CyclePierce
05-19-08, 04:58 PM
So here I am at 24 years old and waaaaaaaay out of shape, thinking to myself: self, you're fat. Stop it. Now.
So, after a friend of mine gave me one of his older bikes (a Specialized Allez if anyone cares) and I took it to REI for an overhaul, I took it for a spin.
This morning I drove down to the Meeker trail head of the Foothills Trail and climbed on. Not having been on a bike basically since I was 8, it was a bit awkward at first. But, apparently, there's an old aphorism that is old for a reason because I found that riding a bike is, oddly enough, a lot like riding a bike. Once you know how, you never forget. I was a bit hesitant at first - and those clip-less pedals take some finagling to get used to - but after a few hundred feet I was off and rolling. I pedaled my way to the McMillan Industrial Park trail head and stopped to enjoy the scenery and to give my butt a break. I munched on a wrap that I had made earlier and guzzled about 37 gallons of water from my Camelbak.
After a few minutes I climbed back on and headed down the road again, slowly, to be sure, but surely, making headway toward Orting. I arrived in Orting out of breath, red faced and nearly comatose, but at the same time I seemed to be experiencing some type of narcotic-like high. Riding a bike is fun. It turns out that in the last 16 years of my life I had seem to forgotten that a bike is more than just a means of transportation, but it is a great way to see the country around you and to get away from the hustle and bustle that seems to consume so much of my life these days.
After stopping at the Orting City Park and partaking in some more wonderfully delicious water and more of the same wrap, I remounted my old steed and pointed my nose back north. As I pedaled along, I decided to take it a little bit easier and try to enjoy the scenery around me. The valley formed by the Puyallup and Carbon rivers is just flat-out gorgeous. Riding through a valley with steep hills to both sides, backed by one of the tallest mountains in the continental US (Mt. Rainier - but you already knew that, right?) has a way of humbling a person, or at least it humbled the heck out of me.
As I meandered my way back toward Puyallup I thought about how much fun I was having on a bike. I finally made it back to my truck, red-faced and exhausted but absolutely delighted in having found a new hobby. I love this. It's great for not only my body but also my mind.
Well, don't know how many people are gonna actually read this but I certainly look forward to reading about some of your first experiences on a bike. Hopefully I will be able to continue to make time to ride this thing and get better at it along the way. I'll never be a Lance Armstrong, but I see no reason why I can't just be me on a bike.
If anyone cares, according to the little computer thing on my handlebars, I traveled 14.97 miles in 75 minutes (it stops counting when the wheel isn't spinning) of actual ride time with an average speed of 11.92 mph. At one point along the ride I felt a little frisky and wanted to see how fast I could go, and apparently I can go 23.73 mph, which may not be that fast in the grand scheme of things, but I'm here to tell ya that motivating my 275 lb. frame at that speed takes some work :)
Have a good day all!:thumb:
So, after a friend of mine gave me one of his older bikes (a Specialized Allez if anyone cares) and I took it to REI for an overhaul, I took it for a spin.
This morning I drove down to the Meeker trail head of the Foothills Trail and climbed on. Not having been on a bike basically since I was 8, it was a bit awkward at first. But, apparently, there's an old aphorism that is old for a reason because I found that riding a bike is, oddly enough, a lot like riding a bike. Once you know how, you never forget. I was a bit hesitant at first - and those clip-less pedals take some finagling to get used to - but after a few hundred feet I was off and rolling. I pedaled my way to the McMillan Industrial Park trail head and stopped to enjoy the scenery and to give my butt a break. I munched on a wrap that I had made earlier and guzzled about 37 gallons of water from my Camelbak.
After a few minutes I climbed back on and headed down the road again, slowly, to be sure, but surely, making headway toward Orting. I arrived in Orting out of breath, red faced and nearly comatose, but at the same time I seemed to be experiencing some type of narcotic-like high. Riding a bike is fun. It turns out that in the last 16 years of my life I had seem to forgotten that a bike is more than just a means of transportation, but it is a great way to see the country around you and to get away from the hustle and bustle that seems to consume so much of my life these days.
After stopping at the Orting City Park and partaking in some more wonderfully delicious water and more of the same wrap, I remounted my old steed and pointed my nose back north. As I pedaled along, I decided to take it a little bit easier and try to enjoy the scenery around me. The valley formed by the Puyallup and Carbon rivers is just flat-out gorgeous. Riding through a valley with steep hills to both sides, backed by one of the tallest mountains in the continental US (Mt. Rainier - but you already knew that, right?) has a way of humbling a person, or at least it humbled the heck out of me.
As I meandered my way back toward Puyallup I thought about how much fun I was having on a bike. I finally made it back to my truck, red-faced and exhausted but absolutely delighted in having found a new hobby. I love this. It's great for not only my body but also my mind.
Well, don't know how many people are gonna actually read this but I certainly look forward to reading about some of your first experiences on a bike. Hopefully I will be able to continue to make time to ride this thing and get better at it along the way. I'll never be a Lance Armstrong, but I see no reason why I can't just be me on a bike.
If anyone cares, according to the little computer thing on my handlebars, I traveled 14.97 miles in 75 minutes (it stops counting when the wheel isn't spinning) of actual ride time with an average speed of 11.92 mph. At one point along the ride I felt a little frisky and wanted to see how fast I could go, and apparently I can go 23.73 mph, which may not be that fast in the grand scheme of things, but I'm here to tell ya that motivating my 275 lb. frame at that speed takes some work :)
Have a good day all!:thumb: