Hi,
I have decided that I want to develop a web log that describes the cycling adventures and rides that my husband Kevin and I share throughout the summer, fall, winter, and spring. We live outside of Washington, DC and have found terrific rides in and around the DC area. This area has all types of rides, flat, rolling hills, challenging hills, and just about every combination thrown in. We started cycling in the summer of 2000. Kevin needed to get back into shape and having been a runner for his entire life he kept trying to get in shape by running. But a persistent achilles problem prevented him from running on a regular schedule. Searching around for an alternative means of exercise, Kevin selected a bicycle and its been a love affair ever since. He loves riding so much that he asked me if I would like to get a bicycle and when I did, together we would go on rides. Along the way, he lost about 60 pounds and is now lean and strong.
During the summer months, we try to ride both Saturday and Sunday. Kevin is able to ride during the week whereas I am able to ride mostly on the weekends. The way we approach riding is with small and large goals. When we first started to learn to ride, we decided to do a century ride in October. The Seagull Century is a very good century to start with if you have never done one before. The terrain is tabletop flat. On the day we rode it, we had absolutely terrific weather and very little wind. We had been warned that we might encounter a challenging headwind that could make the ride far more difficult and challenging. As luck would have it, we had a great day, great weather, and all of the training we had done to get ready for the ride had clearly paid off.
Training is the key. We approach cycling with the idea that we want to always improve, challenge ourselves to go faster, harder, longer. Consequently, our weekend rides are designed to try new routes, old routes, and to tackle hills hard, ride hard, and ride long. We are, for the most part, always training. We always have goals that we want to strive for. The first year was to do the Seagull Century. The second year we trained for the DC AIDS Ride - a four day adventure from Raleigh North Carolina to the Mall in DC. Last year, we decided to take a cycling vacation out to Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Park in Canada. Seven days of riding through the Northwestern Rockies. We had a fabulous time that has inspired us to do more traveling via bicycle.
This summer, we are training for a 9 day adventure from Albuquerque New Mexico to Denver Colorado. I hope to share our cycling experience - what we see, who we meet, and how well we have trained for the experience. Feel free to comment on the posts and to share your own cycling experiences. We are always looking for good rides.
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