It's been a couple of years, but Laura and I bought our first set of bikes and began our journey into the abyss of bike riding. We must have had our heads completely screwed on backward; we had no idea that before we attempted to ride we had to prepare our minds and bodies for the adventure. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it. You don't just wake up and go run a marathon, what would make either of us think we could simply go to the local bike shop, pick out a suitable mount, and pedal away like experts? Believe me when I say we were lost.
As you can expect, the first few days were full of fun and laughter as we tried to keep up with ourselves, watching videos along the way, and just basically pedaling around our neighborhood. At least we knew enough about our lack of experience to take the bikes out to the lake or someplace where we'd end up getting stuck and having to walk ourselves back to the car. We even bought bike racks, horns, bells, little lights for the tires, and a foot air pump - - we thought we were something!
Keep in mind, we bought our bikes to exercise and to lose weight, tone up, and to get into shape for either the summer or just because. I think it was the early spring when we bought them; pretty sure I remember having to wait a week to make sure the snow and ice was off the parking lots. We live in a good sized complex but it's next to a hospital, medical buildings, and office buildings so there's no shortage of parking lots to ride on; we also have a residential neighborhood close by, but the parking lots are empty at 5:30 p.m. and we have free range to pedal our lives away - - and hopefully extra pounds along with it.
Because of our lack of being prepared, we didn't really anticipate the burn out to happen as quickly as it did. First, it was the initial shock that we (I say we, I mean me) weren't strong enough to ride more than say 10 minutes without huffing and puffing. We were unable to pace ourselves because we were just worn out before we were getting to the pacing stage. I must have been about 40 pounds heavier then than I am now, and it's no easy feat today - - imagine the stress and the poor feelings I was having about my new adventure. I thought I had wasted money, I thought I had put myself through needless agony. I was upset that I had to carry the bike up and down the stairs because our particular complex doesn't have a bike room, and we aren't allowed to store our bikes downstairs in the main hall. We have to literally carry them or walk them up and down the stairs, EVERY SINGLE time, and bikes aren't exactly lightweight. I won't say we now, I'll say I, or me. I didn't have the upper body strength then to pull and push the bike up and down the stairs for a 10-minute ride. Over the next few weeks, the rides became fewer and fewer - - and I ended up selling my bike at a great loss when the store we purchased them from refused to allow us to return them.
About a year went by and I decided to try the whole bike thing again - - this time without Laura. She was into rollerblades. I remembered the store return policy all too well, and I bought the bike from Target - - not the best decision, but it was what it was, and again, I ended up returning the bike after only a couple of weeks because again, I was finding that the hauling the 24-pound bike up and down the stairs was both annoying and more than twice I hit my leg or knee on the pedal causing pain on top of my already stressed condition. My stressed condition was that I was FAT and I wasn't having much luck getting myself over the fact that it was both my fault and my responsibility to change myself. No one else was going to do it for me. (A hard lesson)
Today is a new day. Today is February 6, 2021, and I literally did wake up and decide that today was the day I buy a new bike -- but not before doing my research, watching a few more videos, working out over the past few months to get both my breathing techniques strengthened and my leg muscles prepared to pump the pedals a bit longer than just a 10-minute session. I want my shorter sessions to be in the mid-30-minute ranges and I want to be able to take a few miles on a daily or near-daily basis without dying halfway up the stairs as I return for a much deserved hot shower. Today is a good day.
I once again returned to Target to purchase my bike because the two professional bike stores had bikes of course, but no one to properly calibrate them, balance the wheels, adjust the brakes, or put more air into them - - Target won't do that either, but the cost of the actual bike is so much better there, and it warrants that I am a better DIY rider; having educated myself with YouTube, reading the manual, and putting myself into the mix instead of expecting someone else to do my dirty work - - I can do this. I may not be the best at it, and I may fail, but I will fail or achieve with an Allen wrench in my hand and a printed manual clinched in my teeth while I do my best to at least give it a go.
I named my new Huffy bike "Stirling" after the pretty city (Hamlet) in the Kingdom of Fife, the area of Scotland that rests above the city of Edinburgh. I like saying the Kingdom of Fife, so I use that phrase as often as I can these days. Stirling will be my new buddy for the time being. Hopefully, she will teach me the skills of balance and breathing. Hopefully, she'll prepare me to be a rider when I get to the Kingdom of Fife, where I hope to live soon. Hopefully, she will not let me down - - and I will not let myself down. I want this to work - - I paid for this to work! LOL
I'll try to keep people posted on Facebook and Instagram as far as my progress goes - - the struggle is real for those of us who are still young enough to ride, but old enough to moan about it. This time around I didn't buy a bell, little spoke lights, or anything cool - - maybe I'm realizing that what I'm doing is the bare essentials to gain access to a better me. I think that's a healthy way to look at it.
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