Taking a Bike Ride

As I mentioned in my last post, when I was in my walking boot this spring, I was unable to go for a walk, but my doctor said that I could ride an exercise bike instead. We have one in our basement, so I would hop on it and ride for what felt like an excruciatingly prolonged session, only to look at my watch and find that it had only, in fact, been three minutes. It was terrible! I had to start watching a TV show so that I would forget about the fact that I was riding a bike to nowhere in my basement. I did not look forward to riding the exercise bike, and it was only the show that kept me going. 

So, in my opinion, if you're going to ride a bike, it has to be outside and it has to take you somewhere. However, not all of my outdoor bike rides have been pleasant. Once when we were in New York City, we rented bikes in the South Seaport neighborhood to ride along the Hudson River Greenway. It really was a lovely ride with nice scenery. But things started to go off the rails when we decided to keep biking to Central Park. The dedicated bike path ended, so we were in the midst of NYC traffic, it was farther than we had anticipated, and I was wearing jean shorts, which I would not advise. By the time we got back to the bike rental place, it was closed for the day, which meant we had to ride the bikes over to Brooklyn where we were staying! I may have cried a little as I made my way over the bridge on a tandem bike with an 8 year old that was barely pedaling. And, the next morning, the thought of riding those bikes back over the bridge had me asking Pete what the penalty would be if we just abandoned the bikes and went on with our lives. It was not a plan that he wanted to pursue. 

But the real point of this story is that yesterday afternoon, Margaret and I decided to go on a bike ride, and it was quite delightful! We rode on the bike path in our neighborhood which is shady and pleasantly flat, making for a nice, easy ride. We paused for a break at a small quarried lake and then headed back home. On the way, we passed several deer and some fluffy goslings out for a stroll with their mom. Granted, the deer and geese in our neighborhood are a bit of a nuisance, but when you're looking for joy and romanticizing life, you try not to think about that and see them instead as cute creatures!

The moral of the story is this: A bike ride in your basement that takes you nowhere is bad. A bike ride outside that goes on for too long while you are in jean shorts is also bad. But, an outdoor bike ride in appropriate clothing for a reasonable amount of time is delightful!