Tour de Force

With my ankle taking a beating so to speak, I haven't been up to my full capacity of running. I had to come up with something new and Jim had the key...biking. I think he just wants me to ditch running so I quit asking him to join me. So, I begged my parents to give me their bike since they don't use it anymore and they obliged.

My parents finally delivered the bike last weekend. At first, I was intimidated to ride the bike. It has gears. It has devices. It's not the hot pink Lady BMX I had as a kid. It was a complicated machine ready to train athletes on how to win the Tour de France. I mean, it expected you to wear a helmet. The boys that I grew up with would have laughed at me if I wore a helmet on our biking adventures.

My new bike...what should I name him?

It was really windy weather all weekend long, which further helped my procrastination. But finally on Sunday, I went for it. I put on my yellow helmet and matching sunglasses and set off.

Lance Armstrong, eat your heart out!

The plan was to start in the parking lot of my apartment to get a feel of the bike before I set off on the roads with the cars and traffic. After a few spins around (is it fair to call it spinning?), I rode out of the apartment and on to the main roads.

Thankfully, our area is bike friendly. We may have roads with craters in it, but we have a bike path.

I'm so used to the laws where the bikers share the road with the cars, but they created bike paths on the sidewalks. Very nice and big.

Really cool picture.

I wasn't sure about the gears. I just kept fiddling with them until I felt like I had a gear that worked for me. I picked the lower, heavier one instead of the higher one that felt like I was biking fast without actually going anywhere. I didn't know really where to ride, but I ended up at the Reliant Stadium.

Actually, thats the old Astrodome...the 8th Wonder of the World.

I turned around and rode all the way to the freeway. Then, I rode home. I'm not sure how many miles I biked, but it seemed like a lot. I remembered thinking how this biking thing is not really working for me, but then towards the end, my legs felt it. 

After the bike ride.

Proof I was on a bike.

I haven't decided yet if I like it better than running, but I did enjoy it. I liked looking around and seeing the houses. I haven't mastered taking a picture while biking like Sheryl Yvette, because I managed to take a lot of pictures of my chest area. I'm still learning. 

I haven't been able to bike or run or exercise all week due to this weird vertigo illness. So, hopefully, I can get out for something this weekend.