The Green Girl's First Long Ride with Lexa

Lexa on the Huntington Beach Bicycle Trail

After the success of the first Los Angeles Angelman Syndrome National Walk the day before, the Green Girl was ready to take Lexa out for their first long ride on the Huntington Beach Bicycle Trail Sunday afternoon.

I hadn't gotten a workout in since Thursday morning and I was anxious to get in a nice, long ride.

I parked my car at Bolsa Chica State Beach and headed south on the bike path.

I was pleased to see how more comfortable pedaling was after adjusting the saddle height last week.

I was looking forward to going on a longer ride sans time constraints since most of my rides so far have been in the morning before work.

The cycling experience is vastly different from running. It was good practice for me to learn to maneuver around the foot traffic, skate boarders, and beach cruisers. Interestingly enough, I found the runners and non-beach cruiser riders were more likely to have better beach path manners.

Lexa on the Santa Ana River Trail

A few miles south of the Huntington Beach Pier, I noticed a lot of cyclists branching off to a fork on the right. I decided to follow their lead and ended up on an underpass below Pacific Coast Highway.

There was a sign designating the route as the Santa Ana River Trail.

I was thrilled to have found a way to continue riding without ever getting near a road.

The Santa Ana River Trail

I've discovered I have a hard time maintaining balance if I take a hand off the handlebars. I have to pull over and stop if I want to take a sip of water.

I yearn to snap pictures like I do when I'm running but there's no way I could do that while riding. The cool part is that I can have Lexa pose for my pictures when we're out for a ride.

My knees were feeling good but my lower back was getting progressively tighter and the saddle was starting to hurt. I decided I would look for a good turnaround point.

Lexa's first ride over a wooden bridge

I saw a wooden bridge in the distance. I was wondering if Lexa could ride over wooden planks when I saw a guy on a road bike cross over it.

Excited but nervous, I gingerly rolled onto the bridge. It wasn't as bumpy as I'd expected.

Instead of crossing over to the other side, I decided this was a good time to head back since my lower back was really sore and tight.

We ended up doing 22.1 miles on our first long ride.