Red = Fast!

Red = Fast, right? That was my theory yesterday when I went out for my first outdoor bike ride of 2007 on my red bike dressed in a red bike jersey and even red socks. Hey, all that red has gotta help.

And I think it did. Probably supplemented just a tad by Blake and Ed's indoor cycling torture... um, I mean training... over the last few months. I actually rode in the big chain ring for a good bit of the ride, which I've never done before unless I've been flying downhill. The hills at West Creek seemed - dare I say - easy compared to the hills we invent on our trainers every Monday night.

I met TriGirls Melissa and Annnnn out there. We were pretty pathetic to start - all three of us attempted to put air in Melissa's tire, only to have to play damsels in distress and ask some poor guy (cute, too, as Melissa - the single one - pointed out) to help us with the pump. Turns out that in our eagerness, we had somehow broken the seal between the little plug thingy and the tube. (Impressed with my grasp of the basic components of a bike, aren't you? C'mon, admit it.) Cute boy then gave an impromptu lesson in changing a tire tube.

Finally we were off! We cycled around the parking lot and practiced with our new shoe clips for a few minutes before feeling confident enough to hit the street. Traffic out there was lighter than I expected on a week night, and those drivers who are trying to get through are very safe and must be used to cyclists and runners. We saw many of each. We only rode about 10 miles but it was a great 10 miles.

I can't wait to do it again!