It's one of those days of false spring, when the snow is almost gone and the temp is reaching towards 50 degrees. I love and hate these days. Love them because, well, who wouldn't love a bonus day of not-having-to-wear-a-down-parka before April is officially here. Hate them because they are so tempting, so full of false hope. "Look, Spring!" they say to me. "Get out your sandals and get a pedicure. Pack away those winter things like hats and pants." After 6 years in the Midwest, I've learned not to listen too closely. One day of 50 is not a promise that my vitamins-D and -E deficient pasty skin will soon be fortified against acne with a healthy summer tan. It does not mean that it won't snow again.
It does mean that I can get my bike back out of the basement for at least one day of tooling around town. I'm a fair-weather biker. I have tons of respect and a little awe for the people who are crazy/dedicated/skilled enough to bike through Madison all winter long, but I like being reasonably warm, and reasonably not dead too much to contemplate doing it.
I love biking. I feel so strong and confident and capable when I'm out on my bike. I don't have to worry about finding a parking spot. I'm not reliant on bus schedules. It makes me feel free in that little-kid way of running across a sandy beach to get splashed by the frigid pacific waves and loving every sparkling, salty minute of it.
I've had the same hybrid for 6 years now. It's a good, sturdy bike. It was a great fit for me when I first moved here. It gets me around town, it's comfy, it built my confidence in my physical ability to be more than just an occasional rider of bikes. Now that 2+ years of yoga have strengthened my legs and improved my balance, I'm tempted by the idea of a road bike. A lot of my friends do a lot of long-distance riding during the summer. I went on one medium-distance ride with them last year - just 20 miles or so, and I loved it. It was the best Saturday ever. But my bike isn't built for longer distances than that - it's too heavy and upright, and so my muscles don't work very efficiently to power it. A 60 mile-ride is out of the question, unless I magically wake up one morning and find myself in better shape than Lance Armstrong. But I've got spring fever, and I've got it bad, and the idea of spending more glorious sunny Saturdays with friends riding along beautifully green bike routes to small rural towns for breakfasts and picnics, exploring and enjoying Wisconsin, is making me drool.
And so, I dream wistfully of road bikes, but tentatively so. I'm not the most adventurous person, nor do I always keep up with hobbies that I get interested in. See: pottery, stained glass, violin. Now the thing with the other hobbies, is that I could invest in them slowly, buying only enough materials or studio time for the current project, so when I lost interest, I didn't have a lot of residuals. But if I want to do more/ longer rides, I have to get a bike. I have to get a bike that fits my body. I'm not one to make big purchases on an impulse, so we'll see if it ever happens. But for now, it's on my mind a lot. Especially when I should be doing more productive things. Like grading. (gah).
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Regina, you sound like me. I have no bike, but have also been thinking about road bikes for a while, 2+ years actually, also because I want to go long distances and join midnight riding clubs and blah. And I also haven't taken the plunge to purchasing a bike because I don't know if it'll be a hobby that sticks and it's a big purchase.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one of these days we'll hold each other's hands and take the plunge together and promise to ride a lot together.
Redline!!! They have affordable ones for adults that actually fit short people (although it's worth it to take it to the bike shop and have them put a shorter stem on it if you, like me, have longer legs than your torso thinks you should.)
ReplyDeleteBonus-no curly handlebar-face in the mud syndrome-instead you get straight and also those upright angled ones at the end.
drawback-starting price is still pretty pricey for grad students.
Check craigslist and used bike shops.