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Friday, April 9, 2010
Shiny New Bicycles
After the ride on Sunday, Johnathan and I decided we wanted to go out again on Monday. We stopped first at Target to get a tarp to cover the bikes while they were locked up outside at our apartment, and also a new seat for my bike. I got a much cushier seat, and once we got it on there, it was really nice. It helped with the soreness, especially after I adjusted it as was recommended by one of the websites I read that day. So that helped a lot. We went to another part of the park we had gone to on Saturday and started riding. It was beautiful out, and the bugs knew it – I swallowed at least one! – they were everywhere. We passed lots of other cyclists, runners and walkers.
The direction that we went seemed to be mostly uphill, which was tough on the way “out” – especially as we got to a hill that my phone tells me was a 6% grade. It was quite the venture to get up. We followed behind another couple, and though the woman had done spinning classes, after two attempts, she simply could not get up the hill on her bike. I only got about a quarter of the way up before I got off and walked it up. Johnathan made it all the way up, but his bike has more gears than mine has, so that probably helped. The way back was much less uphill, and I was able to coast a lot, which was really nice. All told, we went about five miles on Monday.
Yesterday we went out again. The temperatures had dropped, so it was chilly and windy (ah, springtime), but we decided to go out nevertheless. I put on a sweatshirt and my workout pants, and then ultimately borrowed a zip-up fleece jacket of Johnathan’s to wear over everything. Johnathan put on a hat, too (after some coercion), and his flip-top fingerless mitten-glove thingies, as well as a sweatshirt and long pants. We weren’t exactly bundled, but we were warm. We went to the part of the park that we had walked in on Saturday and went the other direction. This time, I was getting frustrated less than a mile into our ride. I had Johnathan adjust my handlebars down, and oh! What a difference! Then we just started going. We ended up riding all the way to the part of the park where we had started on Monday, which is apparently about four miles away. So we rested a little, then headed back for another four miles! We rode for eight miles when I wasn’t expecting to even get a total of three miles, given how I felt when we stopped to adjust my handlebars.
Something I’ve noticed about our rides is that if I let Johnathan set the pace, we’re more likely to go a sustainable pace. I want to go harder and faster, knowing full well that I can’t sustain such grueling speeds yet, so if he lets me set the pace, then I go harder than I should. He is able to slow me down some, which can be frustrating, but it means that we can ride for eight miles instead of five and, who knows, maybe nine or ten miles next week or the week after, I’m all for it. Someday we’ll be in shape enough to maintain a pace like that, but it’s unreasonable to think that we can do it now, just one week into it.
I’m stiff from yesterday’s ride, but not sore. It’s a good feeling. The weather is cold again today, but we’re planning to go out again anyway. I don’t know which park we’ll go to or how long or far we’ll ride, but we’re going out there and doing it. We’re planning to go out again tomorrow, too, and it’s supposed to be a little bit warmer. I love my shiny new bike!
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