Tour de Hampton Roads

I have had this road bike for 2 1/2 months and I have been terrified to actually try to ride it... until today's post-work trip from Hampton, through Suffolk to Chesapeake's Great Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. [Sidebar: I live in VaBch, drove through Norfolk, and ran an errand in Newport News today.] The last time I was intentionally at the Dismal Swamp (what's in a name?) was in the 7th grade - also for the purpose of riding a bike. However that time I seem to remember the trip involving Miss Krepper, Mr. Evers strapping a tarp over 60 bikes in the back of a Norfolk Christian dump truck, and a ride in the back of a rickety school bus singing Aerosmith's Living On the Edge with Margaret Victorio and Zach Taylor. Shout out to be beginning of Alicia Silverstone's much-acclaimed career.

This time it was a little different. Ryan now drives a Subaru, wears running shoes with khaki pants, and uses croakies to secure his sunglasses. I feel this is important to note as you look at the photo below. Yes, we were those people on the interstate that had a bike without a front tire on its roof today. I've always wondered, "Where is the other tire and why are those outdoorsy people always removing it for car trips?"

I still don't know why we remove the front tire, but my bike (ahem, Jenny Steele's bike) is in the back there. Also, there is this phenomenon called "clipping in." To me this sounds like a skinned knee waiting to happen and I have yet to tackle the clipping in and the special cleats - who knew you needed cleats to ride a bike? I always thought they were reserved for contact sports. Nope - turns out even lithe bike-riders are hopping on the cleat bandwagon.



The rest of the story will be told via photographs and quotes. Enjoy.

E: "Mom I'm headed to Bike Beat to get a helmet."
J: "Oh! You don't have to! I have one in the trunk of my car."
E: "Why do you have a bike helmet in the trunk of your car?"
J: "I actually have two of them. I saw them at the thrift store 2 years ago and bought them just in case someone needed them."
E: "They've been in the trunk of your car for two years?"

"Mmm, I love the self-portrait."

"Ryan take some pictures of me riding this bike for my blog post."

"We have got to get a picture of these huge running shoes and this busted shoe holder thing on this pedal; how typical."

"Wait, take that picture again. This time I want to flex my calf so I look like I have good muscle-tone. Is that better?"

"I feel like I should take a picture of the clip in shoe with the sleek helmet to exhibit the reality for most road bike type athletes juxtaposed to my running shoes and thrift store helmet."

I wonder if the Scandinavian bike rack company's name is actually pronounced "TOOL" phonetically. I feel in this context it might be an appropriate fit for Ryan and me today, and I am OK with that. Nation's Triathlon October 2010!