to go. I've been stuck at the 170 mark for a while, but I feel healthier and happier and I'm not gaining any back, so that'll work. Riding has given me a great sense of empowerment -- feeling like I have gained power back in my life after giving it away for so long. Every hill I look at and climb (or walk) over, helps me know I can do hills in one way or another. Every time I make a choice to get out on that road and ride even though the traffic's a little scary and I could drive instead, I feel like I'm making another healthy choice.
Now, where to put another bike? My Trek lives in the kitchen and my mountain bike is on my ex's balcony down the street ... maybe the bedroom??? :) I'm actually thinking of mounting a multiple bike rack on the kitchen wall -- sounding a little hardcore???
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Spring is finally here
With all the pollen and rain and wind that comes along with it!
Finally, the weather is warming up again after a cold spell and high winds. So, I did my "loop around the park" ride which is 9-10 miles based on what part of the park I cut through. It's a nice ride with only 1 spot of 'treacherous' road ... about 1/8 of a mile of road under construction and heavily travelled. Sometimes, I just give it up and walk on the grass to avoid worrying about the cars flying by.
My goal this week and maybe this summer? I'm going to try riding home from work one evening a week and then riding to work with a friend who lives nearby. This week, I'm going to try taking the bike to work on Thursday and then riding the 20 miles home that evening. Then, Friday morning, I'll ride with her to work and drive back home. She works a slightly different schedule, but I can work that same schedule that day, too.
If I can do that once a week, I'll save about $8-10 worth of gas a week and get in an easy 20 miles on the bike. Lowering carbon emissions, saving money and getting some exercise ... who could ask for more???
Finally, the weather is warming up again after a cold spell and high winds. So, I did my "loop around the park" ride which is 9-10 miles based on what part of the park I cut through. It's a nice ride with only 1 spot of 'treacherous' road ... about 1/8 of a mile of road under construction and heavily travelled. Sometimes, I just give it up and walk on the grass to avoid worrying about the cars flying by.
My goal this week and maybe this summer? I'm going to try riding home from work one evening a week and then riding to work with a friend who lives nearby. This week, I'm going to try taking the bike to work on Thursday and then riding the 20 miles home that evening. Then, Friday morning, I'll ride with her to work and drive back home. She works a slightly different schedule, but I can work that same schedule that day, too.
If I can do that once a week, I'll save about $8-10 worth of gas a week and get in an easy 20 miles on the bike. Lowering carbon emissions, saving money and getting some exercise ... who could ask for more???
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