Now, I've never been the athletic type... quite the contrary. However, a couple of years ago, my husband and I got bicycles, and I fell in love with cycling. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suddenly a great cyclist or anything. In fact, my motivation to get out there and really ride does come and go. But, I do adore my bicycle, and I have gotten really interested in professional road cycling and all the ins and outs of the sport and of race bikes themselves. Within several months of getting my first bike, I had learned so much about the subject, that I sold that bike and got myself an honest-to-goodness race bike. It doesn't have the most outrageously expensive high-end components or anything, but it is a carbon frame bike with very decent parts. It's a much nicer bike than I deserve, that's for sure.
This is my Blue Competition Cycles RC.4. The frame is a 2006 model. I bought it lightly used off of E-bay in the summer of 2007 and had it built up with brand new wheels and components. Isn't she pretty?
At the end of last summer, I was at my most fit ever. I was able to do 12 laps of Prospect Park (about 40 miles) at an average of 12 miles per hour. I could do 3 laps at an average of 16mph. I could also comfortably ride 35 miles on rolling hills in Connecticut by myself. My longest ride was 60 miles in Connecticut with my husband, but I never count that one, because I was lying in a heap by the side of the road crying from exhaustion before it was over. Yeah... I definitely overdid it that day. But, still, I am proud that I could do what I could do. This year hasn't been as good for me, but I know I'll turn it around and get my motivation back. I love my bike too much not to.