Saturday Biking to the Market
I have finally lost a pant size. Maybe two, my biggest pants were damn tight.
My recovery and travel times are getting better. I don’t need to keel over when I am done.
I’m learning how to finesse shifting, which is a big part of getting up slopes without having to get off and push the bike, but not feeling like throwing up, either.
I’m getting the feel for pushing off, so I’m getting over my fear of falling over on starting up. (Did that once, hurt myself badly, got no assistance from passers-by.)
I’m definitely smaller and more flexible. A month ago, I could barely fit into the truck’s jumpseat, and I could barely get out again. Today, I got in, was reasonably comfortable, and unfolded back out again.
Today’s ride was about 4 miles round trip. The route has uphill and downhill slopes each way. There are no sidewalks, really, but there is a well-worn hard dirt path. Going was pretty easy; I had daylight and empty baskets. Returning was a challenge:
It was dark.
The terrain was uneven.
My rear baskets are attached to my seat post, and when they’re full, the seat will not stay at the right (high) height and pedaling becomes very inefficient. Have to change how the basket attaches. Having it attached to the part of the seat post that has to be raised and lowered is dumb. (I did not install it, and I don’t know what the bike shop guys were thinking.*)
Fifty-ish pounds of groceries on board.
And headed into a 17mph wind.
Getting back was an adventure.
Back to work!
*ETA: Never mind. I fixed it. The clamp had loosened. Must remember that things always loosen, and need tightening. Except for–well, never mind.
February 8th, 2009 at 7:59 am
We go with out a car for several weeks of our vacation. Riding with bags full of food is the hard, and then wind can really drag you down. But bike shopping cuts you down to what is really needed (lowers our wine consumption some). Fortunately half the ride to the grocery stores is on a bike path that is a former railroad track (flat, flat, flat).
February 8th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Yah, about half my ride is downhill slopes (both ways).
It was a totally good experience! Riding a bike makes me feel independent. Cars have been a huge headache in my life. It’s great now that the lack of one isn’t depressing or makes me housebound.
I now know that four of any kind of large bottle is my max. Last night, I had four 2-liters and a gallon of milk. I ended up tying the bread carefully to the rack between my baskets.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Oh I wish I could bike like that to do my grocery shopping. Unfortunately, I live more than 8 miles from the nearest grocery store, and it’s all on a major US highway where drivers love to drive way over the speed limit and get into accidents all the time; biking is simply too risky. As long as we live out here, I’ll be stuck driving. But GOOD FOR YOU! You’re doing fantastically well!
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:34 am
[...] A little less than four weeks ago, I bought myself jeans a size smaller than the ones I’d bought sometime in December. When I bought the new jeans in December, I tried the next size down and couldn’t button them. On Fberuary 7th, I bought the size I couldn’t button. [...]