On the road again

[Ghoulish Delight]

For the first time in 4 years, I own a bike! I used to ride constantly, and I didn't realize how much I missed it.

My last bike died in 2001. I got in in the 5th grade, and it lasted me through college (my parents were masters of getting the absolute largest possible bike so that I wouldn't grow out of it instantly).

12 years, and I rode it pretty constantly. But alas, I graduated from college, moved, and stuck it on the porch for a couple months. Then, a friend asked to borrow it to get to and from work while his car was being repaired. I brought it over, where we realized the tire was flat. So we wheeled it over to a gas station to fill the tire. Then I began to remount the chain, which had fallen off at some point previous. Then...snap, the rear derailleurs cracked in half at the thickest point. 12 years (and 3 years of going in and out of a trunk) had finally taken its toll. I was sad to see that bike go. I knew I wouldn't be using it enough to warrant paying for a repair...never mind that it was a 12 year old bike and probably not worth the cost of the repairs it needed.

So here I am, 4 years later, looking for some exercise that I can get motivated to do. Swimming worked for a while, but 1) the kids have taken over our pool and 2) the scenery gets boring. Biking, I never get bored of. Different route every time.

So I did some looking around, and eventually got a bike at Target. It kinda went against my nature, I'd much prefer a quality bike over a cheap comodity bike, but for what I need I couldn't justify the expense of anything more. I got a decent bike for the money. The old bike was a street bike, this is a mountain bike, so I'm moaning about the really low top gear. But it's got two wheels, a chain, and pedals.

I went riding for the first time yesterday. Wow am I outta shape. I used to sprint around the hilly UCI campus every day, now I was winded by the time I got to the end of the street!

I have an ideal of being able to commute to work by bike. That will be a challenge to work up to. The general rule of thumb on bike commuting is, if it's under 5 miles, you have no excuse. 5-10 miles, you can work up to it by training on weekends. Over 10 miles, good luck Lance (or is that Neil?). My commute by car is 11 miles. Eep. I think, with OC's relatively convenient system of bike routes, it's doable. But it's going to take a while. Yesterday ended up a little more encouraging than I thought. I ended up riding a good 4 miles in about 30 minutes, and I wasn't pushing particularly hard. So it's within the realm of possibility. I'd really love it if I could become a 3-day a week bike commuter.

Among other things, I'd be totally justified in buying all the little accessories I always eye at bike shops