Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle...

I want to ride my BICYCLE! I want to ride my bike! I want to ride my BICYCLE ! I want to ride it where I like!

So, if you can't tell...my, Adorable Wife's,  bike came! Like I a kid waits for Christmas, I waited not so patiently for this bike to arrive. It was a very long week. Oh, but wait. I didn't tell you how she got here. I looked and looked on Craigslist, for a used puppy like Coachs', but apparently girls hold on to their stuff because I couldn't find one in my size. My hopes of being a Tri girl were fading until Coach found this website that sold road bikes at 60% off. Bikesdirect.com Basically, they use name brand parts with not name brand bikes. So, I browsed, drooled over bikes I couldn't afford, let my eyes spin over all the bike mubo jumbo I didn't understand, and then picked a winner. The Dawes Lightning 1200 Shimano 24 Speed Road Bike with Carbon Fork.  You can clink the link to check it out, and the website if you happen to care about bikes or be in the market for one. It wasn't super spendy, under $500, but that is all we can afford right now. SO, they had my money and I wanted my bike, perfect shiny and new!

When the box arrived on Friday, I begged Coach to come home (skip work?) and immediately put the thing together. Since, this wasn't the best laid plan, I had to wait until that evening for my little darling to be fully assembled. It was nice when he did , though. He took it out of the box, and it even had that new bike smell! About 2 hrs and 4 almost curse words later, she was done, and beautiful, and apparently Canadian? Well we thought she was done. We took her outside for a test spin, which the expert (can you hear the mocking in my voice?) performed and he realized that he had assembled something wrong because the front wasn't supposed to wiggle like that. It would take some tinkering so no riding that night.

Look he is even reading the directions!

 Goin around the driveway at top speeds!

The weekend came and went in a blur of rain and tummy aches and there sat my beautiful new bike. Just wanting to be ridden, but with no one around to do so. I felt so bad for my little import.

I know, I know! I have really white legs!

Then Monday came. Glorious Monday. The day of bike riding. The rain threatened to come, but I gave it my best evil eye and it stayed away. I bike suited up and took her for some test rides in the driveway to get used to how she felt and the whole shifting thing. I was able to mount her (that's what she said) no problem and even got my feet in the straps, yay me, without kissing the concrete. After I felt like I had a decent feel for the thing, we packed up the boys, the bikes, and the trailers and headed to a local park so I could get some practice on an un-open road.

Track Coach ready to pull the luggage (he needs the extra drag!)

I'm Ready, I'm Ready! I want those boots!

My cute little Future Track Stars!

Once we got the boys all settled in the trailer and took off, we quickly realized this road full of speed bumps was not for us or our bums, so I made the bold choice (for me) to ride on the big people road. We still took it nice and easy while I played with the gears and the pedalling motion and we just enjoyed chatting with eachother while we toured Centralia a little bit. I definitely was not pushing my legs very hard, just my butt and hands. By the time we were done we had gone 7.5 miles, so I know I won't die on my 9 in the tri! I like riding a lot, but have a slight fear of crashing and getting run over by a car, so I may need to work on that.  Me and the hubs loved having this family activity to do and I think the kids really enjoyed their nap! Now I am just awaiting the morning bum pain!

Me after my first bike ride, yipee for funny helmet lines!

 My biggest problem now, what to name my bike. She's Canadian, so do I go down that road? Or do I stick with something sport related? Any name suggestions for this fine steed?