Make it stop Auntie Em

One of the biggest sucks in biking is getting all gear up, stretched out, watered and pumped only to get on your bike and realize the wind is tossing you around like you're Dorothy no matter which way you turn. You pedal hard when you should be spinning but you're not really getting anywhere and you expect to see the Wicked Witch around every corner. (Oh no, Glenda the Good Witch certainly won't be waiting there.)

What do you do? Turn around, head back to the house and hit the gym instead? Hell no. You keep pedalling, hoping that when you make that left up ahead at the intersection the wind will be waiting to give you a nice push from the back. Well, maybe it will happen at the next intersection. Or the next.

Sign up and ride

So have YOU signed up for a summer fund-raising ride yet? Now's the time to get on board for one of the many events around the state that raise money for worthwhile charities.

You can start with the Women's Ride for Heart Health on June 1 as a tune-up for the Trek Across Maine (June 13-15), use the Tour de Cure on June 22 as a cool down and then get ready for the rest of the summer's schedule:

Mountains? Well ... maybe not

At first I thought I was going to be a mountain biker. The only reason was because I had friends who enjoyed propelling themselves and their bikes over rocks and tree limbs and through wooded trails — and one of them had a bike I could borrow.

Can't say that I enjoyed it much, especially since no one bothered to mention to the rookie that investing in padded shorts was a must.