Freedom

The other day at work I had a phone conversation with a woman about many different topics on cycling. Initially it was just a call for a simple warranty part, but it turned out to be a half hour phone call. Among many other things, we talked about the topic of riding tandems with our significant others, the appeal of old bikes, and our habit of browsing bike shops even when we don’t need anything. However, it came up in the conversation how she couldn’t get her teenage kids out on their bikes even though she and her husband were very active cyclists. We basically shared our disappointment that kids today just don’t have the same relationship with a bike as kids of generations before.

I’ll be the first to say that I – growing up in the generation of TV, Nintendo, and early computers – probably didn’t ride my bike as much as some other kids, but at least I did. I knew someone in college that never even learned how to ride a bike! This was so appalling to me (and as well to others) because learning to ride a bike is a universal rite of passage. You learn to talk, you learn to walk, you learn to drink out of a big cup, and you learn how to ride a bike. (Ok, maybe there are a few others in there.) While as the others only welcome you on your way to adulthood, learning to bike gives you something much more – FREEDOM. For me it was freedom to ride over to my Grandma’s house, jump a dirt pile in the back yard, and do whatever else on two wheels. For others living in a city, it was maybe leaving home on your bike in the morning with some friends, getting into trouble on the other side of town, and biking back home just in time for dinner. With a bike, you could go anywhere and do anything.

That night on the bike ride home, I decided to ride with some of my coworkers toward downtown just to have a bit more of a ride instead of going straight home. Originally I said I would just turn around at the first place the bike path crossed a road, but then I kept going. My turn-around point kept get pushed further and further and eventually I just said, “It’s going to be easier if I just ride downtown and loop back home on another path.” Upon reaching downtown, my coworkers split off to go home and I was left to enjoy my ride. I figured that since I was downtown I could ride through campus and say hello to my wife. Even though we saw each other for just a few minutes it was worth seeing her surprised face. I then journeyed back to the apartment pedaling on bike path or zigzagging my way through suburban streets. It was one of those rides where I got off the bike, walked into the garage, and, having so many different emotions and thoughts in my head, just nodded and said, “Yeah…that was good.”

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.”

- HG Wells

Catching Up

Now this is sad. I know I haven't updated this in quite awhile, but February? Really, it's been that long?? I was thinking more along the lines of sometime in March...

Well maybe I should do a quick list of some of the major things that have happened since then:

- Crazylegs Classic, April 25th - an annual 8K in Madison that I did with a friend of mine (at that time also Joan's roommate) It was quite fun for me to run in the rain (always love it) but she needed some convincing.

- Madison Marathon, May 24th - Days and weeks after the race, I kept referring to it as a "non-event," which should be considered odd for a race of 26.2 miles. Working up to race day, I was getting burned out on running - so much that I didn't care. I also didn't train enough, mostly not long enough. The actual marathon went great...for the first half anyway. I felt great for the first 13.1 miles, but then got to the halfway marker to realize I went out too fast. If I remember right, I was about 10 minutes ahead of where I should have been. From then on it was just a mix of running/waddling/walking to the finish. My end time was 4:50:30, my worst marathon time, not far from an hour behind what I ran at Marine Corps. Oh well, at least I finished.

- Biking to work - Yes, not really an event like the others, yet something to be talked about. Although, I didn't bike everyday through the summer, I did do it pretty consistently through July and August. I always wanted to start bike commuting more but just never did it. However, after my car got a flat tire one weekend, it just pushed me over the edge. I was just sick of dealing with my car. I haven't been so good about biking in lately, but I'm hoping to jump back on track this week. I'm also trying to fix up Ol' Blue (my old '78 Schwinn Traveler) to be my main commuting bike so I don't always beat up my nicer road bike.

- Dousman Duathlon, Sept 20th - This was probably my highlight of the season. I had never done a multi-sport race before so I didn't really know what to expect. The race was comprised of a 2 mile run, a 20 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. Conservatively, I was hoping for a time of a time around 1 hour and 40 minutes. The first run leg I probably ran too fast, but I was pulling back the reigns some to keep enough gas for the rest of the race. Looking back I could have made the fist transition faster, but being my first race I just wanted to take my time and not get caught up in racing. My bike leg was awesome, passing a lot of people along the way. I knew the biking was going to be my strong part, but I was just flying. It really felt good to be passing all the tri-geeks on their super bikes with aero-bars and carbon deep-rim wheels, especially since I was just using my normal road bike and my normal training wheels. Gaining confidence from the great bike ride, I sped up my transition and got running as quick as I could. Running after biking always hurts and this was no exception. My legs were dead but I just kept going. As long as I was passing just as many people as were passing me than I was doing good. During the last mile, I was coughing and dry heaving, but I just shook it off. I did have a final sprint for the finish line, as I always do in a race, but not as long of a sprint as usual. Still I finished with a time of 1:35:24, a time that I was quite excited about.

Well I think that gets things caught up for the most part. I did want to write more, but I think I'll do that in another post that I promise to do soon...