The joy and agony of my first ride on my road bike.

Just wanted to let everyone know of my progress so far.

Anyways, my wife is very supportive of what I am wanting to accomplish in my goal of doing a triathlon. My wife bought a road bike for father's day. I thought that it was very thoughtful of her.
You should have seen her face when I told her I wanted to buy a $5,000.00 triathlon bike. Of course I really just needed a starter bike and not a fancy bike. I need to find out if I can make it in this sport and continue to live this lifestyle before dropping some serious money on gear.

So I get my new road bike from Amazon and I put it together. I am as excited as can be about my bike and take it for a spin on the road outside of my house. The road is flat and the bike appears to be scary fast and I like it. I love it!!!

Since I lift weights 3 days a week and run the other 3 days, I think I am in decent shape. So I decide that on Saturday that I am going to ride from my house to my in-laws house. This is approx. 12 miles away. This is my first long distance ride on my road bike. Now I am assigned to the Bike Patrol Unit with the Police Dept. that I work at. That job duty consists of me riding about a mile and then resting and then riding a little bit more and then patrolling in my car and then ride my bike a little more. What I am getting at is I thought I was in shape enough for my first long ride.

I live in Mississippi and it gets kind of hot in the summer time. So I leave the house on my bike around lunch and it is approx. 95 degrees, no wind and no clouds. So I am moving right along and come to my first hill and have gone approx. 1 mile. I shift the gears so that it is easier for my to go up the hill. I come down on the other side and shift again and the chain pops off because I shifted to fast. So I get off the bike and put the chain back on. I am still motivated at this point and having fun.

Once I hit the 4 mile mark, my back it starting to hurt a little and my hands are starting to go a little numb. Still motivated, especially when my wife and my son drive by and waive and honk their horn for encouragement. They even stayed with me in their vehicle to pace me so that we could have our own little Tour De Mississippi.

Then about the 6 mile mark I hit my first major hill and it is starting to get a little hot and I am breathing heavy a little. But I make it to the top and then coast down the other side. That felt so good!!! Only to have the feeling wiped away at the sight of another major hill. I am starting to get that feeling that I am not as in as good a shape as I thought.

As I peddle up the steep and to long of a hill or mountain, not sure I can tell the difference anymore. I didn't realize there were mountains in mississippi, and riding this bike really sucks!!! But then I make it to the other side and get to coast again and I just love riding my new bike.

So I have this feeling inside me of joy and agony for the next 4 miles until the last 2 miles are all down hill. I love riding my bike. My family was there to cheer my on when I made it to the in-laws house.

My wife told my that when she saw me peddling up a hill, she told my son that I was probably saying, "Oh crap!" My said that my son said that I was probably saying a bad word instead of oh crap. Kids can be so funny sometimes.

Anyways, in the end I actually enjoyed most of the ride and can't wait to do another ride. My first bike ride actually put me in my place and made me realize that I have still got a long ways to go in my training.

So I made the 12 mile trip in approx. 50 minutes.

Sorry for getting so long winded, I just felt the need to share.