If my P3C were a man I would marry it

I am definitely on the mend. Phew. Slept in, then napped and finally went out for a short ride - 17 miles - it felt great. Went easy just to be out there on a beautiful fall day.

Whilst riding I was thinking of how much I have learned this year, how much I have changed....
A year ago I was doing spinning class as the beginning of my training for the biking portion of triathlon. I used clipless pedals for the first time - starting with that class. It was October when I bought my P3C - though I did not ride it outside - I rode it in a class at Landry's on a trainer - where I got used to the Look pedals. By mid November I bought road bike - and did my first outdoor rides with clipless pedals - and of course my first falls....I was terrified to ride on the roads with cars and tried to stick just to paths (that partly goes back to an accident 3 years ago but I digress). I had horrid bike handling skills.

The winter riding indoors made me strong, but on a trainer. I learned how to take my bike apart to pack it for travel - and put it together again. The first time I did this was about one month before my first triathlon - I took the bike with me to florida and did my first rides. Aero was HARD - I did not change gears, I did not MOVE once I was aero There was no drinking water....I ended up doing that whole first race on the horns - but I won my agegroup....

Now I have no issues riding aero, I tend not to have clip falls (but not never....) my bike handling skills have gotten pretty good (thank you to NEBC's introduction to bike racing and Wells' avenue) for that. In general I am comfortable on my bike, no problems riding around cars, and getting bolder about that little space between the cars and sidewalk....some things will always be difficult...I can put my bike together after travel in about 10 minutes and break it down similarly.

I have a long way to go but it is fun to take a minute and think back....