Starting to ride

With weight loss comes a desire to improve my overall quality of life. I've been looking to outdoor activities to improve my fitness.

I started jogging and running, but it's difficult for someone who is out of shape to begin running. I'm still too big, it's hard on my knees and body.

It's also a little tedious.  There's a building. 10 minutes later, there's another building.

Carabiner stuck in my derailleur.
I got my bike out, and started biking, and found it much easier physically, and more exciting. The scenery rushed towards me at a faster pace.  I got to see more of the city, and from a new perspective.

I started biking to the local coffee shop in the morning, and occasionally, to the not so local coffee shop.

Bike month came and went, but soon, a week of perfect weather came in, and I decided to bike to work.   I picked out a route, tried to determine how much time I'd need, and doubled it.

I got lost, took forever, sweated a bit, and had fun. I saw some geese, I took a path less traveled, I waved and said hello to my neighbors. I made it to work and back, 26 miles round trip.

I started picking up fliers for distance cycling events at the local bike shops. I picked out a few I liked, 20-30 mile events, showed up, met some folks, and did the ride.

I went to Columbus for their BikeFest weekend, doing a Friday afternoon tour of the city, camping out at a local state park, and then went out for another ride Saturday.

I booked a weekend at the local bike hub - Xenia, OH, the center of 5 long distance state paths. I camped out on the fairgrounds for a weekend, each day taking a different trail in a different direction. The 'big' ride for me was a fifty mile from Xenia down to Fort Ancient and back.

By the end of the year, I'm hoping to complete a 'century' ride - the cyclists version of a marathon - 100 miles.


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