I purchased a used Trek hybrid bicycle from a friend of mine and started to ride that bike around the neighborhood. Wow! It wasn’t that bad. I have not forgotten how to ride. I am now ready for a longer ride. I chose the Bulldog Bike Ride as my first challenge. They had 25, 32, and 50-mile routes. I should be able to do 25 miles.
As the ride started on Saturday, February 16th, 2008, 8:30 am, it was cloudy and had about 700 riders. My adrenaline really started pumping. Breathing very heavy, oh no! Getting tired already and have not even made to the first rest stop. Once the bike traffic thinned out, I finally started to relax and my breathing slowed down. One thing that I immediately noticed was that I was putting lot of effort and was being effortlessly passed by folks that had really nice road bikes. I did happen to pass by a guy that was riding a mountain bike (looked kind of similar to mine). He said something about he will not get a flat. I said, “me too”.
I felt good at 15-mile mark and decided to go for the 50-mile route. What a mistake! My ego got better of me. After 30 miles, I was totally exhausted. Every mile after that was very difficult. Around mile 40, it started to rain and head-wind. I finished at 12:30 pm. It took me four hours, but seemed much longer.
The lesson that I learned from the Bulldog ride was: if I am going to do MS150 and 180 miles on a bike, I need to purchase a good road bike. I have so much to learn.
