The long and winding road...

Warning, this post is as long as the title implies.

So I've decided to change up my exercise routine... style... stuff I do to alleviate all the naughty things that I eat. There I said it. Plus I figured that getting some more physical activity into my day could be good for my mental health too.

I haven't been able to afford my car registration this quarter, so I've been walking to my appointments and to the shops whenever I've needed to. Plus with the festival on in town and us having a show, I've been commuting and walking around town flyering and doing some PR. It's actually been kinda enjoyable. So I started thinking about what else I could throw in...


My parents bought us bikes about 10 years ago. 26" Huffy ladies mountain bikes. I guess they were on sale or something. For some reason we got two ladies bikes, even though my mum hasn't ridden a bike since she was a teenager, and probably wouldn't physically be able to anymore. But perhaps it was to serve as some kind of inspiration. Maybe she envisioned us pedalling around the neighbourhood, getting fit and sharing fun active times whilst The Turtles' 'Happy Together' magically played from the sunset...
...Or maybe that was just my dream.

Anyway, the theory eventually dropped down to "We have bikes in the garden shed in case the exchange students want to use them" and that seemed to work for everyone.

I never really had a bike when I was growing up. My brother got one when he was 10ish, and I was only really of the age suited for childrens' trikes. When I got older, we picked up an old BMX that someone was throwing out and fixed it up a little so I could ride to the shops and back but that was pretty much it.
I soon grew out of it -  both with my height and my lack of interest. I didn't have any 'bikey' friends (at least none who were only just now learning to ride), my brother was now a young adult and had his own riding skill settled too, my rear end used to hurt pretty quickly into a ride, and I always felt too uncoordinated.  I worried I would fall and hurt myself, or cause an accident on the road.

These were all my excuses.
When I was 16, I developed crepitus arthritis in both knees and I decided that that was the deal-sealer. It has always kinda annoyed me that I, who was never a sporty person and had never punished my knees with years of physical strain or team sports, would end up with limiting knee conditions.

Anyway, I digress... again. My point is: I grew up still not really having learned to confidently ride a bike, let alone these scary tall things with chunky wheels and lots of gears that mum had brought home.

I loaned one to a girl I was seeing at the time, who was from a 'bikey' family, but she eventually had a bingle and buckled the frame. I don't remember what we did with it, but since we weren't investing much stock in these bicyles, I think we sold it on and said goodbye to it.
Now the shed had only one lonely bike sitting there in the dark for years.

Until this week.

I got a few dollars together from one of my odd jobs, and I bought some new inner tubes. I actually believe the bike's been ridden that infrequently that the perished tubes I replaced were the originals.

My brother gave me a quick crash course on how to change tyres* and adjust the saddle for my height. He helped me put the rear wheel back on straight and to make sure the chain links lined up. All this stuff I would have blundered through myself, eventually getting there but only after an embarassingly long time/effort. He also brought out his tools and an electric pump to make things easier/faster. As luck would have it, there was a spare helmet in the shed too.

*tyres/tires depending on where you're from.

My first test ride was to the end of the road and back. I crunched the stiff gears (not knowing ANYTHING about them or what gear to use when) and was so afraid of performing the U-turn required to get me back to the driveway that I slowed down (making it worse) and wobbled through it, somehow avoiding riding right into the kerbside. I kept looking down at the road, and overusing the handlebars to turn. I could have jack-knifed so easily.

I somehow managed to get back into the driveway where my brother and I tweaked a few things. After another wobbly test ride, he handed me his bikelock and key, and I went on my merry way to ride home.

I chose a route that avoided a moderate hill but involved a roundabout.  I'm not sure how I survived that, but it helped that it wasn't busy and I knew that I could just dismount if I wanted to wimp out and walk around.

For the most part I was coasting down a main road that is closed due to roadworks, and the Sunday traffic meant that I wasn't feeling too pressured by motorists. For the 2.8km ride, I stuck to the middle gear combos because I found them comfortable enough. 15minutes later, I pulled into my own driveway. Puffed, but also pretty impressed with myself.

That night I did some research about gears, and learned how to apply my knowledge of car shifting to the bike gears. I learned about cadence and keeping my head up so the bike would follow where I wanted to go, and to turn by leaning/tilting the bike rather than rotating the handlebars. I also learned that my rear will hopefully stop hurting with repeated riding, and that cushioned shorts don't have to be that ugly clingy lycra kind, but that casual baggy shorts also exist that hide their enclosed padding.

Today I went for a small ride around my area, only 1.4km this time, riding around the closest few blocks, to test out some of these things.
Although keeping my cadence under control is still a bit of a mystery to me at this point, the main differences I found were that turning and shifting gears were both a little easier now that I understood a bit more about them. That, and already my rear was hurting less than my quadriceps. So far (touch wood) my knees haven't complained.

A lot of the articles I'm reading talk about riding around on trails and going over things like logs and rocks. For now, I'm starting from scratch and ignoring that my bike is meant for a more adventurous life than the one I'm ready to give it just yet.

So the journey has begun, it's mostly about bringing my fitness/ability and knowledge up to speed first. After that, we'll progress further.

/n00b