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Jul. 13th, 2008 10:36 pmFor two years I've been telling myself that I needed to get my bike out and ride it a bit. Today I finally did that.
I've owned this bike for... at least 4 years I think? I bought it for about $100.00 on my birthday. The idea was that, with a bike, I'd go riding more often and get into shape. Of course, the only time I rode it (on a trail -- the Burke Gillman I think -- alongside Lake Washington with
jeffreycornish and
geojlc ) I realized how very out of shape I was (which should have been a big surprise, since before I got it I went on a bike ride with several friends (
skyoxford and
jeffreycornish and I forget who else, I borrowed someone's bike,
geojlc's I think) I also wasn't able to ride very far.
But the idea was that, for the last two years I've walked 30 minutes to an hour a day, and I should be in much better shape. So riding my bike shouldn't be a problem any longer, right? Right!
I've been walking along a stretch of the Burke-Gillman trail that runs right behind where I work. There's a place where you can park your car just South of where I work. If you walk South, you come to the Auburn Supermall. The trail goes further South but I haven't gone past that point. If you go North, it heads up into Kent, past Emerald Downs. I've walked past Emerald Downs 2-3 times this last week... that's a pretty long walk, up to an hour or more by the time I get back to my car.
First I had to drag my bike out from under my bed and inflate the tires. They were as flat as could be -- no air at all. Inflating them was a workout in itself, and I still wasn't sure they were inflated well enough. Then I installed the beverage holder that
jeffreycornish and
geojlc had given me several years ago (which I hadn't bothered to attach to the bike in all this time... well, I hadn't ridden the bike in all that time either).
Finally I loaded up the bike, my helmet, my gloves, my air pump, and a few other things and headed out.
I stopped first at Fred Meyers to try and buy some pressurized air, on the theory that I could inflate the tires better. I also got a bike lock, should I ever need it. Then I drove down to the trail park and got my bike out. The can of air was pretty much useless, I couldn't get it hooked up to the front tire veriy well (the tire air intake thing sticks out at an odd angle and the spokes were in the way). I used my pump to try and inflate the tires a bit more, then got my gloves and helmet on, turned on the iPod, and set off.
I noticed that my knees hit the brakes when I was peddling, unless I was careful. After a bit I realized that I had the front wheel turned around backwards. :P (The handles are kinda odd looking, which made it easier to be confused I guess). Once I got them turned around the right way I rode up past Emerald Downs and a bit beyond that, past the point where I'd walked before.
I really thought that I'd go a lot further than I normally walk, because bikes travel so much faster and if I can walk that far in an hour, I can ride a lot farther in the same hour, yes? Only riding a bike was a much bigger workout than just walking. I was getting tired very quickly, so at the next street/crossing I turned around and headed back. I was determined to not stop and rest for the whole way back, but eventually I did pull over and collapse into the grass in an area shaded by trees.
Bear in mind that I was doing all of this around 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, just about the hottest part of the day. I don't notice how hot it is when I'm in my apartment, but once I got pedaling I started to notice. ^_^ But mostly I noticed that riding a bike for even half an hour was a much more strenuous workout than walking for an hour or more. I'm still pretty out of shape, I guess. :p
On the way back home I picked up a chicken gyro and side salad at Athens Pizza. I was going to watch more of Season Two of The Tick while I ate, but it turns out I've watched them all. So I watched "Grandpa Wore Tights" again. It's a very good episode. How can you not like the quite stupid Human Ton and his very smart and literate sidekick Handy (his puppet)? Not to mention such great heroes as Suffra-Jet ("I vote for good!"), The Visual Eye ("Rocket from the sockets!") and The Living Doll ("I'm full of tinier men!"). I think the Living Doll is my favorite wacky super hero... although for sheer weirdness and uselessness, The Visual Eye is right up there.
Actually I'd be hard-pressed to say which group is more zany -- the Decency Squad or the Civic-Minded Five. Although technically Johnny Polite, Suffra-Jet, and Captain Decency are all relatively useful crime-fighters, while it's not clear that anyone in the Civic-MInded Five is truly competent besides Jungle Janet. (Lord knows what having 4 legs really does for 4-Legged Man, and The Carpeted Man is a guy in a suit made of carpet, whose powers are static electricity and a tendancy to get overheated.)
Anyway... that was my day.
I've owned this bike for... at least 4 years I think? I bought it for about $100.00 on my birthday. The idea was that, with a bike, I'd go riding more often and get into shape. Of course, the only time I rode it (on a trail -- the Burke Gillman I think -- alongside Lake Washington with
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But the idea was that, for the last two years I've walked 30 minutes to an hour a day, and I should be in much better shape. So riding my bike shouldn't be a problem any longer, right? Right!
I've been walking along a stretch of the Burke-Gillman trail that runs right behind where I work. There's a place where you can park your car just South of where I work. If you walk South, you come to the Auburn Supermall. The trail goes further South but I haven't gone past that point. If you go North, it heads up into Kent, past Emerald Downs. I've walked past Emerald Downs 2-3 times this last week... that's a pretty long walk, up to an hour or more by the time I get back to my car.
First I had to drag my bike out from under my bed and inflate the tires. They were as flat as could be -- no air at all. Inflating them was a workout in itself, and I still wasn't sure they were inflated well enough. Then I installed the beverage holder that
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Finally I loaded up the bike, my helmet, my gloves, my air pump, and a few other things and headed out.
I stopped first at Fred Meyers to try and buy some pressurized air, on the theory that I could inflate the tires better. I also got a bike lock, should I ever need it. Then I drove down to the trail park and got my bike out. The can of air was pretty much useless, I couldn't get it hooked up to the front tire veriy well (the tire air intake thing sticks out at an odd angle and the spokes were in the way). I used my pump to try and inflate the tires a bit more, then got my gloves and helmet on, turned on the iPod, and set off.
I noticed that my knees hit the brakes when I was peddling, unless I was careful. After a bit I realized that I had the front wheel turned around backwards. :P (The handles are kinda odd looking, which made it easier to be confused I guess). Once I got them turned around the right way I rode up past Emerald Downs and a bit beyond that, past the point where I'd walked before.
I really thought that I'd go a lot further than I normally walk, because bikes travel so much faster and if I can walk that far in an hour, I can ride a lot farther in the same hour, yes? Only riding a bike was a much bigger workout than just walking. I was getting tired very quickly, so at the next street/crossing I turned around and headed back. I was determined to not stop and rest for the whole way back, but eventually I did pull over and collapse into the grass in an area shaded by trees.
Bear in mind that I was doing all of this around 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, just about the hottest part of the day. I don't notice how hot it is when I'm in my apartment, but once I got pedaling I started to notice. ^_^ But mostly I noticed that riding a bike for even half an hour was a much more strenuous workout than walking for an hour or more. I'm still pretty out of shape, I guess. :p
On the way back home I picked up a chicken gyro and side salad at Athens Pizza. I was going to watch more of Season Two of The Tick while I ate, but it turns out I've watched them all. So I watched "Grandpa Wore Tights" again. It's a very good episode. How can you not like the quite stupid Human Ton and his very smart and literate sidekick Handy (his puppet)? Not to mention such great heroes as Suffra-Jet ("I vote for good!"), The Visual Eye ("Rocket from the sockets!") and The Living Doll ("I'm full of tinier men!"). I think the Living Doll is my favorite wacky super hero... although for sheer weirdness and uselessness, The Visual Eye is right up there.
Actually I'd be hard-pressed to say which group is more zany -- the Decency Squad or the Civic-Minded Five. Although technically Johnny Polite, Suffra-Jet, and Captain Decency are all relatively useful crime-fighters, while it's not clear that anyone in the Civic-MInded Five is truly competent besides Jungle Janet. (Lord knows what having 4 legs really does for 4-Legged Man, and The Carpeted Man is a guy in a suit made of carpet, whose powers are static electricity and a tendancy to get overheated.)
Anyway... that was my day.