Bad BAd BAD!!!

I haven't ridden in a month. But, I have two excuses. One: daylight savings time stole my sunlight. It's not safe to ride around here in the dark. Too many wackos Two: it's cold! I hate riding in the cold. Do you know when you ride in the cold, the wind chill increases?! It's insane. So, I'm going to go to the gym and ride a stupid stationary bike. Dumb winter. Why? Oh, why did I decide to start riding right when the weather went south - literally?

My bike is leaning against the couch because I don't want to hang it up. Hanging it up seems so permanent. Like I'm never going to ride again. And I must ride. I must. I need to feel the speed. OK. So that doesn't happen often except for spurts down hill. I need to feel the wind - not freezing wind - but, wind in my face. I need to hear that inner voice in my head saying, "Go Faster! Don't stop! Go Farther! Don't listen to your legs. Just GO!" I need to feel the accomplishment of reaching a goal.

I'm not giving up. Just changing my approach.

Ugh!

I haven't ridden in a week+. I've had good, even great excuses, but still! Does thinking about riding count? Will my thighs benefit from just thinking about hills? Or, will the calories be burned by imagining the wind in my face?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

Good News

I've lost five pounds this week. Yippee! I'm really happy about that. I'm thinking the cycling has a lot to do with it. OK. A lot to do with it. I can feel my legs, arms, and back getting stronger. Jesse says my legs and arms are starting to feel solid. (I guess that's better than feeling fluffy.)

Along with the biking, I am, also, cutting all my meals in half or smaller. What really decides how much I eat is my stomach. I am trying very hard to listen to it and not eat a single bite past that initial full feeling. Let me tell you - It can be hard to do. If your stomach has been growling for a hour and you finally get to eat, you feel like you should be able to eat two helpings of spaghetti. Not so! That old stomach is just the same size as it was at lunch and doesn't want more than it was designed to hold. It is so easy to eat too fast and miss that first full feeling. Or, to tell yourself that you can't possible be full already and just completely ignore what your stomach is trying to tell you. Our bodies are really amazing works of genius. It knows exactly how much it needs. Wow!

I rode 10.3 miles (in 49 min.) at the Veloway today. I got the extra mile by riding in the neighborhood nearby. My plan had been to ride the circuit 4 times to get 12.4 miles. But, it was getting dark and I didn't want to be out too close to dusk. Those wooded areas in the back that I love during the day, start to look spooky as the sun goes down. Daylight savings time stinks for after work riders.

Only Two Stops

I made it up that dang ol' hill with only 2 rest stops. Not too shabby for the second time up it. I swear - I'm going to make it up without stopping someday.

I made need to change my route a little bit. I timed it today and it took me 10 minutes to reach the hill from where I started. Then, about 10 minutes to get to the top. (That's with 2 rest breaks.) It takes the entire first 10 minutes for my legs to quit screaming at me. (You know the drill- "What the Heck? Are you nuts? Stop it right now!") Just about the time my legs decide to join the effort - I hit the hill. Maybe if I gave my legs a bit more time to warm up, I'd do better. It's a thought!

My time today? 11 miles in 57 minutes. As a friend reminded me, that's 3 minutes shaved off my previous time. Not too bad. Every little bit counts. At least, I hope it does.

I'm not riding tomorrow. I agreed to do some PRN work. However, I'm planning on riding Wednesday. Plus, Wednesday is the weekly weigh in at work. Wish me luck! I want to win that pot of money.

By the way.... My legs are sore and so is my booty and woohoo. Ouch!

A Week Later....

It has been a long week. Every day I woke up thinking, "I'm going to ride when I get home today." Everyday something came up. I won't go into details but it looked something like this:

1. Monday - Mother in Law errands
2. Tuesday - PRN Work
3. Wednesday - By the time Jesse got home, I was a zombie
4. Thursday - PRN Work
5. Friday - Back to Mother in Law errands

Today, I almost talked myself out of riding. I'm going to be honest. I was nervous about riding by myself. Riding by yourself has several good points, but it is equally matched by several bad ones; especially when you are just starting on a new road. So, I was willing to use a visit from my grandson to put it off. Then I was going to use Jesse, my husband, as the excuse. He was sick, but insisting that I not ride unless he could be there. (We're both a little cautious about my riding after the surgery.)

Why was I putting it off? I didn't want to fail. I didn't want to see just how out of shape I am. Then I was flogging myself with worries and fears.

Even though I was trying to talk myself into going, I just kept thinking about that nasty hill. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it up it without walking at least part of the way. That hill became my enemy and the sole reason for my future humiliation. I dreaded facing it.

Then there is the whole anemia thing. I went to the doctor this week and she told me I'm still anemic following the surgery. ( I was anemic when I went into surgery. So, I've go a way to go.) Being anemic makes you feel like you are 50 pounds heavier and more out of shape than you really are. Frankly, I don't need any extra baggage. I've got enough as it is. Then, to top it off, it makes it harder to recover from any physical activity.

So, I had two pretty good excuses to fail. And I was expecting to do just that. So when Jesse insisted that he felt well enough to be my cheerleader, I almost reluctantly gathered my biking gear. But, guess what? I didn't fail. I did 11 miles in an hour. I don't think that is so bad. After a week of inactivity and being WAY out of shape, I think I did pretty darn good. Now, does Lance A. have anything to worry about? Well, no. Neither do the hard boys and girls that ride 18+ miles an hour. But, I'm going to think optimistically and believe that I have a chance of keeping up with those hard boys and girls in a years time. Dodo or not, I'm optimistic!

I got to confess something now. That nasty hill almost broke me. I had to stop three times going up it. However, I did NOT walk my bike up - not even a few steps. I just plain refused to do so. I have some pride, after all. But halfway up I realized something. That hill had 2 weapons, other than it's size and length, against me. The biggest weapon that hill had was me. I had totally psyched myself out before I even began to climb it. I didn't make it 1/4 of the way up before I had to stop the first time. All that was running through my head was, " I'll never make it up this. I just know I can't do ride up this thing." Let this be a lesson to others - don't become your own worst enemy. The second weapon that hill had was my anemia. My heart was pounding. My breathing was ragged. However, my legs didn't feel all that bad. That sucked, but I can live with that till my blood levels are normal. So, while the hill won this battle, it did not break me. I'll be back and eventually beat that nasty thing. Then I'll set out to conquer it's ugly cousins just a few miles down the road.

So - Keep Optimistic Keep Riding Keep Safe

Optimistic Dodo Rides

My friend and I rode our bikes this weekend. Or, I should say - She took me on a bike ride this weekend. It was not only the first time I have ridden since the surgery, but the first time I have ridden in 2 years. (Can I crawl under the rug and hide now?) That's so very embarrassing to admit. Not only that. I am a good 30-40 pounds heavier now. (Eeks! I'm squirming in my stretchy pants.)
I have been looking forward to the first time I got on my bike. I have even been craving it. Just as adamantly, I have been dreading it. I knew it would be hard to come face to face with the fact that I have let myself down in this area. But, I decided to be optimistic.
Luckily, we were in her neck of the woods. So, she had some routes already picked out. We waited til it warmed up a little, about 10:30 in the morning, because it was down right frigid in the Arlington area. Besides, it gave me a little more time to pump up my shrunken cycling ego.

Then came the question I have been trying not to think about, "How far do you want to go?" My poor stressed mind went into overload. 5 miles or 10 miles? I can do ten miles. Geez! 10 miles is what they call the kids fun ride. But, I haven't ridden in a long time and I'm still in recovery mode. Maybe 5 miles is the safest bet. I'm being a wimp. Surely, I can do 10 miles. I've done 12-13 miles on the stationary bike for two weeks. I said I was going to be optimistic, right?! So, I said,"10 miles." Dum Dum Dum Duuum! The famous last words of an optimist as she rides off into the countryside.

OK. I'm obviously not dead. But, there was a time or two that I was thinking that was an option. For all you people who attend spinning classes and think you should be able to jump on a bike and pedal away... I can only laugh at your naivety. Simulated hills are nothing compared to real Texas hills. Doing 90 RPM's on the stationary is nothing compared to trying - not succeeding - in doing 90 RPM's on the road. Another optimist almost bites the dust. Almost!!!!

Dare I say it?
I did it. Barely. But I did it. I only had to stop once on a hill that was beating me badly. I could hear it laughing at me. But, I decided that was OK. This was my first time out, after all. Let the hill laugh. I'll be back and make it eat my dust. (Optimism. wink wink)

So, my cycling journey begins anew. I mapped out a 10 mile route of my own. It has one really big hill that looks like it has some attitude. That's OK. Someday soon, I'll be laughing, gasping for air, laughing, and gasping for air as I crest the top of that hill. I will beat it and some others. I will do a ride of over 50 miles. Maybe even a metric 100. I will start to look like a cyclist. I will do a ride with my brother and keep up with him. Tee Hee. (I can't let him be the only rider in a family so full of runners.) However, until then I will remain an optimistic dodo. Frankly, I'm beginning to like the sound of that!

Why Blog About Cycling?

I decided to start this blog after a futile search for one written by someone else beginning to ride a bike for sport, physical fitness, or just for the challenge. Frankly, I was looking for a little, indirect, moral support. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find what I was hoping for. Oh, there is a lot of very technical info on beginning cycling. What I couldn't find was the good stuff. The down and dirty stuff. The "My legs, shoulders and butt are killing me" stuff. I needed to know that I'm not the only one talking myself up a hill as other riders pass me by. So, I got to thinking that maybe I'm not the only one looking for some anonymous (or not so anonymous) moral support. That, along with some cajoling from my husband, made me decide to take the leap and chronicle my own experiences.

I hope that someone else is able to find a bit of the camaraderie I was looking forward to finding. At the very least, I hope I am able to look back a year from now and see just how far I have come.