Last year I finally bought a bike. I’ve been thinking about it for years, but never was able to pull the trigger on the $1000 price tag for a halfway decent road bike, and the lack of storage space in my NYC apartment. Last summer I finally bit the bullet on both counts and have been sooooo happy. I really fell in love with bike riding. There is nothing better than a good ride in Central Park when the roads are not so crowded, or riding over the Williamsburg or Manhattan Bridges and riding through some of the emptier parts of Brooklyn towards Coney Island. The city has done remarkable work in the last couple of years in laying down bike lanes, and Transportation Alternatives is a great organization for promoting biking, bike safety, etc, in NYC.
Last year when I ran the Scotland Run 10K, I got to Central Park super early, and was able to watch a bike race in progress. Through some research I was able to find that it was a biathlon sponsored by New York Triathlon. It looked like a lot of fun. Once I got my bike and trained up for it, I participated in their Central Park Biathlon race. 2 mile run, 12 mile bike (2 loops around Central Park) and then another 2 mile run. It was a lot more intense than I thought it would be. When I got off the bike, I felt that I could hardly walk, let along run 2 miles. I was looking forward to the next year when I could improve on that effort. Shortly after the new year, I signed up for the first biathlon of the season, the March Madness Biathlon. Great plan. Except, the race is next week and I have not yet gotten on the bike this year! It is not going to be fun. After work today I managed to get out on the bike and do a quick 4 mile hard ride up and down 1st and 2nd aves to loosen up the muscles a bit – despite the still sore shoulder, slight head cold and very windy conditions outside. On Saturday, I’m registered for the Savvy Cyclist class, run by Bike New York. In the class, I’ll hopefully learn how to maintain my bike, change a flat, etc. I’ll report back on how it goes.
Anyway, I’m glad I got out on the bike today, glad I’m taking the class on Saturday, and a little scared about the biathlon next weekend. Fun, fun, fun. I’ll try to get a run in tomorrow morning, since it’s now been more than a week since my last run.
