Ok: My homie
Elizabeth and her husband, Nick, hooked me up with a bike a while back. It was Nick's trusty ride for many years and has all the character that a slightly beat-up bright red 21-speed mountain bike could possibly have. I recently removed the toe clips (they scare me), lowered the seat (I've never liked sitting as high up as you're supposed to on bikes), removed the water bottle thing, and figured out how to inflate the presta-intake tires. You can see where this anecdote is going, n'est ce pas?
So: today I vowed to take it for its inaugural spin, having wimped out all last term (despite UCSC's award-winning
bike shuttle, which whisks you up the hill to campus). Here's how it went down:
- Number of times chain fell off derailer: 2.
- Number of times I struggled to shift gears: 8 - 12.
- Number of times I felt extremely self-conscious wearing a bike helmet (as Becky pointed out, we've spent enough time and money trying to increase the size of my brain. One must protect one's investment): 40+.
- Number of minutes spent riding to spot where bike shuttle leaves and back home: 20-25.
- How many minutes of hard panting it took to regain equilibrium upon returning home: 5-10.
There are muscles and varieties of cardiovascular exertion that I have not used for many, many months. In the long term, me-on-a-trusty-mountain-bike will prove to be an excellent way to stay in shape and to skip having to wait around for the bus to get home. In the short term, however, I'm going to have to seriously de-wimpify.
5 comments:
One of my friends who was in medical school would take the ferry from Vashon Island and then bike the rest of the way to UDUB. That's all uphill and a bazillion miles (I counted) she did this in the rain and during the first six months of her pregnancy. I think she's half Valkyrie and cheated by flying. Those silly Nordic girls. I would have fallen asleep on the ferry and ended up back at home.
That's impressive. I'll use her as my inspiration when I only have a bike next year. I'm going to go all hippie and stuff - only public transport and organic food. I'm going to make myself sick, I'll be so healthy. :) The helmet thing - not sure what to do about that. I've never managed to get the hang of wearing one. I need one like on Scrubs, a 'hairmet' - a helmet that protects your 'do. :)
RE: your comment on my blog about absinthe - you think I'm dumb enough to drink absinthe on a trip with my mom and brother, you're funny! :) i even said glühwein had a low alcohol content so they wouldn't bug me (it doesn't, really - people get completely hammered on the stuff during advent). so, no absinthe. :)
Ah, but what purpose Prague without absinthe?! :]
KFK: that's crazy. See, there was a time where I was all bike-fit, but it's been so ooooo many years. I just need to get a cool little bike messenger outfit together and I'll feel inspired.
Inspiration is key. Maybe I should take you along on my 2-3 hour rides straight up Empire Grade sometime. You'll never think that UCSC hill is difficult anymore. Whadda ya say?!
Actually though, I should start riding my bike for like commuting and stuff instead of walking. It would save me a heck of a lot of time.
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