The cool thing I can report is that on Sunday night Daniel and I went to a movie and dinner. We rode our bikes to the movie theater at the mall, about six miles, enjoyed the movie, then rode all the way back into the heart of Blacksburg, ate dinner, then rode back home again. We covered about fourteen miles total! The ride out to the mall went a lot faster than either of us anticipated and neither of us was significantly tired or uncomfortable after the ride. And I woke up yesterday and didn't have any soreness or tiredness from it. So I'm definitely in better condition than I've been on past attempts at riding the length of the Huckleberry Trail. The ride was surprisingly pleasant -- we enjoyed just hanging out together on our bikes. We've never done something like that before.
I also discovered that my bike is much faster than Daniel's. I ride a road/racing bike and he rides a mountain-style bike. I knew his bike was heavier than mine and that mine ought to be faster in principle, but we hadn't ever tested it out, and I figured he's bigger and stronger than I am so it would even out. His strength allowed him to get up steep hills almost as fast as me, but on downhills he'd be pedaling, I'd be coasting, and I'd still either have to brake or go flying by him! It was kind of fun, though probably a bit frustrating for him. I didn't really break a sweat the whole way to the mall, but he was melting when we got there.
Yesterday I walked to Kroger instead of riding my bike -- I figured I would get more exercise that way and Cecilia really prefers the stroller to the trailer. But it's a big nuisance to get home with a heavy load in the stroller, and I was dripping with sweat by the time we got there. (It's even more annoying since the closer entrance to the shopping center is blocked off by construction -- you have to go up and down an extra set of hills.) So I may end up biking there more than walking.
We did drive to church on Sunday, of course, and yesterday I had to drive to take dinner to a friend of mine who recently had a baby (six miles, the last two of which are straight uphill, which the kids could never handle and I'm not sure I could manage, especially with the trailer), so on the way back I stopped by Daniel's office (it really was on the way) and ended up giving him a ride home. That was the first time he'd taken a car to or from work in over a week (yay, Daniel!). Today he drove again because he had some errands to do from work. But we're doing very well so far at car avoidance!
4 comments:
Good for you! I am so impressed that you are sticking with this. I droved a friend home from work yesterday. She lives in the town homes over on the other side of Reisterstown Road. I had looked at those houses when they were first being built (1999 when we bought my house). They are very nice - but the best thing about them is that there is so much more within comfortable walking distance from them - the grocery store, banks, library, etc. Oh well. My current house envy is still a 1930-1950 era cape cod or cottage. I SO want one!
You realize the entire neighborhood behind me is late '40s-early '50s cape cods, right? We looked at one when we bought our house but we knew we'd outgrow it too quickly. At the time they were going for $150k -- the one we saw was four bedrooms, as they'd raised the roof on the back to add an extra. These days, who knows? Our house has nearly doubled in value. I don't think there are any of the little Cape Cods on the market right now, though.
Good for you with all that walking and biking! Daniel could switch tires to something less nubby and get a lot more speed.
I'd like to go back to a road bike, but they are hard to find unless you can spend a lot of money. Most places the best you can do is a hybrid (which is what mine is) that's just like a scaled down mountain bike. My favorite is still my old touring bike with a nice stable frame, comfortable handlebars, and not totally smooth tires so you get a bit more traction and control than regular road tires without the drag of mountain bike tires.
There is a cape cod in Westminster for $265k that is right near the main street of Westminster. With the exception of work - which would be twice as far away EVERYTHING would be within walking distance; movies, grocery, church, library, restaurants, etc. It would be ideal.
Post a Comment