Building Bike Confidence Baby

So, all my training I've been doing so far is leading me up to ultimately attempt the Vineman 70.3 triathlon here in Cali, in mid July. It'll be my first attempt at a HIM (ya like the acronym miss zippy!), and this is the first year I'm putting my training as a priority.

And I've found my training journey has led me to epiphany's I didn't expect (I guess that's what makes something an epiphany eh?). Like realizing I'm capable of having bike confidence. In the past, biking outdoors has almost always been with my dear hubby. He's definitely the bike guy between the two of us, and he's always loved, loved bikes. It's his thing. But now through my own training, I'm coming to learn I could actually be a pretty good bike rider myself. I just need practice, practice, practice, and experience, experience, experience.

Experience in just being outside on my freakin' bike for a long ride. And, I need to put myself in situations where I'm in charge, and can't rely on the dear hubby or anyone else for that matter, to show me what to do. These past ~3 weeks of my training have been the beginning of building that practice and experience. Sure, I've been on outdoor bike rides by myself before...but only sporadically and actually just for a pre-race ride, an actual race, or riding a ~3 mi loop for 45 min, that's just outside my house. It's definitely worked for me in the past, but the tides are a changin' my friend.


And so for Mother's Day I FINALLY had the dear hubby drop me off at the beginning of this here road below, and had him & kids pick me up 2 hrs later. Great mama's day gift as I tapped into the riding road of my life. The Silverado Trail up here in the Napa Valley. It is a gem of a road to practice and gain confidence with road riding. Here's a picture of it:

I mean look at that shoulder! It's gorgeous! And this is how the road is for miles, and miles...and miles. No stop lights or signs either!  From Napa to Yountville and beyond. 
So I rode this on Sunday, and I went back for more today. As I warmed up, I couldn't believe how comfortable I felt on my bike. in my aero's. on the road. by myself. I had a great cadence of ~100-110, and I banged out my workout. 

And, I did run off the bike, but in my most cushioned supportive asics for only 20 min. Here's a shot of me post workout with my  pre packaged lunch in my yellow snack bag, post workout drink, my ice pack (frozen bag of veggies under my left leg) to cool the heel down, and compression socks to help w/post ride/run stretch and wear.

And the picture up top at the beginning of the post? I took that as I was sitting on the lawn realizing yah, I'm building bike confidence...and it feels pretty sweet.