Monday 28 October 2013

Re- Re-entry to cycling

Back to 1994....... life had moved on, now with a Mortgage hanging round my neck, and a growing family, work had somehow moved further away.... or so I thought. Commuting on a motorcycle is cheap and convenient.

Then comes July 1995, a story on the news about a thing called  "Le Tour De France" seems its some sort of bicycle race, and some guy called "Big Mig" was trying to win his Fifth Tour...I was intrigued as it reminded me of those early days riding as a kid and commuting by bike.

I began watching the TV highlights, and was starting to feel something, the bike bug was stirring again. I had no desire to take up any sort of racing, that was just going to be too hard. My bum hadn't seen a bicycle seat in years, nor had the bike seen daylight in the same time. Maybe with a bit of basic maintenance I could get the bike rolling again.

A couple of nights in the garage, after watching Le Tour highlights and a few new bits for the bike, and the old Royal Star was mobile again. What about me?  A gentle ride around the neighbourhood felt ok. It was good to get the bike and myself moving once more.... the cogs were turning....it felt like fun.

$64,000.00 Question......Should I ? Will I commute again??

I definitely wasn't in ant sort of fit condition to be able commute the full 40km to work, let alone the return 40km at the end of the day. Hmmm, how to approach the situation??
Could I survive the 5k ride to the nearest rail station and back home (all uphill of course) ..... reckon I'll wait for Saturday to try that out.... it'll give me all day Sunday to recuperate if necessary. Did I say I was out of condition?

I survived that 10k return ride, but it wasn't all smiles. Bits were chafed, other bits hurt, and there were new muscles aching. I didn't feel like this in my previous cycling life. Why?
The next Saturday I attempted that same ride, with the same results. Not good. I actually wanted to make a go of cycling again. Maybe a pair of nicks (like those guys in the Tour wear) and jersey as well, might be better for cycling than Jeans and t-shirt.
I immediately felt my comfort on the bike improve, gloves helped as well.
Time to try that 10k ride once more.




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