You wouldn't believe the mental benefits of riding a bicycle. Wednesday had me coming home four hours early because it was slow. This surprised me since I figured I'm the only one who works from 8-5 then I would almost never get sent home early during the work week.
Needless to say I started reading into things, getting paranoid about finances and other needless bullshit. A little after 2:30 p.m. I got on my bike and went downtown. The idea of riding all the way back to work struck me as an interesting challenge. What was I going to do with my afternoon besides masturbate, play Nethack and eat like a god damned pig?
My route was from my place on Weber down Cache la Poudre then down to Wahsatch and down Dale towards the Birdhouse. I almost stopped by to say hello but thought the better of it since Jaybird's weekends are his weekends. He has Wednesdays and Thursdays off from work. I went left on Corona and rode up Williamette towards Weber. Soon I was on Bijou where I got my big fucking idea about riding to work.
Funny thing, the last time I thought about riding my bike to work was when my old car died last year in late January, early February. I barely made it to Hancock before turning around in defeat.
Bijou was the best route since Platte is a busy thorofare and Bijou runs parallel but the traffic is relatively light in comparison. It's uphill all the way and I'm riding away from the mountains. Eastwards, that is. I only dismounted when I was about a mile away from work. The walk wasn't that far so I don't feel like I cheated myself out of any exercise, I only walked until I reached the top of the hill right before Circle. By now my legs felt like they weighed a ton, my throat was dry and I was starting to get an ache in my side.
I turned left at Chelton because the big valley between it and Academy looked far too menacing for my body. I zipped down Platte, turned onto the little side street and dismounted once again in front of the place where I bought my car. Work was only five minutes away and the clock in front of work said it was 3:32 p.m..
Once I parked my bike, I walked around back and went inside to get a drink of water from the sink. Three handfuls of water later I was pacing around the building so my body doesn't get shocked by the abrupt cessation of physical activity. A deep breath later and I was biking through the parking lot for Team Chevrolet and down Bijou on my way back home.
My route was similar, I turned right onto Hancock and rode towards Cache la Poudre then down towards Corona, left onto Yampa then up to Weber and home again. Jesus fucking Christ, I can't believe I made it and I didn't even have any chest pains. Plus my back didn't give out!
A few Augusts ago, my back gave out something fierce requiring a trip to the emergency room over at Memorial Hospital. The situation was brought on by overexerting myself while riding my bike. The route I took back in August of 2003 is peanuts compared to my riding over hill and dale.
As soon as I locked up my bike, I walked around the block to cool down from my trip. Now I'm tired, my legs feel like they're on fire and I'm hoping my strength and endurance have increased in some measure. My head feels alright, all those mental hysterics are gone leaving me with the fat, smelly reality of my overexerted body.
Where's the joy in doing a button mashing game to build up some video game character's endurance, strength and cycling skill when one could just go outside, bike and better oneself?
Someday I hope to ride a century. That's one hundred miles to you and me. Right now I only have plans on riding ten miles every two weeks. Once those rides become as simple and effortless like my jaunts on Tuesday and Thursday to the Birdhouse, I'll see about increasing my range. I doubt I'm ever going to bike to work considering all the broads in my office are highly sensitive to smells and I'm a big, fat, hairy, smelly guy. Especially after a lot of exercise.
My wish is that Colorado Springs had the same air pressure but the gravity was greater by a quarter. It'd be great to go home after living in that kind of environment and be a superman compared to those lowlanders back east.
Christ, I'm tired but happy.
