I had a pretty awesome ride today. I rode a little over six miles, on a completely new route, to my supervisor’s house for his “going-away” barbecue (although he’s not going to leave for a few weeks yet).
It was a nice ride, except that I actually rode a little over seven miles because I got lost, sort of, on the way there. Ha! So, a little over 12 miles today… and I barely even felt it. I could have done another 12 no problem, I think. Provided I did have a break halfway through… but I’m feeling more comfortable and confident in my riding ability. I think the fact that I climb a long, semi-steep hill every day on my commute has really helped me in my “training.” Which is also weird because I never think about “training” as a cyclist or anything like that.
To me, cycling is something that I do not because of some goal- be it getting in shape or riding a certain speed, or doing some big event. It’s something I do to save myself from getting inside a car. It’s just what I like to do.
That said, I don’t ride 20 miles a day or anything. I pretty much stay within a neighborhood or two of where I live, and everything is pretty compact and convenient. Which is great, because it doesn’t take me very long to get anywhere. But it’s also bad, because it means I’m not in the saddle as long as I could be. Because I do want to be a strong cyclist. What if I want to visit the Red Hook Brewery? Or somewhere like that. I wouldn’t want to drive my car to get there, with all the crazies out there on the highway. Also, riding is fun and I’d just like to do more of it.
On the plus side, it looks like we’re probably going to be buying a home sometime in the next 6 months plus, which will probably be much farther away from work. That will naturally get me used to riding for longer periods of time.
