Burnerblog

Tomorrow, I will set out on the bicycle again for the first time since I had to stop riding due to the chest funk. I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve stuck to my no-Coke plan for the most part (only slipping here and there when I forget and accidentally order it), and have been trying to do my best with not eating junk or fast food.

It’s kind of cold, wet, and nasty here, but I will not let that deter me. I’ll don my skin-tight riding shorts and my little glovies and hit the pavement for the prescribed 30 minutes at 12-15 mph. It’s a good pace that keeps my heart pumping and my legs pedaling. I’m actually beginning to sweat a little just thinking about it!

Anyway, that’s my plan. I have to get some exercise. My legs are bugging me about it again.

I’ve been slacking on the bike riding. I’ve been sticking with the no-soda thing, and I’ve been trying to limit my serving sizes and calorie intake, but the bike riding has been not what I want it to be. Part of the problem is the heat, but the other is that my butt still hurts. (No funny cracks here, Stevie. Haha… I said “cracks” when talking about my butt hurting!) Not in a really bad way, mind you, but it’s just sore in a “sore muscles” kind of way. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll just bear with it and go riding, but so far, I just haven’t had it in me. Besides, getting over this chest crud has really put a crimp in my exercise plans.

I don’t know what else to call ‘em… my bike shorts. I call ‘em my “hotpants,” because they are skin-tight and make me look… hot.

What I was surprised with is how comfortable these shorts make the saddle. Where I had some minor soreness from riding the previous two times, this time was almost like sitting on a much larger, more comfortable “seat.” The gloves helped to a certain extent, though I still had some soreness and minor numbness in my hands. I think this is mostly due to my not being used to riding again, but if it persists after another week or so, then I may consider raising the height of the handlebars. Otherwise, today’s ride was short (15 minutes/3.25 miles) but good. It was really hot outside, and since I had such a good workout yesterday, I didn’t want to push it. Today is supposed to be the “resting” day for my legs anyway while they build up after yesterday’s abuse. Today was just the equipment test, and I’m happy with the results.

And when I say “boys,” I’m referring to my little friends (the “berries” in “twig and berries”). It’s not so much from the bike seat, but from the shorts I wore on my first ride. On my second (more recent) ride, I wore better shorts, and didn’t have the pain while riding, but today, the boys are sore again. I did a lot of reading online and then went into the local bike shop and talked to the salesperson there, and the bottom line was that I need to get a pair of biking shorts. Oh good lord. Me in biking shorts. Fortunately, they make them big enough for me, but most importantly (and I didn’t know this!) they have padding inside to protect the rider’s butt and boys from the saddle.

I also picked up a pair of gloves to help with some minor wrist pain and numbness I’ve been getting while riding, and again, my online research and conversation with the salesperson confirmed that the gloves will help greatly.

I plan on going out in a little while (when Gelli gets home) to put in another 30 minutes for today utilizing my new gear. I will then be in a better position to give an honest assessment of how valuable this new gear is.

Next step in the cavalcade of spending on bikes: a bike rack that attaches to my trailer hitch. This will allow me to take my bike and one other to the park or arboretum (and carry a third in the bed of my SUV) so that we can go somewhere fun or exciting (or just plain different) to ride. The only thing I worry about is getting bored with the scenery in my small subdivision. I could always ride in the fields adjacent to us, but I’m not too excited about getting my bike really dirty. I know… then why did I get a mountain bike? Let’s just say the bike is new right now, and I like it looking that way. Besides, I’m sure that once I get into a bit better shape, I’ll start doing some off-roading, and then the fields around here will be more appealing.

Although I rode the bike for a decent amount of time earlier this week, I’ve been still rather ill this week, so I haven’t been able to ride the bike for the time and/or distance I’ve been wanting to. Today, I finally felt well enough to go out and ride for a solid 30 minutes. Although after the first 10 minutes I started wondering to myself if this whole bicycle thing was a good idea, the rest of the ride proved to me that it was. I kept a nice 11-12mph pace for the entire ride, but rode for a solid 30 minutes which is the recommended first three weeks riding. I felt good at the end of it; not too broken or winded, yet still feeling like I got a good workout. My butt seems to be getting used to the seat better, and I was able to use my little bike computer to get the info I actually wanted out of it. (Did I mention I think the little bike computer thing is bad-ass?!?!!)

I plan on getting out again tomorrow, and to ride every day. I should probably take a day off tomorrow and ride Tuesday, off Wednesday, ride Thursday, etc, but I am pretty adamant about getting back into some semblance of good shape and health. I am not going to do it with a diet (or diet alone), so I’m going to ride my butt off (hopefully literally). It is a lot of fun; I just wish the local area was a bit more bike-friendly. As it stands, I have to ride circuits around my neighborhood which isn’t too bad, but I used to love riding to the neighboring villages when I was a kid.

At least I’m able to get out and ride again; that’s the important part!

… I took the new bike out for a spin today. The kids and I went out for about 20 minutes and drove around our subdivision (which is rather small) and then out into a field adjacent to our subdivision where a water well is being dug. It’s kind of a neat worksite, but very dusty. My pretty, new, green bike now has a light dust coat on it. BOO!!! Anyway, we did pedal around the block a few times in a leisurely fashion, and while it worked my leg muscles, I didn’t get winded. It was nice and somewhat cool-ish out, and I felt really good after the ride.

Tomorrow is going to hurt, but I’ll do it anyway. Regardless of how badly I feel due to this cold, I actually feel better having ridden. I’m glad I got the bike.

Yep… I went and did it: I bought a bicycle yesterday and picked it up today. It’s a Raleigh Mojave 4.0 mountain bike. It’s not one of those street racer bikes that cost more than my car, nor is it one of those ultra-light mountain bikes that cost as much as a Cessna. It’s a high-quality light-enough bike for someone like me who will ride it mostly on concrete with the occasional foray onto dirt once I build some strength and stamina up. If I continue to do this mountain bike thing once I get into shape, then I can consider something pricier, but for now, this bike will do. I will add that this bike wasn’t cheap, but I really wanted some very specific features that this bike has: sturdy reinforced frame, disk brakes (oh yeah!), and a really good front shock and suspension. I’m a bit of a heavy guy, and the last thing I need is to ride a bike that will break on me a few days or weeks into my getting back into the swing of riding a bike again.

As for riding it, I drove it around the cul de sac today, but at a slow pace. This cold I have right now is still in full effect, so I don’t have the strength or stamina for even a proper test ride. I rode up and down the street once for a total of .77 miles (the bike has a bad-ass computer on it!), but due to the cold (and let’s face it: I’m hella out of shape!), I was very tired, winded, and sweaty. I may go out again later this afternoon or early evening when it cools down a bit, but I don’t really plan on riding much until this weekend when I hope to break it in properly. Where? I don’t know. I don’t have a bike rack on the SUV, and I can only fit one bike in the back without wrecking the bike(s) and the inside of the vehicle, and I don’t want to ride off to a park alone. That just sounds boring. Maybe Brendon, Gelli and I will ride around the local area fields and neighborhoods and just look around. I’m going to try to develop an interesting route for me to ride using Google Maps. I may post what I come up with here in the future depending on how technical I get into it. We’ll see.

The short version of this post: I got a new bike and I’m really excited!

This is my bike. No, the front tire isn’t really bigger than the rear tire; it’s just the angle of the photo that makes it appear to be that way. I could have taken a stock photo from Raleigh’s website, but then it wouldn’t have been MY bike, now would it?

Here’s the cool odometer/spedometer/computer thingie that I got for my bike. I wish I’d have had something this cool on my bike when I was a kid. I used to ride many, many miles, and I would typically wear out at least one bicycle a year much to the chagrin of my father.