Back on the Bike, Back at the Keyboard

So...six days into May 2013, I finally noticed that it's Bike Month here in Austin.

Without knowing it, I had actually already started participating last week, though it was an observance just about as embarrassing as it was unwitting.

Despite a cold, biting wind on the evening of May 2nd, I took a stab at Austin's popular Thursday Night Social Ride. I wasn't because I knew about the holiday month just kicking off, it was just a desire to get out on the road and stretch my legs a little bit - it has been months since I did any serious riding.



It's also been months since I did any serious writing on this page...almost a year really.  For the last few weeks I've been telling myself repeatedly that I need to get back into the regular practice of both my old hobbies, and though I tend to do a terrible job of listening to myself, that internal nagging finally motivated me to get out and push some pedals with the social cycling crew.

How the hell does this happen?

The problem of course is that I was horribly out of practice, out of shape, and by midway through the ride, out of gas.  A few miles in and riding up our first hill, my legs started to feel  the burn...a good burn, I kept reminding myself. But a few miles later as I started to slow down and drift toward the back of the pack, I had a mishap where my coat got caught up in my rear brakes. This took me forever to fix, and when I finally did, just as I was about to catch up to the rear guard of the social riders, I got caught at a red light and watched my lifelines back to the group fade into the distance, gone for the rest of that night. I rolled back to my car solo, feeling a small degree of shame but also the satisfaction that I had put in about 14 miles and ended my hiatus.

I didn't figure to be out on two wheels again for another couple weeks, but then at work today I saw the Bike Month news, and that internal nagging started up again. So this evening I pushed myself out there again, and put in another dozen miles around north Austin.

Tonight's Route

It felt great, really invigorating, and I even braved a stretch of road that has always intimidated the hell out of me - Highway 360 in West Austin.  I know hundreds of bikers jam out those big swooping hills every single day no big deal, but for me just doing one was a big milestone. Now I'm determined to keep feeding that voice inside that's motivating me to stay active, even if it takes a made-up holiday to actually get me off my ass and in the saddle. I may not end up riding every single day in May, but I'm certainly going to try.  I'm also going to try and spend more time writing some about my two-wheeled adventures this month, and hopefully the purposeful effort will continue in both areas even after May 2013 is long gone.

Rolling on Highway 360