I finally broke it out...my dusty bike. I've been putting it off for I dreaded the hard work of getting back into shape. I just could not imagine putting up with the pain of pushing hills when I knew I had allowed my weight to get over 50 pounds greater than what is optimal for me. It came on slowly, the weight, until finally I found myself almost glued to the couch. But my heart has always been excited about biking. My parents gave me my first ten speed in 1962. It was a time when those types of bikes were very, very rare. It was actually professional in quality and to a degree too large for me. But, I managed and off I went. Learning to shift took some tears and trials and my father's patience I will for ever be thankful for. Once I got the hang of it I became mesmerized by the speed and distance. At the ripe old age of 10 I rode fifteen miles from my home in Denver to the Rocky Mountain foot hills and back. My folks never knew. I remember no fear and always knowing where I was. All of a sudden I could go places my parents took us in a car. I LOVED IT! I have ridden bicycles seriously ever since. At one time in my late 30's and early 40's I was riding nearly 300 miles per week. Not a lot of people do that. Talk about being in shape. Health matters have slowed me down some and the complexities of life too. My love for the bicycle has not abated.
I remember being challenged to a race by a fellow named Ray. He was the neighborhood bully. Looking back I now understand that he was jealous of the new kid's bike. He too had a ten speed, but it was a toy by comparison to mine. It had only 26 inch wheels and had knobby tires. Mine had full 27 inch wheels and I had what are called sew up racing tires. Though his bike was smaller it was perhaps 40% heavier. The most important thing was that mine was geared much, much higher. With his smaller wheels and lower gear ratios Ray took off to an early lead. Since the race was around a huge suburban block (over one half mile) I was not worried. My dad had taught me about gearing and strategy. I reeled good old Ray in at about the half way point. When I passed him I was just hitting my stride. I looked at him and knew he was exhausted. I proceeded to bury him. He was so far behind me when I passed the finish line, where all of my friends and his victims were, it was a joke. When Ray finished he didn't stop. He went right home...I think to avoid shame and to throw up. What a day, what a race, what a memory. That my friends was 45 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was never bullied by Ray, though he had opportunity. He never spoke to me again. I was all right with that. He never knew what hit him...ha, ha.
I am riding again. I hope to get back some of my discipline. I saw a T-shirt one time that said, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." There is some truth to that . I am continually reminding myself of that thought as I ride while out of shape. It hurts pretty badly. But, with each successive day the pain becomes less and less and my average speed and pushable gear ratios go higher and higher. So far I have ridden about 150 miles in the past two weeks. That is not much, but I am breaking through. I'll be in the 150 mile per week range in about another week or so. Perhaps I'll be able to do 300 in a week again, but not as quickly as before. I am now ten pounds down with another 40 to go. The hurt now feels good.
Discipline is something that we are told we need to live a full and productive life. In a future post I'll talk about discipline from a biblical basis. There is something mysterious about being a teen aged person. When a teen many of us feel that discipline is painful and must be avoided at almost all costs. There is an element of submission in it that we chafe at. Life is so much easier when you don't have to work at anything on a regular basis. Doing what you want to do and no more seems to be the goal. Acting in obedience to what someone else thinks is right causes us to dig our heals in. Yet, Scripture certainly points to discipline as necessary. As we grow older we realize that life without some level of discipline is most difficult if not impossible.
In the mean time I am going to continue to push those pedals. I can not wait until all that weakness has left my body and that extra weight too. To get a bicycle that is lighter by a pound or two over another bike could cost $200 per pound more. Just think how much money I'll be saving by loosing the extra weight that I am carrying around my middle section. Why, if I loose 50 pounds it will feel like I am riding a bicycle that costs perhaps $10,000! Wow, wouldn't that be great! Something tells me that the physics of bike riding won't work out exactly that way (I'll have to talk to my old friend Andrew about that), but it is fun to dream.
I remember being challenged to a race by a fellow named Ray. He was the neighborhood bully. Looking back I now understand that he was jealous of the new kid's bike. He too had a ten speed, but it was a toy by comparison to mine. It had only 26 inch wheels and had knobby tires. Mine had full 27 inch wheels and I had what are called sew up racing tires. Though his bike was smaller it was perhaps 40% heavier. The most important thing was that mine was geared much, much higher. With his smaller wheels and lower gear ratios Ray took off to an early lead. Since the race was around a huge suburban block (over one half mile) I was not worried. My dad had taught me about gearing and strategy. I reeled good old Ray in at about the half way point. When I passed him I was just hitting my stride. I looked at him and knew he was exhausted. I proceeded to bury him. He was so far behind me when I passed the finish line, where all of my friends and his victims were, it was a joke. When Ray finished he didn't stop. He went right home...I think to avoid shame and to throw up. What a day, what a race, what a memory. That my friends was 45 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was never bullied by Ray, though he had opportunity. He never spoke to me again. I was all right with that. He never knew what hit him...ha, ha.
I am riding again. I hope to get back some of my discipline. I saw a T-shirt one time that said, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." There is some truth to that . I am continually reminding myself of that thought as I ride while out of shape. It hurts pretty badly. But, with each successive day the pain becomes less and less and my average speed and pushable gear ratios go higher and higher. So far I have ridden about 150 miles in the past two weeks. That is not much, but I am breaking through. I'll be in the 150 mile per week range in about another week or so. Perhaps I'll be able to do 300 in a week again, but not as quickly as before. I am now ten pounds down with another 40 to go. The hurt now feels good.
Discipline is something that we are told we need to live a full and productive life. In a future post I'll talk about discipline from a biblical basis. There is something mysterious about being a teen aged person. When a teen many of us feel that discipline is painful and must be avoided at almost all costs. There is an element of submission in it that we chafe at. Life is so much easier when you don't have to work at anything on a regular basis. Doing what you want to do and no more seems to be the goal. Acting in obedience to what someone else thinks is right causes us to dig our heals in. Yet, Scripture certainly points to discipline as necessary. As we grow older we realize that life without some level of discipline is most difficult if not impossible.
In the mean time I am going to continue to push those pedals. I can not wait until all that weakness has left my body and that extra weight too. To get a bicycle that is lighter by a pound or two over another bike could cost $200 per pound more. Just think how much money I'll be saving by loosing the extra weight that I am carrying around my middle section. Why, if I loose 50 pounds it will feel like I am riding a bicycle that costs perhaps $10,000! Wow, wouldn't that be great! Something tells me that the physics of bike riding won't work out exactly that way (I'll have to talk to my old friend Andrew about that), but it is fun to dream.
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