Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Time to RIDE!!!

I forget what a pure joy it can be to just "ride" on my bike.  It is nothing like running (which to me is similar to being crushed  and set on fire simultaneously).  Instead, riding is like the feeling of precision ball bearings rolling along a track.  It is therapeutic, giving me time to focus on just one thing, the road ahead. 

The idea of just being "out there", with only your mind to keep you company... The thrill of the miles rolling by below you, and the concept of being completely self powered is exhilarating.  I got up early Saturday morning to get a little riding in.  I woke up at 8, ate breakfast and was on my bike tackling the streets within 20 short minutes. After a few challenging hills, I was a few miles along, my lungs were clear, my heart was racing and my endorphins were pumping as I crested a large hill.  After a short break, I started down the backside and coasting along reached 34 mph.  It was still 6 miles to get back home, and most of it on a slight, long incline, but I didn't care.  

All said and done, about 10 miles, in about 45 minutes.  On Sunday? Another 23 miles come and gone.  And this weekend I am riding in the Bike New York, 5 Borough Tour.  42 Miles of racing around the city... through midtown, to the bronx, down the FDR, back in to Queens, the BQE in to Brooklyn, over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island and the ferry back to Manhattan.  It is my first year doing it, and I am very excited.

Now my only concern is that I never have enough time for biking.