Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

A few weeks ago I was blogging about how scared I was riding on gravel and how I didn't think I would be able to finish the gravel race - RiotGRRRaveL - that I signed up to ride. I went through Gravel Fears ... and Gravel Tears but then managed to get my bike adjusted better so that I was more comfortable . A day before the RiotGRRRaveL ride, I was still pretty nervous about riding the 30 some miles but planned to go ahead and give it a go. My goals for the ride were pretty basic: finish the ride average 10 mph have fun Well, guess what? I finished the R iotGRRRaveL gravel bike race on Saturday and accomplished my goals and then some! Here's my RiotGRRRaveL Race Rundown: First off , I finished the race!  That is an accomplishment in itself because a couple of weeks ago I was about to give up on riding gravel. My longest gravel ride ever was only 16 miles long and my longest ride of the year so far was a road ride of 27 miles. I know 30 gravel miles is nothing to ...

Yesterday my family headed to the Mall of America to check out the Lifestyle Bike Experience - an expo type of event put on by HaveFunBiking.com , "Your News Source for Bicycling Information." An article on HaveFunBiking had information about the event. Here's an excerpt of what the event had to offer: "Those who visit MOA will have a chance to explore some of the latest bicycle opportunities: Try out easy to ride bicycles; find ideas for comfortable clothing; take in a five-minute clinics for safe and healthy commuting to school or work; discover great places to bike; plus... many bicycle related games and prizes." We would not normally head to the Mall of America on a Saturday afternoon and it was an absolute zoo - we almost turned back when we saw how busy the place was - yet we heard about the event from our friends at Valley Bike and Ski and wanted to check it out. We're glad we did. The Best Buy Rotunda section of the MOA was full...

Well, after a two week break I’m back on my road bike and glad to be riding again. I can’t believe I spent two weeks not riding - it was a struggle because I missed biking so much. Some of the break was vacation related but the other part of my break was self-imposed to get some healing time for some bike-related bruising. I realized the smart thing to do was to take some time off, heal and then start over again and see if I can figure out why I had troubles. Here are the theories of what might have happened to cause my discomfort gathered by bicyclists, my doctor, the people at my bike shop and my own intuition:  1. I’ve been slightly misaligned on my bike all along and over time irritation and bruising built up. Perhaps the saddle is the wrong size for my bum. 2. My bike got bumped of adjustment therefore I am sitting the bike differently. 3. As I’ve gotten to be a better rider (faster, more aggressive on hills etc.) I’ve changed my position on the bike (ie: leaning more forward ...