Boy am I slow...

[wackyjacky1]

My speed hovers at about 8 mph which is wonderful when you consider I was a former couch potato only one week ago riding a sofa at 0 mph.

Most awesome thing I've read all day!


PS I'm a former couch potato and current 8-9 mph-er, too.

[pardes]

Thanks for all your lovely response to me digging up this old post about "being slow."

I'm on vacation today and I did 8.6 miles today on the bike.... bus to downtown Newark - do half the miles around U of Delaware campus and the Hall Rail to Trail - bus to the grocery store and then bus home on the next bus.

It was only 8.6 miles but it was Mt. Everest to me. Here's the scenic half.



The view was quiet and spectacular on the Hall Trail.



At midpoint is the old Newark train station that is now home to the Newark Historical Society. That's my Trek before I loaded down the empty pannier with groceries.



I took another bus to the grocery store that is about 3 miles from home. This was my first grocery run with the bike and it was interesting trying to guess how much the pannier would hold.

As I strolled the aisles, I realized that on this trek to the summit, I really needed a sherpa. Then I remembered, Sherpa was patiently waiting outside strapped to a grocery cart corral.



The load filled three plastic grocery bags but I sat down like a bag lady and found that it all fit in the back pannier. I didn't even have to put anything in the front bag. Amazing! I have the regular grocery pannier at home but the set of 2 are too heavy and cumbersone to use daily on the bike. I save the clunkers for going to the laundromat or for when I'll be going directly to the grocery store and back. This Sunlite pannier doubles as my work attache case and is always on the bike or at work with me in the lab.

Meanwhile, I managed to miss the bus home.....possibly on purpose to see if I could actually bike a very heavy load home for the remaining 3 or so miles. I stopped halfway for iced tea since I'd drained my water bottle on the Hall Trail in 90 degree weather.



The icing on the cake came only a block away from my house. I was panting and trudging up a miniscule hill when I saw a female pro biker coming in the opposite direction. She did a double take and then said, "Hey you really ARE out and about!"

She was a pro biker I met at the LBS the day I bought the bike a week ago. She does very long distance rides and regaled me with stories of biking UP and down and UP and down the Blue Ridge Parkway. She was full of encouragement and ideas about purchases for my new bike and I wondered that day if she really thought I'd take biking seriously and hibernate back to the couch.

I felt wonderful pulling into my garage. Sherpa is such a good friend, non-judgemental and always willing to lag behind with me.

I'm exhausted. Time for bed!

[platys]

That is so awesome. I have grocery shopping goals, but its about 2 miles away and I need to find a non busy way to go. And there's a hill.

My little 0.6 ride to the train station is killing me, I'm so out of shape. But some of it is getting comfy on my bike - I accidentally missed a turn and went over a little curb . I was like "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH" until I realized I was on a mountain bike, for heaven's sake. It likes bumps. I was barely jolted.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I love reading your stories of your beginning rides.

Hey ladies, do remember that when you are doing city type riding, you are stopping and going a LOT- stopping for lights, stop signs, intersections, traffic, stores... all this combines to bring your average speed WAY down. Don't let that bother you in the least! Someone zooming down a highway or bike trail with no stops or intersections is going to go 5 times faster easily.

You guys are making biking a part of your everyday lifestyle and using your bikes for actual transportation instead of cars, which I think is ultimately cooler than just doing recreational rides. Wonderful!

[rij73]

Pardes, you are doing GREAT!!! You are an inspiration, actually...

[mimitabby]

yea, Pardes! great story. It's nice to have another wise woman on TE.

[wackyjacky1]

Not bike-related, but Pardes, your story about grocery shopping reminds me of one time when I went to the store on my old moped. As I was going up and down the aisles filling up my cart, I completely forgot that I wasn't in my car. It wasn't until I was checking out that I realized I had bought waaaaay to much stuff, including an 11-lb. bucket of kitty litter, a bag of charcoal, a 12-pack of Coke, etc. Somehow I managed to strap it all on my moped, and lurched home (the center of gravity was completely thrown off).



Thank goodness for that custom rear cargo carrier.

[danadear]

Pardes, you are doing GREAT!!! You are an inspiration, actually...

1! You are a great storyteller and you make me want to get out and ride right this moment!

[pardes]

My next challenge is to figure out how to attach my camera/video in a shock-absorbing manner to my Trek and video some segments to encourage other senior pleasure riders to the scenic beauty spots hidden within our East Coast urban sprawl in northern Delaware.

Fortunately the camera store is right acorss the street from the LBS where both stores are extremely helpful and where they look forward to pleasure-riding increasingly strange questions. "I would like a button installed on my handlebar that when pushed will extend and reach into passing cars and smack the drivers who ride my rear tire."

In this area I'm able to pursue two hobbies: biking and researching the late 1600's settlements, particularly New Castle, Delaware where ladies, believe it or not, the only woman in America, Catherine Bevan, was both hanged and burned at the stake for allegedly killing her husband with the aid of her young male servant. In those days killing your husband was called "petit treason."

Packet Alley is a particular "haunting" spot.



A house on the cobblestone road.



Faithful friend frozen in time.



Reproduction of the Kalmar Nykel at the dock. I went for a ride on it and can't believe it how small it was to cross the ocean and bring Swedish immigrants to this area.



It's a town that makes you reflective of both your past and your future....

Historic Delaware

In these historic places,
there are spirits everywhere--
those we discover looking back at us
through a mullioned window
and those we bring with us.
It's our choice
whether that will be
a haunting
or a blessing.

Pardes