The weather hasn’t exactly been cooperating with my attempt at riding my new commuter bike everywhere, but I have still gotten several rides under my belt. When I headed out on my first adventure, a ride to target, I was really excited. I wasn’t sure how many miles it was, and I took the most direct route. I was thrilled when I made it there in around ten minutes. I don’t know why I thought it would be much longer, but turns out it’s just over a mile away. I rolled up and placed my bike against the rack. My hands shook as I was trying to figure out Darin’s bike lock. I was both nervous and excited. I rode to Target and I didn’t fall or die! I took my lights, water bottle and bag off the bike and plopped them into my backpack and headed in to do some light shopping. Thank goodness I had a list, or I would have forgotten what I had gone for. I got my few things, checked out and headed back to the bike rack. I put everything back on, took off the lock and headed back home. I got back and told Darin I wanted to ride everywhere, as much as possible!
We rode to lunch that afternoon. I wasn’t sure how I would handle riding right after eating. I train in an empty stomach mostly. When I do eat before activity, I usually plan it so that I have plenty of time to digest. I could have probably had a lighter lunch, but I did ok just the same. I can’t describe how free I felt. I wasn’t terrified that I would crash at any moment. I didn’t watch for pebbles in panic that if I hit one, I could go flying. I wasn’t afraid that I would forget to un-clip and have a zero mile per hour fall. I actually felt comfortable on the bike. I felt like a kid again. Except for the part where I used to want to do tricks on the bike, that part is gone.
I want to ride in the rain, but not when the lightning warnings tell you to seek shelter immediately, and not when the puddles are so deep cars can’t make it through. It was like that for a few days in a row, so I wasn’t able to ride but was eagerly waiting for it to subside. It finally did and I found any excuse I could to run an errand on my bike. Almost out of vitamins? Gotta ride over to Walgreens. Forgot something at Target, gotta ride over to get it. I was super excited this evening to ride to the pool for my swim. I had the day off, so I was able to take the time to do so. I will say that riding with a swimsuit under my shorts is not ideal. The pool is just over two miles away and it felt really good to ride out there, go for my swim and then ride back home. Guess it’s like a mini bike, swim, bike brick workout.
There are a few downsides to riding the way I have been. The first is the traffic. I am working on being more comfortable on the actual roads, so of course there will be traffic, but it’s pretty bad here. The drivers have no courtesy whatsoever for cyclists. It makes me nervous, but it’s just something I have to deal with. The roads where we live absolutely suck for cycling. That was one of the reasons I had issues on my road bike. There are chunks out of the road and cracks that run the entire length of the bike lanes. The nice thing about my new bike is that they are far less hazardous. One thing I did not think of, that is a bit of a downer when riding is the number of dead things you see. Frogs are the norm, even in a car, but I have seen more dead things on my rides than I care to. Lizards, snakes, birds, a duckling, and large things that used to be furry but are so far gone I cannot tell what they once were. It’s unfortunate how many things cars kill, even more unfortunate how many of them just remain there.
While there are those few negatives, I am hopeful that I will be able to continue to ride as much as I can. I look forward to translating that comfort level to my road bike. I’m even trying to figure out how I can ride to work. I’ll have to figure out where I can store my bike. I’ll probably give it a try on a Friday at first. This way, I can wear jeans and not have to worry about changing shoes. I may have to wait until the weather cools down some. I am not sure any amount of wipes or towelling off will hide the fact that I sweat like a beast when I ride! We shall see.
