It ended up being a beautiful day despite the rain earlier in the morning. Anna came out for the first time and did 17 miles on the C & O canal to Great Falls. Dominique, becoming a reqular, has pushed herself with no problem to do 17 miles .. looks like we have some Level B riders here soon!
After the Sunday ride, Paula and I went to pick up her new SARIS Bone bike rack from REI and I helped her put it on her car. It was a funny scene the two of us in the parking lot at Bailey's REI, rack, bikes and box spread out in the parking lot, reading the owner's manual.
However, I ended up tossing the owner's manual and figured out how to mount the rack on Paula's car. Compared to the rack I use to own, hers had no straps and was easier to mount. Technology has really improved.
So now Paula doesn't need to remove the front wheel to squeeze her bike into the car every time she comes for a bike ride. This was fustrating and a lot of WORK! If you are considering getting a bike rack but don't know where to start, I recommend this site http://www.bikerackshops.com/ to learn about various bike racks and brands and to see which would fit on your car.
But if money is tight and the only option is to remove the wheel , I suggest watching this video "How to take your wheel off"
Kudos to Dominique (unfortunately, my camera is messed up and all the photos I took didn't turn out). She joined us on the Sunday ride after a long hiatus on the bike and mentioned she only recently did 2 miles of riding.
Being in a group environment, pedaling at an easy pace and taking her mind off of wanting to stop and head back to the car by having a good conversation with the girls, Dominique was able to ride 8 miles for the very first time!
Dominique was amazed of her accomplishment, just as I was amazed to find this deer on the Holmes Run Greenway trail (the only picture that survived)
.... " I didn't even sweat", she said.
And you can do the same. Whether you want to sweat or not, we have 3 ride levels to choose from. Just come and try us out!
The correct way: the helmet should cover the entire head, be balanced and snugged, low enough upfront by placing 2 fingers above the eyebrow, the straps should be below the earlobe and the strap below your chin should be tight enough to be able to only place 4 fingers through it.
Below is an illustration of how to wear the helmet correctly. For more information, go to http://www.helmets.org/
Thanks to Teri, Paula, Josh and Joseph for a great casual Sunday ride, with great weather and great conversations ... and of course the highlight of the day was having coffee afterwards!
Paula came out during the week to do the Mount Vernon trail ride. She told me the most she had ever ridden was 6 miles.
She didn't give up and pushed herself to finish the ride. At the end, Paula accomplished to do 8.2 miles, the most ever! Congratulations!
Paula works with a personal trainer, exercises 3 times a week and is incorporating cycling into her fitness plan. Her goal is to do 1 bike ride a week.
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