As I mentioned yesterday, a few weeks ago Casey and I spent the weekend shopping for new bikes. I had been wanting to get a bike for a while, just to have an alternative to running and to try something different. Casey decided that he wanted one too, and did some research on what we might want to get. He wanted more of a “road bike” since he wanted to try using it for commuting. I just basically wanted a bike to ride for fun.

Shopping for a new bike was much more stressful than I anticipated. First of all – bikes are expensive. I had no idea that they would cost so much! Second – with running, I know all the lingo, all the gear, what I need, etc. I realized very quickly in the bike shop that biking was entirely new world that I knew nothing about. Sales guys started asking me questions that sounded like Japanese to me. I kept trying to stress that I was not a serious biker, and that I really just wanted a good, solid average-joe bike. Not too fancy or complicated, but also not so basic that the grandpas will pass me on the trails.

Meet my new ride…the Specialized Globe Vienna One!

It is described as, “the multi-tool of city bikes – as versatile, efficient, and economic as they come. Once you realize your college 10-speed isn’t what it used to be, go for this simple, clean, and reliable bike built for your everyday commute, fitness break, or casual loop.”

Sounds perfect, right? So far it is, and I’ve really enjoyed riding it. The only problem is that I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing. Each time I go for a ride I figure out a little bit more, but the progress is slow and steady. Also, the more I ride the more gear and accessories I decide I need. So far I’ve accumulated:

- a sporty white helmet (totally justified – safety first!)
- a pink under-the-seat bag (to store my phone, camera, keys, $, etc.)
- riding gloves (my hands were killing me)

Next on my shopping list is either a scary pair of padded biker shorts, or a new padded seat because my ass was killing me after riding 20 miles last weekend. It is weird to be back to being a total beginner at a sport. I feel like I’ve got the whole running scene down – I may not be the best, but at least I know what I’m doing. With biking, I can’t even take one hand off the handlebars without swiveling everywhere and almost crashing. Literally, square one. I am not confident enough to ride in the street yet (despite Casey’s pleading), so I’m sticking to the trails for now. Last weekend we drove to the Little Miami Bike Trail, and did out and back ten miles each way. It was a good chance for me to get some more riding experience, and a good workout too – my legs were like jello at the end.

So far biking has been a fun way for us to mix up the cardio and enjoy the nice weather. I hate being indoors when it’s nice outside. A few people have asked me if we’re thinking of training for triathlons. It’s definitely something I’d consider down the road, but probably not any time soon. I am a really bad swimmer, so I would need a lot of training and practice. My swimming experience pretty much consists of flapping around in circles to keep myself alive, and screaming at the tv during the Olympics.

Did I mention that Casey has been biking to work every day? Oh, and did I mention his office is ten miles away? Yes that is correct – he is biking 20 miles to work and back every day (unless it’s raining). He is insane. I am sure he’ll consider triathlons before I do, and I will be happy to go cheer for him!

Next weekend, there is a big charity biking event in Cincinnati called Ride Cincinnati that benefits breast cancer research. You can choose to ride either 18.4, 26, 45.2, or 65.8 miles, and they say it is a ride, not a race. Still, my concern is that with my limited biking experience I will:

a. be the slowest rider
b. kill myself by darting into traffic
c. kill someone else by losing control of my bike
d. choose a distance too far for me and not be able to finish

I really like the idea of participating and I think it sounds fun, but the thought of riding in a big group makes me nervous. It’s not like running where you just elbow people out of the way! I’m also not sure about distance. I kind of want to try for the 45.2, but I know how my legs felt after 26, so I’m not sure.

Like I said, biking is a whole new adventure for me, so any and all advice is very appreciated! And no worries – I’ll make sure to post pictures as soon as I get my scary padded-butt spandex:)

It is amazing how fast the week flew past (I realize my drawn out recaps make that hard to believe!). But before we knew it we were in our last port stop!

Day Seven: St. Thomas, USVI!

I was sooooo excited to go to St. Thomas. I had been there before on my previous cruise, and it was my favorite island that I had visited (that title might have to go to St. Lucia now). Casey had never been there before, so I was also excited to show him around, and show off all my impressive Caribbean knowledge – you know, being so well traveled and all:)

We had a shore excursion planned for that morning, so our plan was to do that and hit the beach and shopping afterwards. We got off the boat early and walked around a bit, and I was lucky enough to find a camera store to buy another memory card. Between all the honeymoon pictures I had taken (if you think I’ve posted a lot, I have about 200 more) and all the pictures of wedding festivities still on my camera, I had managed to run out of space on my memory card – total vacation disaster. I was basically making Survivor-style eliminations on my camera every hour or so. Gratuitous scenery shots and pictures of my food had to go. Forced couples pictures had to stay.

We met up with our tour guide, who was basically a 60 year old hippie who moved to the Caribbean after a divorce and mid-life crisis. She was entertaining for about ten minutes, and after that I found her very annoying. Our tour was called the “Water Island Bike & Beach Tour” and we were promised a mountain biking island adventure, as well as relaxation on a beach. I obviously assumed this meant we were biking around the island of St. Thomas, so imagine my surprise when we boarded a small ferry boat to take us across the short waterway to…Water Island? Yes, I realize Water Island was in the name of the tour we signed up for, but I honestly just thought they meant it was a St. Thomas island tour that involved water – i.e. the beach. Weird. Regardless, we ferried off to Water Island just across the way, and we met our bike guides at this beautiful beach.

Totally secluded with beautiful crystal clear water. You can see St. Thomas in the distance, as well as a million sailboats parked in the inlet. We also met this guy, who had lots of friends on Water Island…

We boarded a bus that appeared to last be serviced in the 60s, and rode it all the way to the top of the island, where we found our mountain bikes and all our gear. See rickety bus below…

While our bike guides got our bikes ready for us, we climbed an old World War something or other lookout thingy (since the tour lady was annoying, I had tuned her out at this point), to take in the amazing views of all the surrounding US Virgin Islands. St. John to the left, St. Thomas to the right, and you’re the only honeymooners in town…

I haven’t had a chance to blog about it yet, but a few weeks before the wedding, Casey and I bought fancy new bikes here at home, so we were pretty excited for our island bike adventure. We were a bit nervous though when we saw the bikes we’d be riding on water island. We were used to our sleek new fancy gear road bikes, and these were rusted out old Cannondales that looked like they had been rained on for ten years. Regardless, we jumped on and pedaled away with the group. The bike ride starting out going down a very steep hill. I would rather bike up a massive hill than down any day. Going down hills at high speeds makes me veeeery nervous – also the reason I am the world’s worst skier. So it was no surprise that despite probably being the most athletic person of the group (besides Casey), I was side by side with an old obese woman, and we were dead last in the group. Eventually, I made it down the hill without my brakes exploding, and I rejoined the group to get directions to our next site.

Our bike tour took us all over the island. After the initial massive downhill, I felt much more comfortable on the flat and uphill terrain. Once we reached some of the more inclined uphills though, I started having problems again. Every time I would pedal hard to go up a hill, my chain would pop off my bike and I would have to stop. Casey and the bike tour guys kept yelling at me that I was changing the gears incorrectly, and I kept screaming back that no I wasn’t, and that my bike was effed up. Finally, the chain actually popped off with the guide lady as my witness, and she was all, “oh yeah look at that, your front gear is broken!” Told you. At this point I was so stressed about the bike drama that I just wanted the ride to be over. But since I was in the middle of a remote island with no out, I sucked it up and got a new bike, and once again I pedaled from the very back to meet up with the rest of the group way ahead of me.

The new bike made a world of difference, and I was able to enjoy the second half of the bike trip. I was frustrated that I had been given a broken bike from the beginning, which got me all upset and anxious, but I tried to put it behind me and trust my new bike. At the end of the ride, we were given the option to head down to the beach or ride a bit more, and Casey and I opted for the continued ride…

Once the bike tour was over, we had an hour or so to relax at the beautiful and appropriately named – Honeymoon Beach!

Interesting note, this beach was the site for filming several scenes from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, so our guides showed us all the “fake” beach bars and other things that had been created as part of the film set. This beach bar was part of the set, and also featured the Honeymoon Beach sign!

At 12:30, we ferried back across the waterway to the Caribbean Princess waiting in the distance…

We headed aboard to grab a quick lunch and change out of our bathing suits. We figured we’d had enough beach for the day, so we’d spend the rest of the day enjoying all the fabulous shopping that St. Thomas has to offer! Despite the many protests of harassing taxi drivers, we opted out of the ride and walked the 2 miles into town, where we spent the next few hours browsing lots of jewelry and designer goods. Casey picked up a (duty-free!) pair of fancy new Oakley’s, and I bought my little sis a present for her high school graduation…

Honestly, who can pass up duty-free Tiffany? After our credit cards got a nice workout, we walked the 2 miles back to the ship to change and get ready for our Captains’ Farewell Dinner. The on-board boutiques had a big end-of-cruise sale going on that evening too, and Casey also picked up a nice new watch – good stuff! We packed our luggage and set it out for disembarkation, and went to sleep early to prepare for a looooong day of travel.

Day Eight: Homeward Bound!

Sunday morning came all too quickly. We joined our group for the cattle-call disembarkatino off the ship. Casey was not amused…

…mostly because he was with – Emily: Ultimate Travel Dork!

Oh yes, I did wear that neck pillow all day (and I also know that Casey was secretly very jealous of it). My gym shoes didn’t fit in my luggage, so I had to wear them, and all I had left that was clean were dorky green bermudas. Throw in a messenger bag and a net book, and I win biggest nerd of 2009. Oh well, I was comfortable. (And whatever – check out that lady behind me! – are those stonewashed capris?)

When we got to San Juan, I was pumped to find a restaurant with free wi-fi, and I pulled out the Acer for the first time all week. We were so overwhelmed when we finally got online and saw the million emails, Facebook messages, photos, and all sorts of congratulations waiting for us in cyberspace! We’d had a great, relaxing week, but we were also ready to come home and see everyone, recap the wedding, and snuggle with our doggies.

My mom was a champ and picked us up at the airport at midnight on Sunday, and we were at our desks at 8:00am Monday – back to the real world…

And with that, my honeymoon recaps are officially over! I’m excited to fill you in on all the wonderful details of our wedding, and catch you up on all that’s gone on in these past few weeks. Thanks for letting me re-live our honeymoon adventures. It was definitely a trip I will cherish.