Tag: biking

And I shall call him… Bill

One day while riding my bike in preparation for the event which we do not speak of, I startled a heron who was fishing at the nearby pond. He took to flight and majestically headed towards another shore – only to be startled by a rather territorial Canadian goose and forced to double back to yet another shore. I couldn’t track where he landed, but was excited to see a bird I normally only encounter in the wildlife preserves of Florida hanging out near my house.

Flash forward to today…

An unfortunate series of events (don’t worry, nothing to be concerned about) found me driving out of my neighborhood at around 5:15 this morning. As I drive by the aforementioned pond, whom do I see standing in the water not more than 12 feet from the road? The very same heron… well… I’m guessing it’s the same bird. He’s a Great Blue Heron to be exact – which means he’s rather intimidating and awe-inspiring. I slowed down right by him to take a photo, but he was keen to my paparazzi-like motives and took to flight once again. Nevertheless, the encounter helped brighten a day that seemed destined for crappy things.

Looks like it’s time for an early morning bike ride this weekend…

Training Diary: Day… something

Dear Diary… Haha, just kidding. It was fun writing a couple diary posts, but that joke could get old. But I have been keeping up with my biking for the most part. Not everyday, but at least every other day. As easy as it has always been to get back into biking shape, there is one major inhibitor this time around: those damned hills!

Alright, I’m sure my advancing age plays a factor in some of aches and near collapses, but riding a few miles around the neighborhood hasn’t really worn me down. It’s that last leg as I try to keep the pedals moving up the mountain. This geographical limitation means that I’ve only been going a couple miles in the morning (averaging 2.5 this week), but on the weekend I was able to take advantage of a nearby park to put in over 7 miles on the bike. Unfortunately there is still no path that allows me to go downhill in both directions.

But at least I learned something new about the human body. According to the Gate-Control Theory, the brain has a way of limiting what pain gets through so that you’re not overwhelmed by everything at once. Thus it wasn’t until after my stomach settled the other day and I managed to avoid vomiting following my foolish 4 plus mile ride that I noticed my lungs were on the verge of collapsing… Hmm, maybe my brain should rethink the order of things. Or do I have to fear wasting half an hour stretching out my strained calves after a ride only to realize HOLY CRAP! I was shot in the arm! Thanks brain, maybe that pain should have taken priority over the leg cramp…

Hopefully you all realize everything written here should be taken with a grain of salt. The last thing I need is to find out someone set themselves on fire or shot their foot while trying out some sort of pain experiment they read on a blog…

Training Diary: Day 2

Dear Diary,

Why is it so cold in the morning? Even bundled up I got chilly and couldn’t feel my fingers. But I biked because its important. And you know what? I went almost 4 miles! Pretty soon, I’ll run out of fingers to count! It was fun, until that stupid hill. Why is that hill so mean? When I got home I almost throwed up. Mommy says I’ll get used to it. I’m not sure if she meant the hill or throwing up.

Your friend,

Thom

P.S. I really hate that stupid hill!

Training Diary: Day 1

Dear Diary,

Today I took out my brand new bike for my first ride. It’s so pretty, I really, really like it a lot! It was so cold this morning, I almost frozed my fingers! But I rode anyway. I went all the way down this big hill. And then I went all the way back up the same hill. I must have gone almost a whole mile! But then I was really tired, so I went home. The end.

Your friend,

Thom

P.S. Why does my chest hurt?