Since January, I've been taking a lap swimming class twice a week through Tucson's Parks and Recreation. I love to swim and this class has been a great way for me to build some stamina and release some stress. As part of my new resolution to kick the car habit as much as possible, this morning I decided I'd ride my bike to my swimming class and then ride work. Which I did. Which means riding my bike at 5:oo in the morning because my swimming class is at the ungodly hour of 5:30. This also means riding my bike to work after an hour of swimming. Needless to say, by the time I got to work this morning, I was starving. If it had taken me any longer to open my containers of yogurt and granola, I probably would have resorted to eating the plants in my office. Also, I still had to ride to home--I think I'm going sleep really good tonight. And probably have sore legs tomorrow. I wish that my body could respond as instantly to my desire to bike everywhere as quickly as I've decided that this is something I should do; I can hardly wait until the day when I can bike, plus swim, plus ride home and not feel completely wiped.
On the other hand, now that I've done it once, I know it can be done and I'm feeling even more encouraged to bike whenever I can. Which leads to the shamefully geeky thought I had today as I was contemplating the wonderfulness of my bicycle: wouldn't it be great if you could choose as bicycle as your mount in World of Warcraft?! You could ride around smiting the forces of evil from your slick, two wheeled steed that didn't require the upkeep of horse but still moved you efficiently from point A to point B and didn't pollute the world with those mechanical chickens or whatever they are! AND!! you could have a bicycle helmet for your head, like a bike helmet +50 to armor, +100 to intellect (because you'd made the intelligent choice to ride a bike!), and +200 to stamina (because think of all that extra exercise you'd be getting!)!! It would be sooooooo kewl.
I would particularly enjoy, in real life, the ability to keep my bicycle in a slot in my backpack, to be summoned whenever I need it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not even awake at 5:30, isn't it beautiful to ride in the morning? I loved riding in today at 8, there was a nice wind (a tail wind, thankfully, or it wouldn't have been so nice), and it's still pretty quiet.
I am so jealous. Auckland is not the best city for biking; it's too hilly (okay, that's a wimp excuse), the roads are too narrow with few bike lanes, and most importantly the drivers don't care about or know how to deal with cyclists at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved here, I took my bike (a Gilmour I imported from Tucson!) to a bike shop for service and walked it across a busy street on the way back home. Someone turning out of a side street clipped my rear wheel. This was minor for her but resulted in a complete replacement of the wheel. Thankfully she paid for it.
Since then, I'll only ride to and from the gym in the mornings...so I'm glad to hear that you're taking advantage of those LOVELY Tucson roads and cycling more often.
Oh, and hello from New Zealand! :)
Hi Kelly! Nice to hear from you. I've been lurking on Steamed Puddings for a while : ) so it's really fun see you here--thanks!
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