#GetSomeoneRiding

Bicycling magazine has had a long on going effort to get more people riding bikes. They threw out the challenge again this year and encouraged people to get someone they know to get on a bicycle and start riding. Challenge accepted and for the first time yesterday in about 20 years my girlfriend rode a bicycle! I have to admit it wasn’t all my doing and it’s something she wanted to try for a while, but the timing worked out and we rented her a bike (a nice Giant Defy) from the local shop and headed over to the local university where they have a nice 3 mile loop with little traffic and a decent surface to ride around.

There was a little trepidation at first and some fleeting thoughts of falling down. But after a quick instruction my sweetie was off peddling around the parking lot before I could even get my helmet on! Soon enough we were out on the loop and the easy gear I had set up the bike in was too easy so we did a little on the road shifting instruction and there was no stopping now! By the end of the first lap she was shifting the front and rear like a champ and handling the bike very well and we were just cruising around the campus enjoying our time together.

In all we completed 3 laps of the campus is about an hour. We weren’t setting any KOMs, err… QOMs, but for the first time out in 20 years she did very well and I’m so proud of her. Unfortunately the rental had go back today but we will probably rent it again, maybe for a week while we start the process of shopping for her very own bike!

And in case you are interested here is our ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/335506233