First Fall Down!

I DID IT!!! Thank you Hillary and Tom for convincing me to get back on my bike, after the last dreadful ride, and go clipless. As I mentioned in my last blog, I bought my clipless pedals yesterday from Gregg’s and took the plunge today by taking them out for a spin. My biggest fear was that I would fall. DONE! Hillary, Leo and I started out at the Bellevue Park n Ride. We were just riding around the parking lot, getting ready to begin. I clipped out of my pedals…or so I thought and bam…I fell to the ground (Refer to pic that I’m sure Hillary will post). Luckily, but embarrassingly, I wasn’t moving so the fall wasn’t too bad. All I could hear was Leo asking if I was okay and Hillary laughing hysterically while peeing her pants. Being the tough girl that I am I got up without crying....I may have even laughed at myself, and began our ride.

So what’s a girl to do when you’ve fallen while not even moving? WWTD???? Go visit Tom at Gregg’s to tell him about my first fall and show him that I survived without a visit to the ER. Keep in my mind at this point I was so scared from my fall, my heart was racing and I was clipping in and out of the pedals to ensure I didn’t have another fall so soon after. I even debated not clipping in again and just pretending, but that was too hard. We got to Gregg’s and we immediately told Tom, Kirk and Rebecca (another fave Gregg’s employee) about the start to our ride. Oh yeah…and we finally introduced Leo to Tom, so he can finally relate to our Team name. Leo even bought some arm warmers, which look super cool. Both Leo and Hillary now own arm warmers, while I sported knee warmers, and we all looked like real cyclists.

After a nice chat with the staffers at Gregg’s we continued on our way. BTW…have I mentioned how much I love going to Gregg’s? It’s like my new Starbucks…the place to go when you are looking to share good conversation and laugh your A$$ off!

Quick Gregg’s Cycle Advertisement:

Seriously…please go if you are looking for a new bike or bike accessories. They are all so knowledgable and wonderful. I bought my bike about a month ago and have been back to Gregg’s on several occasions for tune ups and accessories. Everyone, especially Tom, Kirk and Rebecca, have been so helpful. I still love Tom soooo much, but I also now love Gregg’s only female staff member, Rebecca. She is super smart and experienced in riding and really knows cycling from a girl’s perspective. I will be a lifelong customer of Gregg’s. As one customer wrote to Gregg’s, they are the Nordstrom of bike shops.

Back to the ride…we continued on Bellevue Way down to 520 at Northup and headed towards West Lake Sammamish. Tom was right…clipless pedals really help when you are heading up hills. It was a bit hilly on Northup, but def good exercise and a great opportunity to try out the new pedals. We finally reached the peak of the hill and headed down to the lake, which both Hillary and Leo loved. Leo zoomed by both of us at about 30 miles/hour. Of course, I was timid and braked the whole way down…freaking out at one point when I hit about 25 miles/hour. The ride around Lake Sammamish was wonderful. Then Jocelyn (yes, I’m talking about myself in third person, but just to emphasize my choice) convinced the team to head into Issaquah to add a few more miles to our trip. It was downhill along 90, which is never good. Why, you ask??? Because if you go downhill you must come back up! And of course we did once we hit the Arco in Issaquah and turned around back towards Bellevue. It seriously was up hill until we hit 136^th in Eastgate and headed down to Factoria. We ended the trip riding through Factoria and the Mercer Sleugh and back to the park n ride.

All in all, I’m so glad that I listened to Hillary and Tom and got back on my bike after the last horrific ride to Seattle in the rain. It was a great ride, even with the fall at the beginning. I’m definitely looking forward to our next ride in La Conner at the Tulip Festival (40 miles). I hear that Tom may even join us (Yay)! My only complaint…I’m already sore. Getting older sucks because even the smallest of falls hurts every inch of your body.

I’ll end with a quote from one of my fave singers Bob Dylan:

"When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it, don't back down and don't give up. Then you're going to mystify a lot of folks."

Regardless of my bad ride to Seattle and the fall today, I’m going to keep on riding and see you at the start of STP in July. PEACE!