There are several things that might indicate that it has been too long since you last went on a bike ride. Being a teacher, I have developed a test to see if it has been too long between bike rides.
You know it has been too long since your last bike ride when:
a) Your bike creaks and moans when you load your Christmas cookie laden body on it.
b) Your thighs feel like they are being burned by torches and you can still see the house.
c) You want to ride toward that comforting bright light.
d) Contrary to the popular saying, not only did you forget how to ride it, you can't remember what color it is.
e) Both a and b
f) all of the above
Our city lake is a couple miles from our house and the only canopy we encounter are the clouds of bus exhaust. The only hills I encounter are the wheelchair access ramps on the city sidewalks. Well those should have been the only hills. I allowed Jake to lead the way yesterday. Note to self; When Jake smirks and says, "Do you want to try this way?" just say no. There is one man-made hill between us and the lake and the police station sits atop it. Jake's 'special way' to go to the lake was to ride next to the police station, all the way up the hill, then speed all the way down. I am no stranger to hills. My bike, ancient by today's standards, has twenty one speeds. Additionally, I know how to use them! Shift low for climbing, high for flat and downhill. I got this.
Earlier in our ride though, when I tried to shift higher, the derailer worked perfectly! It derailed the chain. I fixed that but decided to play around a little. When I tried to shift down, I could hear it trying to work. It was giving it the college try. But it never quite made it. So now I am faced with the dilemma of trying to ride up a hill that would require being in the lowest gear possible and my twenty one speed has turned into a seven speed. When I finally got to the top of the hill, huffing and puffing (but in no condition to try to blow down even a little piggy's house...not even the straw one) Jake started laughing! He said, "I can't believe you tried it!" Then he pointed down to the left. "There is the flat path around the hill!"
"Oh--- yeah----- Jake." huuuh huhhh "Real---- funny." Pheww huhhhhh "Do me a favor----call 911." ahhhhh haaaaaa "Tell Mom and Kristiana---- that I love them." I hope this is one of those stories that he tells about me later in life when he is talking about what a great guy I was.
So after we made it to the top of the hill, we were looking at the lake, and we started down. I used to say that I had earned the hill. When I worked my way up to the top of something large, I had earned the right to go speeding down. I always liked it when I had earned hills and I used to be pretty good, back in the day. I would ride my bike to the top of the mountain we have in town, speed all the way down, then ride fifteen miles to go visit friends all over the place. Friends who lived on top of hills! I used to do this! Now, I am having to consider if I should choose a) or b)!
I was looking forward to the backside of this hill I had just earned! Jake went down like a shot. Not to be outdone, I went down like a slightly more cautious shot...and my bike developed a wobble. First to one side, then the other, I slowed, I stopped. I know that feeling. It can only mean one thing. Slow leak. My back tire had started to go flat and we were about as far away as we had planned to go. I thought about doing a quick road-side repair until I remembered that Jake's new basketball needed to be pumped up and my bike pump was the best for the job. It was resting comfortably in the kitchen after completing its mission. I considered calling for back-up. Sylvia could bring the truck, we would load the bikes, problem solved. That didn't sound like a bike ride. I tried to see if the bike would make it one time around the lake before we had to go home. No such luck. I would be walking this thing in no time. We talked it over, we were disappointed that we couldn't go around but we decided that it would be best to start heading home. Jake had a student council meeting to get to so we were on a time crunch.
We made it home. I didn't have the energy to tackle the bike problem since I had to nurse my burning legs back to health. I will get to it soon. I want to add an alternate answer to the test question above. Soon I would like to be able to mark,
g) What do you mean too long? I rode it to work this morning!
You know it has been too long since your last bike ride when:
a) Your bike creaks and moans when you load your Christmas cookie laden body on it.
b) Your thighs feel like they are being burned by torches and you can still see the house.
c) You want to ride toward that comforting bright light.
d) Contrary to the popular saying, not only did you forget how to ride it, you can't remember what color it is.
e) Both a and b
f) all of the above
Jake has been asking to go for a ride the last couple of days, so yesterday he and I rode to the lake. I know that for people in other parts of the country, or other countries for that matter, 'rode to the lake' might bring up images of climbing winding mountain trails for hours under a canopy of trees. It's not quite that romantic here in our city.
Our city lake is a couple miles from our house and the only canopy we encounter are the clouds of bus exhaust. The only hills I encounter are the wheelchair access ramps on the city sidewalks. Well those should have been the only hills. I allowed Jake to lead the way yesterday. Note to self; When Jake smirks and says, "Do you want to try this way?" just say no. There is one man-made hill between us and the lake and the police station sits atop it. Jake's 'special way' to go to the lake was to ride next to the police station, all the way up the hill, then speed all the way down. I am no stranger to hills. My bike, ancient by today's standards, has twenty one speeds. Additionally, I know how to use them! Shift low for climbing, high for flat and downhill. I got this.
Earlier in our ride though, when I tried to shift higher, the derailer worked perfectly! It derailed the chain. I fixed that but decided to play around a little. When I tried to shift down, I could hear it trying to work. It was giving it the college try. But it never quite made it. So now I am faced with the dilemma of trying to ride up a hill that would require being in the lowest gear possible and my twenty one speed has turned into a seven speed. When I finally got to the top of the hill, huffing and puffing (but in no condition to try to blow down even a little piggy's house...not even the straw one) Jake started laughing! He said, "I can't believe you tried it!" Then he pointed down to the left. "There is the flat path around the hill!"
"Oh--- yeah----- Jake." huuuh huhhh "Real---- funny." Pheww huhhhhh "Do me a favor----call 911." ahhhhh haaaaaa "Tell Mom and Kristiana---- that I love them." I hope this is one of those stories that he tells about me later in life when he is talking about what a great guy I was.
So after we made it to the top of the hill, we were looking at the lake, and we started down. I used to say that I had earned the hill. When I worked my way up to the top of something large, I had earned the right to go speeding down. I always liked it when I had earned hills and I used to be pretty good, back in the day. I would ride my bike to the top of the mountain we have in town, speed all the way down, then ride fifteen miles to go visit friends all over the place. Friends who lived on top of hills! I used to do this! Now, I am having to consider if I should choose a) or b)!
I was looking forward to the backside of this hill I had just earned! Jake went down like a shot. Not to be outdone, I went down like a slightly more cautious shot...and my bike developed a wobble. First to one side, then the other, I slowed, I stopped. I know that feeling. It can only mean one thing. Slow leak. My back tire had started to go flat and we were about as far away as we had planned to go. I thought about doing a quick road-side repair until I remembered that Jake's new basketball needed to be pumped up and my bike pump was the best for the job. It was resting comfortably in the kitchen after completing its mission. I considered calling for back-up. Sylvia could bring the truck, we would load the bikes, problem solved. That didn't sound like a bike ride. I tried to see if the bike would make it one time around the lake before we had to go home. No such luck. I would be walking this thing in no time. We talked it over, we were disappointed that we couldn't go around but we decided that it would be best to start heading home. Jake had a student council meeting to get to so we were on a time crunch.
We made it home. I didn't have the energy to tackle the bike problem since I had to nurse my burning legs back to health. I will get to it soon. I want to add an alternate answer to the test question above. Soon I would like to be able to mark,
g) What do you mean too long? I rode it to work this morning!
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