This year I also volunteered to be a Training Ride Leader. I committed to co-leading at least 2 training rides a month. The impetus to do this came from riding with the Positive Peddlers on several of their training rides out of San Francisco last year. My friend Iliana had been riding regularly with them. After joining them a couple of times, I was impressed with the support they provided to everyone on those rides. They helped my friend have less anxiety while training and a better experience on the ride. I thought I'd like to help less experienced riders also. And so I signed up for the TRL training and made the commitment to lead.
To get a broader experience with this role I volunteered on training rides in Orinda, San Francisco and Windsor, organized by other TRLs. After six weeks of driving down to the Bay Area, sometimes riding Friday and Sunday - proved exhausting. Not the riding - the driving! But seeing experienced TRLs working with new and inexperienced riders helped me develop confidence for leading rides up in Sonoma County. I plan to facilitate several up here over the next two months.
Maybe exhaustion driving down there was about the beginning of my 67th year. Who knows? I do drive down for some things - but not every weekend.
This year I will make an effort to post here a couple of times a month. Just to keep a record of my training. And maybe some more personal reflections generated by spring arriving. (Will it ever?)
I have been riding regularly, but not the total miles I have done in the past. One reason is because I have been riding a "fixed gear bike" in town and on short rides (up to 40 miles) around Healdsburg. This is a bike with no gears and no coasting - the pedals and crank are directly connected to the sprocket on the rear wheel. Why? You might think its because I idolize those bike messengers in NY and San Francisco - zipping around with no brakes, riding against traffic and through stoplights. But there is an explanation which doesn't require me to admit watching videos of bike messengers is thrilling. A friend suggested it to develop a smoother cadence and increase power you can produce while riding (e.g., get stronger). And just to prove to you I am not emulating a crazy twenty something, the fixed gear bike I ride has front and rear brakes! Although in most states it is illegal to ride without any brakes, the messsenger crowd poo-poos the additional stopping power. Remember, no coasting - you stop pedaling and the wheels stop turning. Turns out its so easy, particularly when going down hill.
My first experience riding a fixed gear bike was in Portland a couple of years ago. I was there for a couple of weeks and looked for a used bike to buy and use. I found a $300 fixed gear bike and took it out for about 30 minutes. It was different and fun. But when I returned it, I told the shop owner that, not being a Portland resident, I couldn't buy it because I didn't know where all the hospitals were! It was scary. I've gotten a lot more comfortable since. (I just noticed there are holes in the shadow of my helmet in the banner at the top of the blog. Precursor to my winter ride?)
Its time to start fund raising for this years ride. I've set a high personal goal, $11,111.11. Meeting more people involved in delivering AIDS services, with personal experience with the funding reductions, just increased my sense of urgency. I hope you recognize this need also! If you came this far, please make a donation. Any size fits.
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