You know the joke about older folks sometimes make about how "When we were young, we had to walk 10 miles to school, and it was uphill! Both ways!" Well, I kind of feel like I just did that on my bicycle.
I went for a bike ride this evening with my husband and our friends Rob, Steve, and TC. Rob had come up with a route in advance, and he did tell us it had lots of hills. Now granted, it wasn't as bad as going through the Pyrenees on the Tour de France, but it was definitely a hilly ride!
I had been doing really well on my last few rides - so well, in fact, that I had been keeping my bike in 2/7 gear for entire rides, hills and all. But tonight I was forced to admit defeat and shift into lower gears on some of the hills. I went as low as 2/4, going about 5 mph, and I was still huffing and puffing! But despite my struggles, I was actually the first one to get to the top of some of the hills. So that made me feel better (at least mentally).
At one point in our journey, we ended up at a nearby drag strip. In the past, the guys have driven on the track while they're out for a ride - it's a nice empty road to pedal on, and it even forms a semi oval, so it's sort of like a velodrome. (Now, how many of you are going to look up that word? ;-))
Even though the track was empty, there were some people there, sitting in chairs under one of those "tarps held up by poles" things. (I simply can't think of the right word for that contraption! I guess I'm burned out after using 'velodrome.' :-)) We were worried they were going to chase us off the track, but they paid us no mind.
Then as we started riding down the track, Steve noticed something on the adjacent track, so everyone stopped and went over to look at it. I thought it was going to be baby animals or something cute, but instead it was several rows of quarters, laid out for hundreds of yards along the ground.
Then one of the people who was sitting under the "thingamajig" (it's 10 pm and I'm tired - I give up on that word!) came over towards us. I thought we were going to get yelled at, but instead she smiled and asked if we had any quarters to add to the path. We all started scrambling through pockets and bike bags, but we travel pretty light, and no one had any quarters. As we were searching, we asked her what the quarters were for, and she said it was a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. They're hoping to have a mile-long path of quarters tomorrow evening (when a big racing event will be taking place), which will be used to help feed needy people in the local area. She said this year they've been feeding about twice as many people as they did last year, which, given the current economic conditions, is not surprising. As she was talking, Rob found a dollar in his pocket, and he crumpled it up and threw it to her (she was about 30 feet from us). She laughed, thanked him, and said she would put four quarters down on the path to represent his contribution.
As we continued to apologize for not having more money to contribute, she said to me, "You can give me your bike!" She was joking, of course, but then she went on to say that she had just gotten a Trek hybrid bike about a year ago, and she loved it, but then she let her son take it to college, and someone stole it. She asked me where I got my bike, and I told her I got it at Cole's Bicycle Shop in Carlisle, and how friendly and helpful everyone is there.
I was surprised she didn't know about Cole's, since it's been around for years, but then we found out she just moved to Carlisle eight weeks ago, from Maine! And get this - she came from the same town that Steve and his wife had lived in several years ago, and knew of the amusement park Rob worked at up there many years ago! Talk about a small world!
We chatted with her a while longer, and then we finally resumed our ride. As we rode away, I remarked to Steve about what a amazing coincidence that was, going to a practically-deserted drag strip and meeting someone who just moved from the same town in Maine where he had lived. He agreed and said he really does believe in the "six degrees of separation" concept. And I think I agree with him too!
OK, so back to the ride. We ended up going back on one of the hilly roads we rode on earlier, only from the other direction, the hill was even steeper! I actually whimpered a little as I went up the hill. What makes it worse for me is that as of yet, I'm still unable to stand up and pedal - I'm just not coordinated or balanced enough. I did try for a couple of seconds, but I was just too wobbly, and I had to sit down again. However, I guess that means I probably got an even better workout!
When we finally ended the ride, the sun was setting, and my odometer read 17.5 miles. So that was my longest ride yet - and definitely the toughest! And, I actually went to the gym earlier in the afternoon and did a little workout on weight machines, so I got a LOT of exercise today!
I was kind of complaining as we went up the hills - mostly the later ones - but as is always the case when I exercise, when I'm finished, I never regret it. And I did stretch a lot when I got home, so I'm hoping I won't regret it tomorrow either! :-)
OK, as I said before, I'm pretty tired, so I need to end this. Good night! :-)
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