The Keys to my Knees - Learning to Bike

I sauntered into the local cycle shop with $400 burning a hole in my pocket. I told the salesman I was going to do my first Sprint Tri and needed a bike. I must have looked like a newbie, because he steered me right over to the hybrids where he pointed to a pretty teal Canondale. I knew NOTHING about bikes, so I happily plunked down the money for it (it WAS pretty).
After a few races when EVERYONE seemed to be passing me up on their road bikes, I wondered WHY he didn't at least tell me that most Triathletes use road bikes. Geesh! In his defense, maybe it was because I said I didn't want to spend more than $500 and you can't touch a decent road bike for that. But, I could have easily been talked into spending more $$$! Upsell, baby, upsell!

The 'pretty' hybrid

Anyhooo, my first Tri year was spent on my Canondale Hybrid. I remember, February of 2011, being so anxious for a dry day so I could take it for a spin. I put my helmet on and bundled up (it's cooooold in February) and off I went. I started out doing an 8 mile ride from my house. I was very shaky and unstable at first. Thankfully, this route has nice wide bike lanes...but every time a walker/runner/parked car/piece of gum/rock was in my path...I would panic; because, eeek, I had to turn and look behind me to see if it was safe to veer into traffic! Turning to look behind me often involved me careening to either the far right or far left (randomly), so it was not something I wanted to do often. I tried using a little mirror attached to my helmet, but found I'd go cross eyed trying to focus on anything in it without moving my head. I couldn't distinguish between a car moving 50 mph towards me, or a dog moving 3 mph away from me, or a trashcan moving 0 mph.

As Spring followed and I logged more miles in the saddle, I bought gloves and padded biking shorts. I needed the gloves because my hands were hurting, but didn't really feel a need for the shorts as I was only going less than 20 miles at a time and my bum was fine (then). I started to figure out the shifting for hills, and instead of shifting the wrong way first EVERY TIME, it was only about 25% of the time. I felt more and more steady and in control of the bike. I still did not feel comfortable standing up in the saddle (which didn't come until I had taken a few spin classes).

I was feeling pretty confident on the bike and thus, a mere 3 months after beginning to ride, I purchased clip on pedals and shoes. In hindsight, I should have waited a few more months (or never) - I might still have pretty knees if I had. I was given a quick lesson on the trainer on how to clip in and out and it seemed pretty straightforward. Except that I COMPLETELY forgot everything he told me when I went for a practice ride right after that. I clipped in just fine and tried to clip out by pulling my foot straight up (forgetting the need to pull your heel out, not up). I pulled and pulled and pulled...harder and harder... meanwhile, I had stopped pedaling while pulling, which meant I was coming to a stop and still fully clipped in! BAM! Down I went, incurring scraped knee #1. WTF?, I thought, it seemed so easy at the store. So, I hopped back on (after looking around to see if anyone saw me fall) and clipped in again. I got a full half mile down the road before I remembered 'heel OUT not up' and was able to clip out. Whew! OK, I got this. I clipped in and out a few more times just to be sure. So, how about coming to a stop? I need to practice that. I wonder if I can just clip out of one side when coming to a stop? Let me try that. Clip out right side, lean a bit to the left, cli---ooooohhhh noooo, I'm going down! Yep, down again, incurring scraped knee #2. Thankfully, there was no car coming cause I would have incurred a scraped scull, too, as I fell right into traffic. OK, so coming to a stop will require BOTH feet to be unclipped, apparently. Point taken.

See my scars and bruises (a band-aid is covering a wound under my left knee)

I wish those 2 scrapped knees were the end of my clip in woes, but nooooo. I had a few more bad falls that summer. I guess I am a slow learner. I actually thought about wearing knee pads on my bike rides. Instead, I just clip out early and often! On short rides, I never clip in (hehe). Sometimes I mourn the loss of my pretty knees, but who knows, maybe pantyhose will come back in style and I'll be ok. Just kidding, pantyhose better NEVER come back in style in my lifetime! If it did, I'd have to start a new Womens Suffrage movement. The sign I'd be carrying would read 'Keep the Knarly Free!!'.