Today was a beautiful day, and Sally came over and dragged me out on my bike to ride by my coast. I didn’t freak out, I managed (with help) to re-inflate my tires, and I even rode down the hill that my house is on. Last time I went for a bike ride, I walked down the hill, to avoid having to figure out traffic and a hill and riding all at the same time. But I had my Sally with me, and we just powered on ahead, and it was fine.
The coast side trail we rode on is paved, nearly flat, and apparently goes about 3 miles. And if you can stop panicking about balancing on this narrow little thing long enough to look up from the road, it has amazing views of the ocean and the hills. It was sunny, and because it’s still spring there weren’t many pedestrians out (so I didn’t have to worry about hitting too many of them!). Apparently there was a pretty strong wind, and of course it was with us on our ride south, and then against us on our way back home.
I started out very tense, very stressed, but once we’d been going a little ways I relaxed and was able to enjoy myself. (I think, too, it hurts more when I’m stressed & tense.) We didn’t go the whole three miles, because we reached a point where it was swarming with people cleaning up the beach and decided to turn back and stay out of there way. Which was really just as well, because of that headwind. The ride back was far more exhausting than I expected.
As soon as we got back to civilization (i.e. roads with cars), which is also where the hill starts, I got off and walked. Sally rode back up the hill, and I was very impressed. As soon as I stopped huffing and puffing. ;)
And now, I’m lying on the couch, achy and tired. Less than 6 miles*, and no hills, and I’m exhausted.
I need to do this more often.
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* I checked google maps, and between my neighborhood, and the distance we rode on the path, it was about 3 miles out, and since I walked part of the way back, it was less than 3 miles back. :p
