It feels miraculous to ride in the sunshine.
Today's high was in the mid-60s, and it looks like it will be that way through much of the next several days. I am taking it slow. I rode a mile down the road today to meet a friend for coffee. She hasn't been riding all that much either, so we've promised each other to work our way up to a half-hour social ride together later in the spring.
I'm not going far, and I'm not going fast. My thighs burn when I start out and I'm taking it really slow for now.
The whole stretching thing has always eluded me. Even when I was racing a decade ago, I never learned how to stretch properly. But clearly there's a need for me to learn a few basic stretches and use them before and after every ride, because if I don't my knees hurt afterwards. At my age, that's not going away. So I'll ask my doctor for a few good leg and foot stretches to help me loosen up a little.
But once I got going today, it was nice. Cold in the morning, but sunny. Everything is blooming right now -- daffodils, dandelions (ugh, the mowing!), and the first leaves of the tulips are coming up. In a few weeks the daffodils will fade and the irises will come in. I love riding during the spring here, and even if I don't go very far from home, there's still a lot to see.
I've started working VERY part-time at a synagogue in NW Portland, once a month. As part of my learning, I'm going to one Saturday morning service a month and just sitting in back, following along and learning a new prayerbook. My goal is that, before the summer's over, I'll be strong enough to ride all the way there, a distance of about six miles. If I don't make the goal I won't beat myself up (that's what Trimet is for!), but it's just a nice idea of returning to something I used to be able to do.
Today was lovely. I'll hope to get another ride in this weekend.
2 comments:
I love this Beth and am so happy for you to be getting out for some Spring time weather. Slow and steady is the key I believe.
Thanks for letting us know your progress.
Hello Beth (I think that's your name), I ran across one of your posts regarding Burley Design products, and where they're manufactured. I worked at Burley for 22 years, and except for the last couple of years, I loved it and couldn't wait to get to work every day. In retrospect I'm amazed at the quiet death of Burley Design Co-operative, and the lack of coverage of a truly democratic and wonderful place to make a living. I believe that under the right circumstances, an enterprise like Burley could be competitive and still offer U.S. made products. Perhaps we'll meet someday and have a nice chat? I'm in Keizer.
Don George
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