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Chel_in_rfd 
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 Ways to connect: |
n/a
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| Location: |
| Machesney Park, Illinois |  |
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| Club Affiliation: |
Blackhawk Bicycle and Ski Club
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| Member Since: |
March 2006 |
 5 Year Distance Chart
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| 2024 Miles Traveled: |
0
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| 2024 Rank: |
currently unranked |
| Lifetime Odometer: |
184 miles
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History:
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My first was a tricycle with streamers on the handlebars. My next cycling love were my Big Wheels. I wore holes in the plastic tires of several of them (ka-thunk-a-thunk-a-thunk). I was caught several times riding down to the apple orchard to buy candy.
My first two-wheeled bicycle was from K-Mart across town. I don't know what Mom was thinking, but she thought >that< K-Mart was less expensive because it was on the poorer side of town. I remember blurting this "fact" out to the sales associate, and Mom getting embarassed.
That poor bike went through alot of hell with me on it's saddle. I lived right across from the state park, so I was there alot with it. I thought it was agile like a BMX bike, and tried to look cool by jumping the culverts like the neighborhood boys would do. It didn't last long before it was beyond usable. :)
Bikeless and bored, I found a beat up bike in the quarry behind a shopping center, which I fixed up as a daily rider. My brothers felt bad (embarassed?) for me and bought me a brand new bicycle from an LBS.
Then boys came... and of course, there were "better" things to do than ride bikes together. Umm..
Marriage.. child... renewed interest in bicycling. My daughter loves to bicycle as well, but she's never worn holes in Big Wheel tires. :) Her dad and I rode bicycles casually on the bike path, and that was about it.
Fast-forward to the 21st century.. Divorce, dating.
Before my time with him, my last boyfriend was a big road biking enthusiast, once riding about 450 miles in a 24 hour timeframe. He had a stable of bicycles (Panasonic and a Trek carbon) that I couldn't appreciate before now. If I could sneak into his house unnoticed and drool over his componentry, I would. ;) He and I didn't ride much together in the first 2 years of our relationship, because my "bike path" bike was "too slow" for his road bikes. Toward the end, I bought a Trek 1000 and we rode several times together. He taught me the "basics" - using clipless pedals, "spinning", why bike paths suck, etc. Even tho we are not together anymore, I continue to enjoy and further this wonderful pasttime of mine.
I recently bought my 10 year old daughter a small Trek 1000 to encourage her interest in bicycling, and also to have a riding pal. :) |
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