Me too! (I biked to work today) -- LONG

Moitz

I know you've all heard it before, but here's my me-too story:

I'm 26, 5'8", 185lbs, just quit smoking 3 months ago. I used
to ride A LOT back in my teenage years (30+ miles a day
road, and then hit some trails at night with some friends).
Needless to say, I didn't keep that up much after getting a
car. So at any rate, I'm pretty well versed with biking.

About 3 months ago, when my wife and I moved, I found my old
Trek road bike in a closet. I took it out, aired up the
tires and took it for a spin. Man oh man was I ever out of
shape. That whole illusion of "yeah, I smoke, but I'm still
in okay shape" was blown. I made it less than 3 blocks
before I nearly collapsed. But in those 3 blocks, I
remembered all the things I enjoyed about biking, and
thought "Hey, I could get used to this again!" So I started
riding a bit. The first "real" ride I went on lasted about a
mile. I thought I was going to die. I was sweating, panting,
legs shaking, the whole nine yards. Thankfully it started
raining so I had an excuse to give up and come home. A day
or so later, I tried a three mile loop. It took me the
better part of 40 minutes (with a few stops). Yikes.
Perseverance pays off though, and I tried it again...and
again...and again, until I wanted to puke just thinking
about seeing the same houses again. But my time had
DRASTICALLY improved. I was down to hammering it out in
around 15 minutes. I brought my ride up to 5.5 miles with no
ill effects. So I rode this for a week or so, maybe three
days a week. Then things started to get busy at home and at
work. I didn't find time to ride anymore, so I was down to
riding maybe once or twice a week, and I could feel myself
getting in old habits again.

Finally, I made the decision to bike part of my 108 mile round-
trip commute to work. With the help of Mapquest, I staked
out a route that seemed a little more promising than the
55mph 4 lane highway I would normally take. I drove it a few
times and it seemed fairly do-able. Decently wide shoulder,
not too busy, not too hilly, and about 13 miles from a park
that I can leave my car at to my office at work.

Friday I decided today was d-day. And promptly started
coming up with every excuse I could to NOT do it. My bike
needs a new seat. I should wait until I can afford some
clipless pedals and shoes. Should I buy another water
bottle? What about a Camel Back? Those tires are pretty bad.
I don't have a chain tool. It won't fit in my car. However,
by Sunday night I had pretty much exhausted excuses and
decided that what the heck, I'll take my cell phone with, if
I get stranded, I can call my boss or a co worker, since
they come pretty much the same way and have them give me a
lift. I packed up my backpack with my clothes, lunch,
wallet, cycle computer and security badge, loaded my bike
into my trunk and off I went.

I thought I was going to die. About 2 miles into this, I
realized not only had I forgotten to take my Advair (I have
chronic asthma), but I had also neglected to take my
emergency inhaler. It's 72 and so humid it looks like a
sauna, and it's going up to 90 today. But I press on.
Apparently I missed a few hills when I was scoping out this
route. Like, ALL the hills. Okay, granted, northern IL
isn't hilly, but I'm pretty out of shape, so anything over
3" tall looks like a hill to me at this point. However,
around mile 9 or so, things started to get a little easier.
My breathing evened out, my stroke started to smooth out,
and I didn't have to downshift as much on hills anymore.
Still had to stand to make it up some of them, though. I
stopped concentrating exclusively on the road immediately
ahead of me and started noticing birds...corn
fields...cows...that jackass in the red minivan who keeps
honking me and won't pass me.

So, at 8:21 a.m., 51:06 and 12.69 miles after I left my car,
I arrived at work, sweaty and awake. Now I'm trying to
figure out how to pump myself up for the ride BACK to my car
at 4:30 this afternoon in 90 degree temperatures. Yee hah.

Anyhow, here's my observations. First, I REALLY need a new
seat. That thing is just murder on my rear. Second, a
backpack isn't as uncomfortable or inhibiting as I thought
it'd be. Third, clipless pedals are a life saver. Toe clips
are damn near useless in my opinion. Finally, it's doable
for a good long while. I think if I make it back tonight
(not like I really have a choice, I kinda HAVE to get back
to my car), I can keep doing it for a long time to come and
REALLY get in shape again. Which makes me happy.

Anyhow, back to work. I'll give ya'll a follow-up tonight
and let you know how the return trip was.

-moitz-

Badger_south

On 12 Jul 2004 07:55:51 -0700, meuzelaj@hotmail.com (Moitz) wrote:

>Finally, I made the decision to bike part of my 108 mile
>round-trip commute to work.

Amazing! No wonder you put LONG in the subject!

I'd have had to start out the evening before to make it in.

-B Seriously, great story. Good job.

Roger Zoul

Moitz wrote:

:: Anyhow, back to work. I'll give ya'll a follow-up tonight
:: and let you know how the return trip was.

Good for you. I suggest you purchase some rain gear.

Fritz M

[meuzelaj@hotmail.com (Moitz) wrote about his commute.]

Thanks for the great story.

When I resumed commuting by bike a coupe of years ago after
a five year pause, I also thought I would die. If I wasn't
motivated by the fact that my car was in the shop for a few
days I probably would have quit. Today, I go almost
everywhere by bike.

RFM http://www.masoner.net/bike/

Mike Schwab

13 miles? This spring three times I rode home 50-60 miles,
getting home after midnight, then catching the 6am bus back
the next morning to get my truck.

Badger_South wrote:
>
> On 12 Jul 2004 07:55:51 -0700, meuzelaj@hotmail.com
> (Moitz) wrote:
>
> >Finally, I made the decision to bike part of my 108 mile
> >round-trip commute to work.
>
> Amazing! No wonder you put LONG in the subject!
>
> I'd have had to start out the evening before to make it
> in.
>
> -B Seriously, great story. Good job.