Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

When it comes to bicycling I’m learning how to manage hills, how to pedal at a constant rate, how to go an extra mile when I’m tired. I can tell I’m getting better at bicycling because I can get up hills faster, I stop to rest less often and my body’s getting more toned. I’m so excited with all that I’m learning but our family ride a week ago Saturday taught me some lessons about biking that I wasn’t expecting.  Here’s what happened -  Last Saturday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed out for a family bike ride on the trails near Minnehaha Falls in Minneapoils. We got there, unloaded our bikes and set off. It soon was clear that neither Owen nor I knew where the trails were and that we weren't in a good frame of mind to work together. Guess what? It wasn’t a fun ride. We were all grumpy. Ryan cried. I yelled. I cried. I felt like a failure as a parent and spouse and I feared my kids would never want to go on a family bike ride again. I guess you could say that ...

When I bought my road bike this year I worried that I would find the tiny saddle, forward position and drop handlebars uncomfortable and that I wouldn't want to ride because of it. Much to my surprise, my Giant Avail is very comfortable and my bike of choice when I want to go out for a ride. I discovered, however, that there are two big disadvantages to riding my Avail on family rides like the one we just took on the Cannon Valley Trail . My road bike is way faster than everyone else's bike. This isn't too much of a problem when Ryan is on the Trail-a-Bike but will be more of an issue when he wants to ride on his own. My hard soled biking shoes with SPD cleats are not good for hiking when Rose and Ryan decide to check out things along the trail. We're planning another family ride for this weekend, this time around the beautiful Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Ryan is going to ride his own bike this time so I expect even more starting and stopping on this ride and a s...

I'm glad to report that I'm back on my bike! After biking 32 days in a row for the 30 Days of Biking challenge I took what I thought was going to one or two days off from riding. No worries, I figured, I'd be riding again soon. But then a day or two turned into four and then it rained for days and I got sick. Bummer. I was pretty much out of commission all of last week. I was finally back into nearly normal form by the end of the week so we decided to head out Saturday morning for a family bike ride on the Cannon Valley Trail . The trail is about a 30 minute drive away in Cannon Falls and as we drove there I worried at first that the day wouldn't go well because Rose and Ryan were picking on each other. But once we go to the trail head an started unpacking the bikes the kids got so excited to ride they forgot to pick on each other. Owen go the bikes ready and we all put our helmets on and got ready to go. Soon Rose was ready on her mountain bike, Owen was on his hybr...

Feeling the urge to do something good? Have a few extra t-shirts around your house that are in great condition? Northfield's multi-sport store,   Fit to be Tri'd, is collecting t-shirts, athletic shorts and money to ship them for the Nepomuceno Boys Home   in Nepomuceno, Brazil through the end of this week.  Fit to be Tri'd features an athlete in their monthly email newsletter but owner Tom Bisel decided to change t hings up a bit for his April issue and feature the boys home instead. Here's what Tom wrote in his newsletter, "This issue we are featuring the Nepomuceno Boys Home in Nepomuceno, Brazil rather than a local athlete or club. This change comes due to the death of a friend of mine that started the orphanage for boys some 50 years ago. One of our core values here at FIT to be TRI'd is to take the opportunities that come along to give back to causes bigger than ourselves.  My friend was Arnold   Boich... I would like to honor him this month by partn...

Well, the 30 Days of Biking challenge is over. I'm happy to report that I did, in fact, ride my bike "Every. Friggin. Day." (quote from the 30 Days of Biking website). I even made it 32 days straight. I'm feeling pretty good about that because I don't think I've done anything for 32 days straight - other than brushing my teeth and getting dressed and things like that. I certainly haven't done any sort of challenge, especially something exercise related, for more than a few days before running out of steam. So, I'm proud of myself for sticking to something I didn't think I could do. Here I am after biking 22 miles on the Root River Trail last Sunday, May 2nd Here's some information to recap my 30 Days of Biking experience: I biked every day for 32 days straight. My shortest ride was 3/4 of a mile. My longest ride was 31 miles. Fastest ride averaged 14.4 mph Total miles biked in 32 days: 154 I biked in the rain at least once. Biked in ...