Back in the Saddle Again
In my new-fangled exercise regimen, Sunday is a day for LSD. No, not the drug, although it would definitely make me a more interesting preacher. LSD stands for Long, Slow Distance. If I were in better running shape, that would mean 4-8 miles. Since I'm not, that means about an hour to an hour and a half on the bike. Right now, that's about 20 miles or so. So, at about 6:30 in the evening, I set out.
Columbus has this neat path called the RiverWalk. I thought to myself, a nice relaxing ride by the river this evening would be just great. My Trek was all tuned up thanks to the guys at Mike's Bikes. I'm getting in shape, right? And besides, how far can this thing run, anyway? No problem. So, without any recon or research, I loaded the trusty Trek on my Explorer, and I set out the the trail head that's about 15 mins. from my apartment.
Big problems. First, the trail wasn't completely finished. There were actually two small stretches of trail and the main trail. That meant having to navigate through the downtown area of an unfamiliar city on a bicycle. Not fun.
Second, the northern part of the trail doesn't go through the best part of town. As I started, there were calls from some of the locals of "how much does that bike cost?" Hmmm...this would be a good time to push the pace just a bit. On the way back, there was a young gentleman on his BMX bike who wanted to race. Well, kid, if you can catch me on my Trek, I'll be happy to race you but you gotta catch me first.
Third, and I realized this about 10 miles into the ride, the trail is about 15 miles ONE WAY. For me to go from where I started all the way down to the end at The Fort Benning Infantry Museum, I'm looking at a 30 mile round trip ride, by far my longest this year. I am proud to say that I made it. It took me two and a half hours but I made it.
Yeah, I know, 30 miles in two and half hours doesn't make me ready for the Tour de France yet, but it did feel good to get that many miles down. Well, most of me felt good. The part of me that was touching the saddle all day was REALLY glad when we stopped.
Today's lesson: always do your homework BEFORE you undertake something.
Columbus has this neat path called the RiverWalk. I thought to myself, a nice relaxing ride by the river this evening would be just great. My Trek was all tuned up thanks to the guys at Mike's Bikes. I'm getting in shape, right? And besides, how far can this thing run, anyway? No problem. So, without any recon or research, I loaded the trusty Trek on my Explorer, and I set out the the trail head that's about 15 mins. from my apartment.
Big problems. First, the trail wasn't completely finished. There were actually two small stretches of trail and the main trail. That meant having to navigate through the downtown area of an unfamiliar city on a bicycle. Not fun.
Second, the northern part of the trail doesn't go through the best part of town. As I started, there were calls from some of the locals of "how much does that bike cost?" Hmmm...this would be a good time to push the pace just a bit. On the way back, there was a young gentleman on his BMX bike who wanted to race. Well, kid, if you can catch me on my Trek, I'll be happy to race you but you gotta catch me first.
Third, and I realized this about 10 miles into the ride, the trail is about 15 miles ONE WAY. For me to go from where I started all the way down to the end at The Fort Benning Infantry Museum, I'm looking at a 30 mile round trip ride, by far my longest this year. I am proud to say that I made it. It took me two and a half hours but I made it.
Yeah, I know, 30 miles in two and half hours doesn't make me ready for the Tour de France yet, but it did feel good to get that many miles down. Well, most of me felt good. The part of me that was touching the saddle all day was REALLY glad when we stopped.
Today's lesson: always do your homework BEFORE you undertake something.
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