2011 outdoor underway!

The 2011 cycling season, my eleventh year on a bike, kicked off today, Valentine's Day. That's four days earlier than my first outdoor ride of last season.

Today, with a cold wind, sunshine and about 40 degrees I climbed on a bit of history to mark the occasion. You see Sunday I managed to struggle through the snow to my shed out at the lake house, where I pulled out my original bike to bring home. I had not taken it home from the lake house in a couple of years.

So I brought the old Trek Navigator home for some much-needed cleaning and then I took it out for a brief ride today. This is a bike that is perfect for these conditions; wet, sloppy, salty roads covered in sand and grit. Why not put the old girl to use I figured?

 There she is. I remember that I could hardly swing my leg over the top tube when I bought this bike at Rainbow Jersey, just three months after my total hip replacement surgery in November of 2000. This is the bike that  I had my "big crash" on in 2002, breaking my wrist and knocking out a front tooth.

Riding her today felt very odd. Everything is so upright on the bike compared to what I am used to riding. But she sure is comfy with all those shocks! I guess this is as close to mountain biking as I will ever come. But when conditions are sloppy and you just feel like bundling up and heading out, what better machine to use really?

I suppose I should look into getting at least a rear fender. By the time I was done with three laps of the Elm Grove Crit course I sure was a mess. Didn't matter to me though. I made it outside today. Even the walking path around the pond in Elm Grove was clear of snow and ice so I took that as a way to turn around starting on lap number two.

I wanted to log what I was doing 10 years ago this season too, but would you believe I have every year's cycling logs EXCEPT 2001, my very first season coming off the surgery that turned me on to cycling to begin with? Perhaps I didn't keep a paper log, but that doesn't sound like me. It must be lost somewhere.

So perhaps I'll throw back from time to time what I was doing on any given ride dating back to 2002, the oldest log I still have. Turns out that on Feb. 14th 2002 the log book is empty. I'll keep it open and keep checking whenever I ride this season and write about it here.

So the new season is underway with a simple short 13 miles on the bike that started it all in the spring of 2001.

2011 Miles: 13