First Bike Ride of the Season

Hello, I barely finished the first bike ride that I have taken this year. Between the wind and figuring out how to proceed at all the stop signs, it was a real challenge for me. After we got home, we learned from our downstairs friend, that there was a wind advisory with gusts up to 20 mph. Personally we seemed to have found every one of those gusts. Much of the time going to the library the wind was in our face or at the side. The side is almost worse because of the danger of being blown over. But going forward was so hard it was impossible for me to keep up with Leroy who has more miles on than I do. My “new” bike is still not easy for me because it does not have toe clips on the pedals. That always helped me to have the pedals in the proper position after stopping. Now I have to remember to shift the pedal position as soon as I stop so I can start again. Then there is traffic to pay attention to. Many of them wanted to wait for me, but I could not get it started in a timely fashion so I waved them on. Once I started and my shoe was not in the right position and it hit the pedal crank so I had to stop. This bike is a little small for me so that creates some pedal power issues. I do not have a good extension to my leg. I noticed that my tires were quite low, especially the front one. That also makes it a much harder ride. I suppose I could have used the electric aspect of this bike, but it seemed like a defeat to do that on such a level place. Complain, complain. Hoping the next time will be better with less wind and more air in the tires. Going home was easier than the first direction. Paula