Preparation of the ride

Previously published: Saturday, May 5, 2012

Getting ready for my long-awaited bike ride has become more of a chore than I could have imagined. Even though I had just purchased some gym shoes before my surgery, the swelling in my toe wouldn’t allow me to wear them. Just having a bike to ride hasn’t been enough. After two months of sitting, the air had seeped out of the tires. I discovered after I placed a dollar's worth of quarters into the air machine at a local gas station, that it didn't have the correct air pump needle. Egad! What is this? I had to purchase a helmet, front and back lights, and new earphones. What happened to the ones I bought last month? Cinco de Mayo for me was riding around the five-mile track twice in 45 minutes. It seemed easy enough until I stopped. My hamstrings were singing a new song called “Oh nothing but the pain of hamstrings,” (sung to the tune of Nothing but the blood of Jesus) As I contemplated what I had just accomplished. I looked around and there was no one to share it with, At that triumphant moment I wished that there was at least one person to share this amazing experience with.