Well I guess it was ; the cost of gas, the emergence of the new "green" movement, me turning 40 and wanting to be more healthy and an inspirational blog (Large man on a bike ((I'll post the link later))) that made me go out and buy a bike. Not a motorcycle, but a regular bicycle. Its an older bike but it only cost $40. I saw it on craigslist and I know that new it sold for about $300-400. Now 15 years later I thought that $40 was not a bad deal. I met the owner at his house and knew this was not an abused bike. He was an older man about 65-70 and was making room in his garage. I took a quick look and handed him the money. His wife said he tried to take up biking but that fell through. It could be a bit bigger but for what I need it for it works fine. Its an old Raleigh Technia ovation, It has the colors of a decade gone by. A light tan/grey body with some minor stripes of an old green and pink. The late 80's early 90's were not kind with colors. I don't mind them at all as long its not all pink or rainbow colored. (Pics to follow).
The gearing worked great and smooth so did the brakes. I did have to go and buy a tire patch kit. I'll tell you I have not done that in over 10 years. I bought the new fancy pre-sticky patches so it was not bad at all. No dealing with the glue and a match. Once the wheel was back on it took about 10 minutes to change the seat and handle bar height then I was off. The bike has an Aluminum frame and Shimino shifters. For its age it probably the most advanced bike I ever had. The old Huffy was made of old American iron and 4x4's. It weighed a lot then and was built to last forever.
Fat Man on a little bike..... I was a bit shaky at first but that passed rather quickly. After a few peddles and I was off. You really do not forget how to ride a bike. Your body remembers how to lean in to a curve and when to coast. I will tell you that my legs and back started to hurt after about a mile and a half and my butt hurt after another mile. I laughed to my self on how many miles I must have put in as a kid. Every day I rode my old Huffy. Rain or shine to school and across town to the pool. Miles of just glorious riding and being a kid. All with out headphones (Walkman or MP3Player) and a helmet. No lights and pads. All done with out fear. Last night I wore a bright safety orange vest that I have for the motorcycle. The bulk of my riding is going to be at night so I'm going to buy a few lights for night riding and perhaps a pannier to hold saddle bags. I don't want to spend a lot on it because the bike was so cheep. I saw on line some cheep and bright ones from China that are cheep. For under $20 bucks I will have two 57 LED lights on the handlebars. I want to bee seen. Once that is done I may wind up taking it to work a few days a week. The bags can hold my work clothes and I can change here. Its not going to save me tons in gas savings but I think I will be better for it. I even saw plans for small wagons that you add on to the back of the bike, but thats another story.
Riding twice a week for 5 months is only about 4 gallons of gas, but I think that 100 miles will do my heart good. I've been taking a daily aspirin as well as a multivitamin and fish oil. The road to 40 is mentally a rough one for me. I don't know why. Maybe its the feeling that my own clock is ticking faster for me. I'm trying to put my finger in the dike or to hold off the sea. Its OK. 40 is just a number. 40 is the new 30? Riiiight......
I am going to ride daily when I get home. Well let me rephrase that I am going to try to ride daily when I get home. Thats the plan. I hope I'm strong enough to hold to it. 3-5 miles at first then to ten. I have no lofty goals with this but I think I can make this part of my daily ritual. Its only one more mile.
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The Blog I saw that really inspired me is called Large man on a bike. Its a tale of a man who weighed over 500 pounds and needed to get living again. He said at one time he was only able to take 9 steps at a time and then needed to catch his breath afterward. His first bike ride of one mile took over three hours to complete. Now several years later and 285 lbs lighter he life is turned around. He eats well and he does look good for what he went through. I'll link to his blog once I remember how to do so.
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