first ride of the year

Boston ... 60 degrees ... blue skies ... thanks to the enthusiasm of all those here in DU's bike group, this one was just too good to pass up ... time for my first ride of the year ...

now, where the hell is all my biking gear ... i mean, i don't think i even road once last year ... i used to ride about 200 miles a week ... those were the good old days ...

so, the bike's out in the garage ... no problem there ... first order of business is to find my biking shoes ... got 'em ... right in my closet with my running shoes ... next, the helmet ... front hall closet with my collection of hats ... i'm the imelda marcos of hats ... now for the hard part ... i have one of those bike bags that straps on top of my rear rack ... used to be out on the garage landing before we "cleaned up" ... hmmmmm, not there ... den? nope ... hall closet? nope ... garage? nope ... shed? nope ... bedroom closet? nope ... better call the wife ... i know you women think men don't even bother looking ... the truth is, there's no point wasting time when we know you already know where everything is ... she knew ... buried under the clothes on the dressing bench ... OK ... inside the bike bag was my mirror, my bike gloves and my bike computer ... i couldn't believe the battery was still alive ... my last ride was 37.2 miles at 18.4 mph ... yeah, right ... not today ... i'm so out of shape i'll be happy with 5 miles ...

dust off the bike ... slide on the computer ... attach the mirror ... attach the bike bag ... sheesh ... planning to ride on those pancakes? ... knew just where the pump was ... almost gave mrs. wt2 a call to tell her i found the pump ... nahhhh ... fill up the rear tire ... then the front ... not a good sign when you're huffing and puffing after putting air in your tires ...

ok ... all set now ... helmet on ... and i'm off ... first, the familiar "snap" as the bike shoes clip into the pedals ... better do a couple of loops in the cul-de-sac to refamiliarize myself with the gearing system ... ok ... no problem there ... down the big hill and i'm off ...

bottom of the hill there's a sharp right turn ... Boston in the spring still shows all the scars of winter ... deep, really deep potholes from the freeze and thaw cycle ... and sand everywhere ... it's especially deep on the corners ... at first, i convince myself those highway guys are out to stick it to the cyclists ... nahhhh ... probably has something to do with the way water runs down the street and pools up at the intersections ... anyway, gotta take those spring corners kind of slow ...

the first miles or so i ride along the edge of the town forest ... i can hear all kinds of geese cackling away in there ... the road is in fair shape for this early in the year ... up and down and up again over a fairly hilly rolling terrain ... after a mile, i take a right turn onto a busy street ... as i approach, i'm telling myself my "handling skills" are a little rusty so i'd better take it easy ... as i approach the t-intersection, an eighteen wheeler is approaching from my left followed by a long line of cars ... i decide to slow a little bit to let the truck go by ... so what does this macaroon do? he pulls over to the right and stops right in front of me ... he left me an aisle about 3 feet wide to pass him on the right ... sheesh ... after i passed him and all the cars went by, he made a U-turn ... i could have done without that ...

the rest of the ride took me over some beautiful country roads near where i live ... the power i felt at the beginning of the ride was turning to fatigue pretty quickly though ... the hills, and there are a few good ones on this loop, were really starting to take their toll ... the loop i did came to just a bit over 6 miles ... as i turned onto my street, with its nasty 1/4 mile uphill to my house, reason, and nausea, got the better of me and i decided to sit for a bit before walking my bike home ... so, day one, 6 miles and a little at a not-real-fast-for-me 13 mph ...

i've got a long way to go to return to my glory days ... but you know, i've got a pretty good "bike buzz" going right now as i'm typing this and i wouldn't trade that for anything ...

Thanks for the post. I know that "bike buzz" you're talking about.

--Peter

I had that buzz yesterday and I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow. Thanks for sharing! :D

Don't worry and enjoy the ride.

I took a couple of winter months off and all but ignored my trainer because my basement is in such disarray right now. I've probably gotten in about 250-300 base miles in so far and those first few rides were a struggle to say the least. I couldn't believe how much I had lost.

This weekend, I rode 25 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday and I had to push myself really hard on Sunday and was quite discouraged. I'm not even paying attention to my mph at this point. Just trying to get the distances back up.

Wednesday was so nice around here that I ditched work early and did 42 miles. It was quite windy, but I felt really strong, like I would be able to put in some good times again.

Just don't be so hard on yourself. Are you riding for stats or for the "bike buzz"?

definitely riding for the "bike buzz" ... but i hate to see how out of shape i've gotten ...

i have friends who live all over Massachusetts and i love being able to plan a route, hop on the bike and visit them ... right now i'm stuck in my own little neighborhood ...

i know it will come back but it is frustrating ... thanks for the pep talk !!!