Since last months miles were well below average I have made more of an effort to get on the bike in the past few days. I have realized that when I’m not on my bike as much, I do not have as many interesting stories to tell.

This weekend I was able to ride over 50 miles on the road bike. Tomorrow and Wednesday I plan to put more miles than that on my single speed 29er!

On my SS 29er I recently added a new SRAM SS chain and Surly Tuggnut with bottle opener!

More upgrades coming soon!

Mountain Bike Miles Needed: 83 miles

Mountain Bike Miles Ridden: 98 miles

Group Mountain Bike Ride!

Road Bike Miles Needed: 208 miles

Road Bike Miles Ridden: 140 miles

Very Cold Road Ride!

When Matt and I started dating, I knew a bike was part of the package, but at that time his bike was something that had an engine and required gas.  I didn’t know what kind of bike I was really getting into until after the last name on my driver’s license changed (but to be fair, when you marry someone 8 months after meeting them, not everything is discovered before the wedding). I wasn’t all that disappointed to be trading a crotch rocket for a Specialized, because after all, everyone knows that only Harleys are real bikes.

I inherited the love of bicycling from my dad. There are so many memoires of him, all geared up in his cycling clothes, going out for a ride. Us kids were included in everything my dad did, so a tandem bike soon made an appearance in our driveway. Every sunny Sunday afternoon, Dad and I would put on our bright yellow reflective vests and pedal off around town. A tandem bike was the greatest thing on earth to little 8 year old me. I’d pedal when it was fun to (i.e. going down hills and being on flat roads) and then when the hard part would kick in, I’d cross my skinny little legs and prop them up on my handlebars. Oh, the life. I remember dad looking back at me and chuckling to see my feet propped up. He would always say “No wonder it was getting so hard to pedal!”, and I’d giggle.

We’d always stop for a treat at the gas station halfway through our ride, which was the highlight for me.  Unlike mom, who liked healthy treats for her kids, dad would let me get anything- even brightly artificially colored juice. It didn’t get better than that.

Not too many years would pass before “Dad” became a two-syllable word in my pre-teen vocabulary and I insisted on my own bike. Funny to look back now and think the tandem bike was embarrassing, when I’m sure my pink cargo shorts, frizzy permed hair and scrunchie did little to help my cause.

My own bike soon turned into my own car, and Sunday afternoon bike riding became a thing of the past.

Meeting Matt and rediscovering that love of biking buried inside my grown up 27 year old heart is a pretty neat gift. There are days on rides when I just want to put my legs up on the handlebars and let someone else do all the work, but now I know the joy of not just the easy parts, but the thrill of conquering the hard parts too, (Although, I still wouldn’t mind some brightly colored juice halfway through).

Today I pedaled 52.5 miles on my rigid SS 29er! My longest ride on a mountain bike to date. Also the farthest I had ridden this bike before today was 8 miles.

Isn’t she beautiful!

I received an email from a friend of mine last week with the subject line “Pub Crawl on 2 Wheels”. Instantly I was hooked and ready for a great ride! The details were to ride 64 miles, stopping at a micro brewery every 15 miles or so. Not only did a 64 mile ride with 60 degree weather sound awesome, there was multiple beer stops included!

 In December it is normally tough to get one or two other people to ride with you. When you include beer you get 7!

It was a great ride and I could tell a big difference in how I rode after each stop. I do not know the science behind it but beer helped me pedal a little faster.

Brewery’s Visited:
Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery
FULL STEAM Brewery
Lone Star