I heart Olympic athletes

I went for a bike ride with an Olympic athlete this morning. He won a silver medal for cycling in 1984 and since then has been a top competitive rider nationally and internationally. He taught me in 2 hours what it would have taken me 3 years to learn on my own. In one ride, he turned me from a novice to an intermediate rider and sent my confidence through the roof. I rode 26 miles at a fast 19 mph with Brent and 3 other competitive male bikers. (The other woman in our 7am group dropped out after the first mile). I hung in the entire ride! Who would've thought when I bought my bike 2 years ago that one day I'd be trained (for free!) by one of the top competitive bicyclists in the world! Granted, he did have to push me up a couple of hilly spots as he rode beside me, and taught me to draft so I could get "pulled along" at times....but still my feet, my legs, my lungs, and my mind carried me through that ride. What a great morning.

This is how I met Brent Emery. A couple of months ago some friends advised that I find a triathlon store as a way to meet other athletes and shop for triathlon gear. I didn't know such stores even existed, but when I finally started doing some research, I realized there was a Triathlon shop just a mile from my house! I drove by Emery's most days for the past 3 years but had never gone inside until sometime early this May. The first time I went in, the workers were very friendly and excited to get to know me and my triathlon goals. One of the men, who seemed to be in charge, suggested I bring cookies as a bribe (it sounded like a good idea because chances were this not-so-handy girl would need some help with her bike at some point.).

I went to a bike maintenance clinic a couple weeks later to learn how to change a flat. It was way more complicated than I expected, especially with my skinny road tires. I was instructed to go home and practice right after the clinic but I never did. So when i got a flat this week, I decided I better take it in to get fixed and maybe I could find someone to show me/help me. On Thursday I went in to the shop with leftover pizza and bribed them to fix a flat for me even though they were about to close. I hadn't seen such big smiles and bright eyes all week! Apparently pizza is the way to a bicyclist's heart. I chatted with the guys for a bit and finally asked about the group bike rides I had read about on their website. I'd been wanting group practice but had been too chicken to show up for one of the rides. The store owner, Brent Emery, told me they usually ride about 40 miles at 20 mph. I told him I didn't think I could ride that far or that fast and that my average speed riding alone is around 16 mph. He told me I was "on the bubble" but I should come anyway and they'd help me through. He said they hated dropping riders and would do whatever it took to keep me as part of the ride.

So I went to bed early last night and showed up for this morning for what ended up being perhaps the most exciting bike ride of my life thus far. (Well maybe second to the infamous 20+ mile mountain bike ride in Lake Tahoe back in 2002.) But definitely the most exciting road ride. What a thrill to have Brent Emery (and another young, strong, competitive cyclist) teaching me how to improve my ride. July 13th...I am so ready to kick your butt!!