Memorial Day weekend surprised us with a couple of gorgeous afternoons on Saturday and Sunday. Perfect bicycle riding weather, as temps were in the 70’s with just a gentle breeze. I managed to put in 30 miles on Friday and about 23 miles Sunday (worked on my veggie garden Saturday). On Monday the drizzle returned, but I loaded LRB and Josie’s Giant OCR on the bike rack and headed to Fort Ward for a trial run with my friend Jennifer, who wanted to experience a road bike with clip-in pedals. I loaned her the size 9 shoes that came with Josie’s bike and off we went - Jennifer on LRB and me on Josie’s Giant.
The shoes fit Jennifer perfectly and we hadn’t pedaled 50 yards when she cried out, “Oh, Cathy - this is addictive!” I was amazed when she said she wanted to try the south side of Toe Jam hill (she lives at the top), so we downshifted and went for it - bailing out at the South Beach turnoff. We rode to the Treehouse, enjoyed a latte, and cruised back to the Fort Ward boat launch.
I’ve been lobbying Jennifer for months to buy a bicycle. She’s a runner, a good athlete, and has done a lot of bicycling in the past. A week ago, she said she thought she’d pick up a used bike at the Rotary Auction, and I couldn’t keep quiet: “Jennifer! You of all people would appreciate and enjoy a good road bike, at least try one, before you settle for an old ten-speed!” I offered to let her try LRB with the bike shoes and she took me up on it.
So, now she’s thinking about a new bike. I hope she does it, as she’d make a fun riding companion - interested in doing some camping, and maybe a little credit-card touring.
Unfortunately, somehow LRB got twisted in the bike carrier and the rear fender is broken. Guess I’ll be making a visit to the cycle shop soon myself…
