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Originally Posted by rwest
Good progress and awesome that your are going the speed that your wife is comfortable at.
Seen way too many dicks riding way ahead of their wife, while the wife is clearly frustrated trying to keep up.
Safe riding to you both, maybe try riding real early before the strollers, dogs, rollerbladers and unpredictable riders are out?
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We will at some point do some early riding, but we're avoiding riding when it's in the 40s outside. We've done some riding in the 50s but the missus prefers it to be in the mid 60s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by red-beard
Get the bikes on the car and go to No Label brewing in Katy. Park in the lot and then take US 90 West all the way to the Brazos River, then come back. Figure 2 hours, so park at 9AM and take off around 9:30AM. Return at 11:30AM, change. If this is Saturday, drink $2 beer to re-hydrate.
If you like this, repeat every Saturday. That is a basic ride of 30 miles. You can add Fulshear, Simonton, even Bellville into the ride. Katy to Bellville is 70, round trip. If you can do Katy to Bellville and back, you can do the MS 150.
For Hill training, you need to go to Bellville. Start out by riding from Bellville to Industry. That is merely 28 miles round trip. Bellville to Fayetteville and back is about 55 miles. Again, if you can do that, you are ready for the MS150.
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That sounds great. Now I've got to order the bike rack for the Boxster so we can start traveling to places to ride. It'll be good to tackle some hills before we are at the bottom of one on the actual event so we know what to expect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herr_oberst
Nice work, Steve, that's good progress. I agree that keeping your mate company even though you might be faster is a great way to keep her happy and comfortable.
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If I didn't, there was a very real chance that she would back out. Every time we go out, she's getting more and more comfortable.
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Originally Posted by group911@aol.co
I never get the part of getting in your car to go for a ride. A guy used to live next door to us that got in his car and drove 3 blocks to a gym to work out.
I guess I'm spoiled living near a good path system.
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Because in Houston, you aren't driving 3 blocks to get someplace. You're driving 10-30 miles... Yeah, living near a good path system has made you spoiled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herr_oberst
While I agree with you for the most part, I think in this case, since Steve and Mrs Steve are training for a double metric century, they need to get off the path system and onto roads. James has done the MS150 a number of times and I think his advice is sound -acclimate in a way that trains the mind and body to meet the expectations of the event.
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Yep, and we plan to do some group rides between now and the event. As comfortable as I am on a bike, it is a bit unnerving thinking about getting on the roads in Houston. We've got the worst drivers of anywhere I've ever been, and I live in the middle of town. The missus, especially needs to be comfortable riding the bike before we through traffic into the mix. Also, there's, at least, the feeling of safety in numbers. We'd both be happier if there were 10 or 15 or 20 people on bikes riding down the side of the road than if it was just the two of us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by group911@aol.co
Which is why I wonder about having to drive to ride. As with most activities, most people are more likely to partake as the effort to start drops.
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Driving to someplace to ride is a pain. We are fortunate, that we live near a route where we can ride about 20 miles one way, so we can do up to 40 miles without having to ride on a street other than crossing a few or the quick 1/4 mile jaunt through our neighborhood to get to the start of the path.
I don't think Houston is a very bike friendly place. From what I understand it's getting better, but the drivers here are horrible, and there's TONS of traffic (tons of full size trucks and SUVs) and most of the streets involve cars going 50-80 (whether the speed limit is 30, 45 or 60). I'm far more likely to ride on streets if I'm in a group of riders otherwise a lot of my time will be spent on sidewalks.