The First Ride 01/03/08

The First Commute:

Last night I tried to prep. I packed up a lunch (apple slices, cheese, a banana, p&j sandwich) I packed my shoes & work clothes in a bag along with a barrette & hair tie & a little girly foo foo stuff. I put everything on my desk, with the bike leaning up against it.

5:20 a.m. in the shower. After starting the tea kettle, I climbed into my bike attire. Bra, sports bra, old grey yoga pants, a wicking white turtleneck. I was nervous and didn’t drink my entire cup of earl grey or eat all my oatmeal. After getting the cats their breakfast, turning the radio to NPR, I loaded my stuff onto the bike, put an a maroon woolen, then strapped on the old gold bike helmet (given to me by Brett (Zen & the Art of Triathlon).slipped on old brown Isotoner gloves, turned on the tunes, zipped the forest green stadium jacket, I wheeled everything out & locked the door. It was 6:43 a.m. The temp was 24 degrees. It was dark and I was feeling like a fool (trying to decide if I looked more like a bag lady that had ‘acquired’ a bike, or a tick at the traveling flea circus!)! I turned on the lights and wobbled off into the surreal grey that creates intimidating shadows not visible in the cityscape by day.

From the start the ride was Hard! My pedals seemed to be pushing back against me. The earpiece fell out. The front light was so dim as to be nonexistent (rather comparable to the headlights of a ’61 VW so I should have been comfy…). The dark, both compressed the space around me, and seemed to elongate the distance. My legs were tingling from cold. My rear brake was intermittently sticking. I walked up both inclines I had pedaled up on the test ride. The crimson streaks heralding sunrise were awesome and all mine to appreciate!

I was breathing like a steadily moving freight train pulling coal uphill when I rounded the corner & could see the destination. The parking lot wasn’t crowded yet. Only one co-worker was walking up from his truck to the building, so he was the lucky witness to my pink face, steaming breathe, shaky dismount (my legs seemed to want to continue the only motion they could remember) and quiet exclamation of, “Wow, I made it.” This morning took me longer, 7.6 miles in 1 hr and 8 minutes. He held the door open & the bike & I wobbled in. After leaning it against the wall, I unloaded my of work clothes & headed in to transform from ‘out-of –shape-commuter –cyclist into the ‘business casual’ 8-5er.

While legs, fingers & face were defrosting, I attempted to fix the clean but now sweaty, flat hair. I simply ignored the red face. After an hour my legs & arms weren’t shaky feeling. My ‘butt-bones’ HURT. (But I have been told I will just have to keep going to allow that region to ‘toughen up’). The slow pace means that my muscles aren’t screaming. This is good since I have to ride bike home & do this again tomorrow. Work has been fine. I felt a little sleepy at first, my eyes seem dried out, & I feel a bit bedraggles with flat hair!, but otherwise no worse for the bike commute!

Even though I am a newbie were I am employed; I am lucky. My boss & another are training for triathlons, a few other coworkers are training for marathons, 1 is training for a 5K, and 1 is a power lifter. While they may not comprehend, the painful trials and sense of shame that can accompany being overweight, out of shape and exercise attempts…. they are encouraging my endeavor of bike commuting to work. (Realistically with a deceased motor and the lousy public transit in this town, biking is my only and best option. Even at my slow huffing pace, it is still faster then public transit, and it’s an opportunity for me to get into shape by developing some muscle, reducing some weight, or gaining some wind, while not spending cash on gas!)

Wish me a safe pedal home!

PS. While this is to be primarily about my personal experience becoming a commuter cyclist. I am going to try to note what I eat…


Todays menu:

Breakfast:
Glass of water
½ cup of earl grey tea( cream, 2 sugars)
Steel cut oats w/cinnamon, pecans rasins added

Snack:
Banana

Lunch:
Whole wheat p&j sandwich

Snack:
Apple slices
Slice of Colby jack cheese

Dinner:
?