Back in the Saddle

For our first ride back from vacation, I'm on my sleek new Madone! Vicki arranged for us to meet at Specht Store and ride the Bullis Park route from there. Afterward, we would go in for a drink and some dinner. Jazmin wanted to ride a bike today, so she was allowed to borrow Mom's bike and come out to ride with us. We started out ahead of the group and I told her to stick behind me. At the turn to go up Leroy Scheel, we stopped and I did some rules of the road. This gave her an opportunity to see some of the hand signals, hear some of the announcements and realize the type of riding we do. She was ready for the ride, now.

All together, we headed up Leroy Scheel. This slow and gradual incline usually takes it's toll on me and today's heat made it no exception. We started out at 6:30 and it was still 100 degrees! At this point, Jazmin has gotten the hang of the "on your left" and is ready to pass me as we approach the stop. I tell her to stay behind me as we stop. She listened well and then I prepared her for the hills of Amman Road. The others went up Persimmon Hill. I would have like to try this on my new bike, but I didn't want to venture that with Jazmin as it would require us to be on highway 46 for a stretch. She and I went straight to the school up the hills on Amman Road. She slowed down quite a bit up those hills, but she made it!

After a brief break, we headed for the bakery. This stretch twists and turns a lot, but is a gradual downhill where it isn't flat, so it's usually a quick stretch. I watch in my mirror and Jazmin is not going as fast as I had expected. I slow down as I don't want her out of my sight on a twisty road with some traffic. We make it to the bakery and rest on the bench. Here she pulls the grapes out of her Camelbak and promptly finishes all of the water in her Camelbak. I shrug and tell her that's all there is. The group catches up to us and we all roll out together.

Most of the group pulls ahead pretty quick. I realized Jazmin was in the small ring, so I told her to shift with her left hand. She did and we found a comfortable pace of 10 mph as the two guys behind us decided to pass us. They had not announced themselves as they passed me, so as they came upon her I said, "Jazmin, bikes on your left!" They got the hint and the second guy talked to her as he passed. He said, "Your doing well...." and then as he pulled away, "for an amateur." This motivated her and she took off chasing his shadow.

She bumped it up to 12 mph and we held that almost consistently all the way in. We enjoyed dinner where Jazmin ate more salsa than I ever could, had three glasses of water and tried one of Laura's chicken livers. On the ride home, Jazmin couldn't believe that the eight mile ride was an "easy" ride for me. She enjoyed the ride and Vicki even invited her to come back again next week. We'll see...

I enjoyed the ride and was glad for a slow start back. I don't really feel that I got a feel for my new bike, but I'll get there. Tonight was more of a social ride and it was fun!

Goals
Today's Miles: 8.1
Total Miles Achieved: 649.3
Financial Investment: $1870.63
Total Weight Loss: 0