I’ve been on several rides since my last blog post and most importantly, I’ve had the pleasure of being joined on a short jaunt with my wife, Shannon.

She’s the proud owner of a 2008 Felt FW35 – a gorgeous and agile road bike that is part of Felt’s “Fit Woman” lineup. The great crew at Bicycle Heaven ordered the bike for us and Matt spent some quality time with us to ensure that Shannon got a good bike fit by making a number of little adjustments.

Shannon surprised me by decided to outfit her new bicycle with clipless pedals. She’s never ridden with clipless pedals but wanted to hit the ground running with full-gear setup that she knew she’d eventually end up with anyway. An approach I took back in March 2006 when I purchased my Felt F75 and joined the road cycling ranks. We picked up a pair of Keo’s “Easy” clipless pedals and a nice pair of Sidi Zeta shoes to get her fully equipped.

We spent some time at Bullis Park going over some of the basics of clipping in and out with the full realization that talking can only get you so far. Shannon did great! Building confidence with clipless pedals takes time. Falling is often part of the equation.

Despite a fall that I contributed greatly to (turned abruptly on a side street…didn’t communicate well on where we were going, etc.) – Shannon got back in the saddle and continued to practice clipping in and out of the pedals while doing circuits at the park.

I’m looking forward to taking her on a nice 8-10 mile “intro” ride and we’ll likely be joined by my brother-in-law David who is new to road biking as well.

Here’s to Shannon for taking this big step towards better health….despite a few scratches and bruises here and there. Bravo!