Me and The Wheels
# of miles run: 0.0 (as of yet)
# of miles biked: 6.0 (!)
# of sustained injuries: 0.0 (0.0 indicates "unjuries" which they will henceforth be referred to as)
My sister has a bike that has been sitting in the garage for a few years now, hardly used. She was nice enough to lend it to me to ride (until the day comes where I am old enough to get my own) to practice for the as-of-yet unnamed triathalon this spring. All it needed was a little bit of air in the front tire and it would be good to go.
Let me throw in here that I have not ridden a bike in about 15 years. By the way. And it had foot brakes.
I'm looking a tthis shiny bit of metal, utterly transfixed with awe. The last couple of days I have been absolutely giddy about gettin my bike on, and now that the day was here... I was beside myself. That illusion shattered as soon as I threw my leg over the seat-which I found out was about 2 inches too high for me when I could barely reach my second foot to the pedal. I asked my mom to help me with the adjustments, as biking was her thing back in the day, and just as foreign to me. She got the seat down a little bit. Enough to work with... uncomfortably... but work with nonetheless. (I do want to point that this was the *one time* in my career of being a human being that I did manage to adjust the helmet by myself... much fanfare with that). I experimented with the hand brakes and switching gears and most importantly, dinging the bell, before eyeing the steep road with much suspicion. Sensing that my first adventure of these sorts should probably NOT be flying at breakneck speeds, uncontrollably and crazily down a steep hill, I opted to walk it down the hill.
I went to the church parking lot at the bottom (also conveniently at the intersection and a mere few feet away from the lake road). Funny enough, the last time I was at a church was the last time I was bike riding.
I hopped on and the most slow and painful maneuverings possibly, tried to reaquantence myself with, well, trusting myself. I find this very comparable to giving someone a piggy back ride. As much as it sounds like a cache of photo-ops and good times, I can't trust my feet to keep me standing. How can I possibly be responsible for two people?? Happy to say, I did not crash the bike into Jesus or anything, and left unscathed.
I rode down to the lake and back (just under two miles I think) three times. I played with the gears the entire times trying to get comfortable with them. If I understand how it works properly (and thats a big "if") I did the slightly uphill part in 4th gear and the downhill in 7th. Nothing crazy for a seasoned vet by any means, but hey. I was on a fuckin' bike.
I wasn't hurting after, though we will see for sure about that tomorrow I guess, but my legs were ridiculously tired and it made my walk uphill home entertaining and wobbly at best. I think I'll go again tomorrow, weather permitting. I have a lot of work to do in this little arena. Turns are still nerve wracking and a little iffy and until I am brave enough to take one hand off of the handlebars to make turn signals... I hope the drivers turn their frequency to 99.9 ESP. Otherwise, I'm boned for the next few weeks haha
Otherwise, it was a good time. I think I love listening to Bjork the best so far while riding.
I can't wait to go swimming, hopefully sometimes next week. My running buddy helped me out about a week ago with my first lesson and I LOVE it. It is freakin exhausting and I have been dying to go back. I hope the chlorine in the pool turns my hair green so I can tell people I'm actually part mermaid because I am so good lol
Off for a jog, possibly. Then maybe coffee time?
# of miles biked: 6.0 (!)
# of sustained injuries: 0.0 (0.0 indicates "unjuries" which they will henceforth be referred to as)
My sister has a bike that has been sitting in the garage for a few years now, hardly used. She was nice enough to lend it to me to ride (until the day comes where I am old enough to get my own) to practice for the as-of-yet unnamed triathalon this spring. All it needed was a little bit of air in the front tire and it would be good to go.
Let me throw in here that I have not ridden a bike in about 15 years. By the way. And it had foot brakes.
I'm looking a tthis shiny bit of metal, utterly transfixed with awe. The last couple of days I have been absolutely giddy about gettin my bike on, and now that the day was here... I was beside myself. That illusion shattered as soon as I threw my leg over the seat-which I found out was about 2 inches too high for me when I could barely reach my second foot to the pedal. I asked my mom to help me with the adjustments, as biking was her thing back in the day, and just as foreign to me. She got the seat down a little bit. Enough to work with... uncomfortably... but work with nonetheless. (I do want to point that this was the *one time* in my career of being a human being that I did manage to adjust the helmet by myself... much fanfare with that). I experimented with the hand brakes and switching gears and most importantly, dinging the bell, before eyeing the steep road with much suspicion. Sensing that my first adventure of these sorts should probably NOT be flying at breakneck speeds, uncontrollably and crazily down a steep hill, I opted to walk it down the hill.
I went to the church parking lot at the bottom (also conveniently at the intersection and a mere few feet away from the lake road). Funny enough, the last time I was at a church was the last time I was bike riding.
I hopped on and the most slow and painful maneuverings possibly, tried to reaquantence myself with, well, trusting myself. I find this very comparable to giving someone a piggy back ride. As much as it sounds like a cache of photo-ops and good times, I can't trust my feet to keep me standing. How can I possibly be responsible for two people?? Happy to say, I did not crash the bike into Jesus or anything, and left unscathed.
I rode down to the lake and back (just under two miles I think) three times. I played with the gears the entire times trying to get comfortable with them. If I understand how it works properly (and thats a big "if") I did the slightly uphill part in 4th gear and the downhill in 7th. Nothing crazy for a seasoned vet by any means, but hey. I was on a fuckin' bike.
I wasn't hurting after, though we will see for sure about that tomorrow I guess, but my legs were ridiculously tired and it made my walk uphill home entertaining and wobbly at best. I think I'll go again tomorrow, weather permitting. I have a lot of work to do in this little arena. Turns are still nerve wracking and a little iffy and until I am brave enough to take one hand off of the handlebars to make turn signals... I hope the drivers turn their frequency to 99.9 ESP. Otherwise, I'm boned for the next few weeks haha
Otherwise, it was a good time. I think I love listening to Bjork the best so far while riding.
I can't wait to go swimming, hopefully sometimes next week. My running buddy helped me out about a week ago with my first lesson and I LOVE it. It is freakin exhausting and I have been dying to go back. I hope the chlorine in the pool turns my hair green so I can tell people I'm actually part mermaid because I am so good lol
Off for a jog, possibly. Then maybe coffee time?