Hi all!
So another three weeks since the last..I'm either really lazy or really busy, or maybe somewhere in between. Regardless, I have a little anecdote to share.
When I go out on my bike to get some exercise and air (as I've been trying to do a lot of this summer), I pretty much always head for the campus - and the shortest route distance-wise takes me up and over a fair-sized hill near the old Allerton apartment complex. It's not half as hard to do as some of the town's more famous hills, but it's always been about the most challenging part of my rides. I started in fourth gear on the bike (well 11th really what with the front sprocket, but whatever) and needed to stand on the pedals to climb said hill, but eventually got to the point where I could FLA (flat-land ascent) it, sitting instead of standing as though it were flat ground and not a hill. Going up one side on the way ~out~ is a much more gradual slope, whereas the greater incline on the way back toward home always makes the last leg of a ride the toughest. But with time and perseverance I managed to get up to FLA-ing the hill both ways in fifth (12th) gear, and within the last few weeks I managed to do it both ways in 6th (13th). The last leg still takes about all the strength I can muster, but I can manage it without ever having to stand up on the pedals and use my body weight.
So I wason the final leg of today's ride, probably about the 8th or so time I've done the FLA in gear 6, which I still personally categorize as 'kinda grueling'. It happens that I'm going almost exactly West when I do this part, and what with the shortening days and that particular time the sun was shining RIGHT into my face. All I could do was look down at an angle, and said brilliant light made the road that I could see shine like gold. In a moment of poetic mindset I imagined that this self-imposed painful workout straining with all the power I could put forth and ascending into a blinding light was like breaking free from mortality, like finally transcending what I'd been before and entering a new, much greater existence. The feeling only lasted as long as it took me to crest the hill and get into the shadow of some trees - definitely less than a minute - but it was a pretty uplifting feeling.
It used to be a trial for me to do one chin-up, now a few months later I can manage six at a stretch, and the first one always feels like I'm almost weightless. At first it was hard to hold onto the top of a wall, now I can shimmy along them at least a little way, and surmount some that are much taller than me. Hiking up unto something felt like an accomplishment at first, now I can hike off walls onto ledges in a way that makes me feel like a genuine ninja. I've made a lot of progress so far - I'm still not as fit as I was seven years ago before taking up my job and proper adult life as a whole, but I've made leaping strides toward that point. I'm also playing DDR again, and while I'm not doing eleven straight heavy sets like that one legendary night years ago and I ~do~ have my bad days, the good days are ~quite~ good.
Summer ~officially~ ends in twelve days, and between the continuing exercise progress, getting and playing the hell out of Fall of Cybertron (about which I'll not bore you with details), and the continuing build-up of awesome toys, I declare it 97% rocked. Little mroe to go, but enough time for it.
Peace.
When I go out on my bike to get some exercise and air (as I've been trying to do a lot of this summer), I pretty much always head for the campus - and the shortest route distance-wise takes me up and over a fair-sized hill near the old Allerton apartment complex. It's not half as hard to do as some of the town's more famous hills, but it's always been about the most challenging part of my rides. I started in fourth gear on the bike (well 11th really what with the front sprocket, but whatever) and needed to stand on the pedals to climb said hill, but eventually got to the point where I could FLA (flat-land ascent) it, sitting instead of standing as though it were flat ground and not a hill. Going up one side on the way ~out~ is a much more gradual slope, whereas the greater incline on the way back toward home always makes the last leg of a ride the toughest. But with time and perseverance I managed to get up to FLA-ing the hill both ways in fifth (12th) gear, and within the last few weeks I managed to do it both ways in 6th (13th). The last leg still takes about all the strength I can muster, but I can manage it without ever having to stand up on the pedals and use my body weight.
So I wason the final leg of today's ride, probably about the 8th or so time I've done the FLA in gear 6, which I still personally categorize as 'kinda grueling'. It happens that I'm going almost exactly West when I do this part, and what with the shortening days and that particular time the sun was shining RIGHT into my face. All I could do was look down at an angle, and said brilliant light made the road that I could see shine like gold. In a moment of poetic mindset I imagined that this self-imposed painful workout straining with all the power I could put forth and ascending into a blinding light was like breaking free from mortality, like finally transcending what I'd been before and entering a new, much greater existence. The feeling only lasted as long as it took me to crest the hill and get into the shadow of some trees - definitely less than a minute - but it was a pretty uplifting feeling.
It used to be a trial for me to do one chin-up, now a few months later I can manage six at a stretch, and the first one always feels like I'm almost weightless. At first it was hard to hold onto the top of a wall, now I can shimmy along them at least a little way, and surmount some that are much taller than me. Hiking up unto something felt like an accomplishment at first, now I can hike off walls onto ledges in a way that makes me feel like a genuine ninja. I've made a lot of progress so far - I'm still not as fit as I was seven years ago before taking up my job and proper adult life as a whole, but I've made leaping strides toward that point. I'm also playing DDR again, and while I'm not doing eleven straight heavy sets like that one legendary night years ago and I ~do~ have my bad days, the good days are ~quite~ good.
Summer ~officially~ ends in twelve days, and between the continuing exercise progress, getting and playing the hell out of Fall of Cybertron (about which I'll not bore you with details), and the continuing build-up of awesome toys, I declare it 97% rocked. Little mroe to go, but enough time for it.
Peace.