Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Lapse

I realize I've been a negligent writer on this blog. Don't worry though, I've been slightly better about my bicycle training, though only just. Kyle suggested that I post an entry that said "Grad School and the Job Search take up all of my time. The End." but I'd rather apologize whilst writing an actual entry. (That's right, I said "whilst.")

I'll begin by admitting that I haven't ridden my bicycle outdoors for over a month now, for a few reasons. I was getting tired of my two main long-distance routes, which then became one main route because I forget the specifics of the second and yet never remembered to consult a map. (This is why Kyle is planning our cross country route.) I tried to discover new routes but every attempt landed me in a bad part of town with only a vague idea of how to get out. (Again, I should never navigate.) Then one Thursday evening my friend was biking in town and was attacked by a group of teenagers who shoved him off of his bike into the road. He got away with only some prominent scrapes and bruises and his bike and belongings still in tow, but it was a rather unexpected and harrowing experience. Needless to say the story shook me up as well, especially since my rides either take me into much less safe areas of town or on country roads with no shoulder and few houses to go to for help. I started to be skittish about riding for hours by myself - and let's not forget the dog incident that initially taught me the dangers of solitary riding - but I couldn't find any feasible riding partners. I also felt pressed for time since outdoor rides had to be completed before sundown, which was coming earlier every day, and also needed to be scheduled carefully; I couldn't risk getting lost and coming home half an hour late if I had class or work to attend.

Luckily UVA has excellent fitness facilities, so I've been riding indoors a few times a week. All of their stationary equiptment is programmed to stop after half an hour so that no one monopolizes the machines; this quirk gives me a nice stretch every half hour but makes it hard to keep track of statistics. I need get back into lifting weights as well so I suppose I could use that to break up the half hour sets. The best part of stationary riding is that I can read. I can't focus well enough on readings for class but it's nice to read for pleasure without feeling guilty about wasted time. My first bike books were Blade Runner and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and now I'm working my way through collections of short stories. It's a pleasant way to pass the time, and I always put the book down for the last 10 minutes so that I can do some interval training before the bike forces me into a cool down. I still really need to step it up, however, if I want to be ready to ride across the country by this summer. Not that I actually believe I'll ever be ready to ride across the country.

I still lament the fact that I'm wasting months of excellent riding weather (not to mention my new bike shorts) but for now it's better than nothing.

| posted at: 09:36 | permanent link and comments

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