Good evening and Happy Sunday!

I have embarked on a great adventure where I am riding my bicycle from
NY to DC at the end of May. It is only seven short weeks away and I am
busy getting ready! For past adventures I have also enjoyed writing
about my experiences, and so I am starting to do so for this adventure
too. If you wish to not receive these emails, please let me know.

The ride I am doing goes about 300 miles over the course of five days;
200 of us will kick off from NY and pedal through some beautiful
country side. We leave on a Saturday morning and arrive on the
National mall on a Wednesday. Along the way I'll be meeting some
really cool folks, listening to speakers in the evening and enjoying
stops for Amish ice cream and such along the way. It is going to be a
rolling (working!) vacation!

Why am I doing this? Mostly because I haven't worked towards something
like this before and I have no desire to run a marathon. It is a
fundraiser for local green organizations, local bike groups, and to
raise awareness about climate change. Thank you very much for those of
you who have already generously donated! I am so very thankful.

Since I had been hitting up the cookie jar pretty hard since
Thanksgiving, when I decided to pursue this adventure in February I
started with the spinning classes. These classes are tough! I felt
pretty concerned I was going to puke the first few classes I took, but
they got the job done! As the weather has improved, I have been
outside a lot more. As I was trying to go longer distances, I began to
realize just how heavy my hybrid bike was and so I shopped for and got
a great road bike. She told me her name is Gloria. I am still pretty
scared of my toe clips, those guys that clip your shoes to the pedals,
but I am getting used to them. They make me so much more efficient. On
my first ride out  My plan is to continue riding the hybrid to work
(nine miles round trip) to work on my leg strength and then to ride
with Gloria for the longer distance rides.

Yesterday I went on one of my first organized group ride and I really
enjoyed it! There is so much to learn and I greatly appreciated the
advice and tips I got from the more experiences cyclists. Plus, it is
safer to ride in a group because you're a bigger "mass" for cars to
see and there are more eyes on the road looking for hazards. There are
even hand signals for debris in the road; how cool is that? Yesterday
we went 29 miles!

Today I also went for a good ride and went 30 all together. They
started out gloomy and overcast but the sun came out soon enough and
made me glad to be outside. My legs are feeling it, but more than that
are my shoulders are tired from being more hunched over. The worst
though, is that I do believe my seat (saddle, in bike lingo) had a
personal vendetta against my future motherhood. I am going to have to
go to a bike shop and see what needs to be adjusted, or purchased, to
make things more comfortable....to be continued!

Thank you and have a great week!

Holly