Cassandra: Well, by this point mom and I have been training for several weeks. Our rides started not with the road but with stationary bikes in a gym (in mom's case) and at home on a bike trainer (me). I have been a little leery as of late to take my bike on the road because of an experience I had a couple of months ago. Dennis was working so I decided to devote my Saturday morning to a bike ride on Seattle's famed Burke-Gilman. Everything was fine at first. It was my first solo ride with my new clip-less pedals but I got clipped in just fine and used side streets until I met up with the entrance to the trail. I rode about 10 miles (and had already ridden about 2.5 on side streets) until the closing of the trail, where they were working on the pavement. At that point I turned around and things started to get a little messy. It started to rain. But more than that, it started to get cold. My feet were a little numb and my hands were numb. It was a miserable feeling all around. Now, I wasn't just pedaling slowly, mind you. I was going more than 15 mph. My core was warm, but the rest of me wasn't. I stopped to eat snacks at a local park but had to leave because I was freezing. And then I rode home, another 10 miles of cold trail and hilly side streets. The streets near my house are terrible on the way home from a bike ride. They just go up, up, up. And steeply. When I finally made it home I had to draw the hottest bath I could stand and soak. And right then and there I vowed not to ride outside again until it was warmer.

So, as a compromise between our training and staying warm, I have been doing my miles primarily on a bike trainer. It's a really neat contraption. You hook your front wheel and your back wheel into it, and it turns your road bike into a stationary bike. The best part is that you can watch movies, listen to podcasts, listen to music, and the best part ... stay warm. I have learned how to make it a great workout, too. I attach my heart rate monitor and keep track of how hard I'm working. I also design interval workouts where I pedal as hard as I can for 1 minute before resting for the same amount of time and then starting all over again.

Last weekend when I was in Bellingham helping mom buy her bike we worked out at the Bellingham Athletic Club. I was certain I was ready for the spin bikes because I had been working out on my trainer so much. But right from the start the bike felt uncomfortable. I tried adjusting the seat and the handlebars to no avail. But I rode for an hour anyways, right alongside of mom. We were red-faced and sweaty and every few minutes would take our head-phones off to talk about the ride, make plans for our bike-shopping afternoon, etc. It is fun working out alongside of someone. I don't get to do that a lot, especially on the bike.

At about 45 minutes I was hurting. I didn't want to give in to the pain and stop riding, but I was having weird issues that I hadn't dealt with before. It wasn't my lungs or my legs. It wasn't my motivation. It was my seat ... all of it was numb. It was such a weird feeling, and very uncomfortable. In fact, when I did try to move around it went from being numb to being just plain painful. I was stubborn and pushed the ride to an hour, but it was a real challenge.

Now that mom and I both have bikes, it is fun to talk about our rides and mileage. I am excited for when we can meet up for actual rides together ... outside :-)