Last week one of my best friends gave me one of her bikes that had been sitting unused in her garage. I had not ridden a bike in almost 3 decades. I went out that evening, bought myself a helmet, and the next morning went on my first bike ride in years.
I loved it.
I was a bit wobbly at first, and rather slow, especially when it came to taking turns and corners, but after a little bit I was doing just fine. I rode half an hour that first day and then almost an hour the next. That second bike ride seemed like a breeze and I barely broke a sweat, but I was dead on my feet the next day, so I know I must have gotten a good workout. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to go on another bike ride, this time with my oldest daughter who actually couldn’t keep up with her dear old mum! I rode laps around her and she peddaled along and then stopped every few minutes. I’m obviously going to have to take us both out for a bike ride more often so we can build up our endurance.
Anyway, I really enjoy riding the bike. So far, I’m sticking to just riding around my neighborhood, hitting every cul-de-sac and side street to stretch out the ride as long as I can. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to hit the main road outside our neighborhood in a couple weeks. Then I’ll be able to ride to the Y, work out there, and ride home. Or ride through other neighborhoods that have longer stretches of road. We’ll see!
On a side note, I think my deep water aerobics instructor is secretly Ursula the Sea Witch. The woman is in her 70s and can get around the water better than a fish! She has repeatedly worked me into exhaustion and today was no exception. After getting home from the 6AM class, I managed to stay awake long enough to do a few chores. Then I made the mistake of sitting down and before you know it, I’d been asleep for an HOUR. On the plus side, I have much better muscle tone than I did a few weeks ago!
