7.75
I went on a very long bicycle ride last night, just me and my closest 4000 MP3s.
I've been trying out a few different bike paths these past few weeks to see where they go and how far I can push my not-as-horridly-overweight-as-last-summer body.
Two weeks ago I went for 45 minutes. Much like the very long walk I did last summer with the dog, I kept telling myself, "just a little further," until I was extremely far away and still had to get back home. Not terribly smart, but I see nothing wrong with playing mental games to trick my body into exercising. Hey, at least I'm exercising.
Last night I did something similar but knew in advance I would go further than my body really wanted. But then that happens every time I get on my bike: my body really doesn't want to go further than from the front door to the car.
At one point I was going up this incredibly non-steep hill and I shifted down. And then down some more. Down, down, until I couldn't shift down any further. Being the third such incline I had had to face, I was determined to NOT WALK my bike up the teeny hill.
I got to the top, triumphant, and immediately felt like I was going to puke. Nice, Valette. But THEN! I didn't puke! Go me!
After the ride I recounted the amount of tuneage I went through and came up with an awful number: 72 minutes.
One. Hour. And. Twelve. Minutes.
Then, both for kicks and to see how slowly I can push my body mass around, B and I drove the route I had just ridden. It was approximate seeing as how we couldn't drive directly on the bike path (I have my paint job to think about), but we came up with 9.2 miles.
Which is 7.75 miles per hour.
I know this because we worked it out on a napkin while waiting for our greasy Chicago-style pizzas to be done. Worked out in LONG HAND DIVISION, no less, so everyone including the busboy could follow along how sloth-like I can be.
I mean, I've heard about racing cyclist going, like, 30 mph, but those people are freaks who have unlawful relations with their bikes. And I don't like my bicycle that much.
A steady 7.75 mph doesn't sound so bad. Right?
2005
8 Love Notes
that's marvellous considering I probably wouldn't manage 3 mph.
go you - I've been considering a stationary bike in my basement, that way if I go to far one way, I don't have to worry about peddling back :D
sounds like you need a permission slip to get a handheld GPS unit that will tell you the exact distance, route and speed of your outings. I have one that I take on walks. helps to know how far you have gone and just how much further you should go each time. i can accurately add a few tenths of a mile to each outing.
Sadly, I don't think that is an option. Maybe if I were more serious about it, and maybe if B went out and bought one for hunting/fishing/geeking purposes I would steal it after many dissapointed-in-you looks.
Damn girl, you got it going on!
That's not bad at all, Rhap. Since I've been in WA I've become far more aquainted with my mountain bike, but haven't gotten into road biking too much. I've been thinking about it, though, and you might have just inspired me. I mean, if you can do it in frozen-tundra-land where you have to worry about Polar Bears, surely I can do it in it-rains-every-freaking-day-land, where I have no such concerns. :)
I could export some polar bears and and a few penguins if you think it would help.
Personally I'm more impressed with the long-hand division feat. =-)
I was really impressed by the number of responses. 7, wait, make that 8. *g*
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