Crofton Bike Doctor

Sunday I met Daryl at the Crofton Bike Doctor at 7:45 am.  We planned to ride about 10 miles before the rest of the group showed up to ride at 9 am.  We got a great loop in and finished just over 11 miles.  It was a great warmup.  We rode so far that we saw this:

So when we got back to the Bike Doctor, the rest of the guys had gathered and were ready for the ride.  I quickly noticed that I was the only female.  I figured I would be at the back of this group. 

We took off and it wasn't long before I was at the back of the group...and then they were gone...

So thankfully Daryl hung with me.  We rode for several miles and then stopped to wait for the one rider and the owner of the Crofton Bike Doctor, Ernest.  Daryl and Ernest had a conversation about which route to take from there and they discussed hills vs. no hills.  I was along for the ride, although I wasn't sure how much climbing my legs were good for.  They figured out the route and we were off again.

At one point in the ride, my left knee started hurting.  It was really bad on hills.  Luckily we only had about 10 miles left at that point.  I don't know what was going on with my knee but I'm writing this on Tuesday evening and I haven't had any issues with it since then.

All told, we did 45 miles. It was a good test of my endurance...which needs some improvement.  However, considering that it was only the 3rd time I've ever ridden more than 40 miles, I am pretty pleased with my performance.

When we got back to the store, I struck up a conversation with Ernest about my upcoming half Ironman.  He was an amazing resource and I learned SO much information in our 15 minute conversation in the parking lot!  We then went into the store and continued our discussion. One thing I really wanted his opinion on was whether or not I should get aero bars for the half Ironman.  We talked about it for a long time and a lot of what he said made sense.  He explained the benefits of aero bars, different wheels (which I can rent), and tri-bikes.

So he hooked up my bike with a pair of aero bars and suggested that I try them out in the back parking lot.  I can honestly say that I LOVE them!  In the short time that I was riding using the bars, I felt very powerful and the position was super comfortable. 

Ernest has a great way of listening and really giving great answers to questions.  It's not often that I find someone that I want to rave about, but I really want to rave about Ernest.  He was AWESOME!!!  He spent so much time with me and made sure that I was comfortable everything.  If you are in the Crofton area, definitely go see him at the Bike Doctor!!!