Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Now I really am Just Cycling Along...

Meet Black Beauty:

Black Beauty. So named because she is black. I am clever like that.


A bit of background. At my latest appointment with my BFF I pushed for the hard limit of what running I can do. Due to my googling, I figured with the stims it was pretty non-existent. So, despite my manifesto from a few months ago, I quit running again. But it was driving me bonkers. By this time of year, I am usually signed up for at least one race a month, and it is what D and I refer to as my free Prozac. It keeps me calm (although, lest you think I am all sporty, I remind you (a) My dog walks faster than I run,  (b) I consider donut eating a competitive sport as well.) Anyhoo - I was right. The doctor said absolutely no running. He said the bouncing could twist my ovary and require surgery. Worst scenerio, I could lose an ovary. No thanks. I may love running, but not enough to have surgery for (and not that this having-a-baby thing is going so well that I can be caviler with my reproductive organs).

In its stead, the doc recommended the elliptical, walking and biking. D, in his need to be ever optimistic, immediately took me to the local bike shop and bought me a bike so I could get my outdoor sweat on.
Again, lest you think I am athletic...

It has been approximately 20 years since I have ridden a bike. And even then, it was done infrequently. I would bike with my sister, but that was only when you could pry my pasty, introverted self off the couch from a marathon Babysitter's Club session or the latest Sweet Valley Middle School book. Which is to say, not often. While yes, I did get past the training wheel stage, I never got to the 10 speed or mountain biking stage. The last bike I rode may or may not have involved streamers.

However, I was not to be daunted. Not even when the bike seller told me I was too tall for a girl's bike. I (wobbly) hopped aboard the proffered men's bike and peddled my way around the lot. D has shot video that he threatens to post on  youtube if I am not nice to him. Whoever coined the saying, "it's like riding a bike" obviously has never taken twenty years off. I was tempted to ask the bike seller if adult training wheels were "a thing". But eventually, I got the hang of it. And, although it came down between two, Black Beauty was the winner. On her, I felt more stable. On her, I felt less likely to meet my untimely demise.

So now, I bike. I've gone out 3 or 4 times since we bought her (due partially to desire, and partially to the guilt I have spending hundreds of dollars on a whim) and I get more confident each time. The biggest problem I am having is the abundance of wild life. Chipmunks and squirrels just don't get out of the way for a bike the way they do for a car. I thought for sure I was going to flatten one or two yesterday, but my squeals of terror must have been  enough to make them scurry out of the path of destruction. 

I am assuming, at some point, I will get past my fear of winding up like a bug on a windshield, or having visions of going over the handle bars and losing a tooth (while all those years of reading did not make me athletic, they did give me a very good visual imagination). But despite my reservations, I am enjoying it for now and it feels good to be outside. Of course, I am also hoping that this is a short lived hobby and that soon a prominent belly will get in the way of my biking.*

So how about you? Anyone else out there pick up a new hobby on the way to baby? Especially one that happens to dove-tail so nicely with your blog name?

* to clarify, I hope the belly will come from pregnancy, not the aforementioned competitive donut eating.


2 comments:

  1. I was too thinking about buying a bike. We rock climb just about every weekend but once we start our next IVF cycle that just isn't going to happen so I was thinking that biking might be a good choice!

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    1. It seems good so far! It just seems like it takes such a longer amount of time to get the equivalent amount of workout. However, D points out that if I played with the gears a little, I might figure out how to actually make it more of a challenge!

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