Intro: part deux

The moment you have waited for...part deux! So I left off having bought my ride, and realized that that was not enough. I would actually have to ride this thing. It was not quite as easy as the saying goes. Why...well bikes are not like when I was a kid. See when I bought the bike I had succumb to the biking world. I had bought the padded shorts, a jersey, gloves, helmet, clip in shoes (called clipless for an un-intuitive reason), and repair kit. So most of this was not in my childhood riding experience. Actually I think the only thing that was in it was the bike. So going for a ride was much more of an ordeal than just getting on and going. It also involved getting all the gear on and ready.

So I first had to will myself that to ride this bike I bought. It is not easy going from sitting on one's butt and doing nothing to sitting on one's butt and working out. Add in the prep time of getting the gear on, and it always looked better to sit and watch the evil television (well DVDs as I did not have cable). I fought the urge to be lethargic though. I had a mission and I knew I had to do it. So I geared up in Lycra, strapped on the shoes, put on the helmet, and pulled on the gloves...and rode a half mile. That is right a half mile. I was so out of shape and pitiful that I could only ride about a half mile in my parking lot at my apartment complex. That was a low point. I would get done with the half mile and be spent. Not an enjoyable experience. I tried though not to let my friends and family onto how much I was discouraged during this time. To tell you the truth the man reason why I kept riding at that point was that I had paid the $1000+ for that torture device and felt that I had to use it.

So amazingly enough I improved. I got to a mile. Then two miles. Which going around in the parking lot that was only about a quarter mile was really boring. So I thought I would get brave. I tried the hill in the parking lot. Dumb! Ok, not really, but it hurt more than anything. So I kept going. I eventually got up the hill in my complex, and tried the hill out on the road my complex was on. Then the veloway. I kept getting stronger. I was even doing some ride with my friends the Pages around their neighborhood. This was when it started really to click for me that I was having fun, and that this was not going to be just about getting into shape. Now do not get the impression that I did this all outside. I had actually gotten crazy and bought a indoor trainer. A torture device designed to make bikes into stationary bikes for riding inside. I did this a lot to help improve. Plus I really dreaded going to to ride all the time.

So I started looking for challenges. I started doing more hills in my neighborhood, going longer, riding faster. It was all fun to see. I say see as the nerd side of me was tracking all this. Starting with just a spreadsheet, I kept track of all this. Eventually I received a cycling computer, and was able to track more serious numbers. This tracking and logging of my biking telemetry was one of the things that made it fun, and really allowed me to visualize my improvement. I even got myself a heart monitor to get myself even more numbers. Ah, the toys.

So I started getting to the point where I could ride a fair distance of 9-12 miles, but the frustrating part was that I was not getting faster. I wanted to go faster. It was not enough that I could go further. It still took me forever to do those distances. Eventually though that would pass too.

I mentioned that I rode with my friends the Pages. Well I enjoyed the group riding. It was fun to be able to talk to people. So I was looking for some others to ride with. At that point I had been hanging out at 360 Cycleworks and noticed they had a club I could join, and I would also get a jersey for doing so. So I joined. Well I did no riding with the group. Funny huh. I guess so too, but one thing that came out of it was a brief insanity to ride the King of Jester ride after only 5 months of riding, and only 20lbs of weight loss (still 240). Was made this an insane move is that the King of Jester hill is a .5mile ride up a hill with and average grade of 14%. In other words...NUTS! So my family came in to watch, my friends came to see, and one even rode it also. So with one of the largest cheering sections (afor mentioned cycling store and spectators) I attempted the hill. 35 minutes later, 3 faux heart attacks, and much cursing and walking I made it to the top...on my bike. I have not done it since. I will though.

So I have kept riding...all the time getting stronger, going further, and getting faster. I was can easily do 100km now, and giving my friend Bill a run for his money. No I do not charge him to ride with me. There are many more stories to tell. High points and low points are in the mix. So come back and I will be logging more of them. I think I will start by going back through my logs and finding some of these and writing about them. I will also so about adding some about all the fun cycling toys I have found out about.

Thanks for visiting!