Day 1

Day 1 - 1/23/09

Today I did my first ride.  I was graciously given a bike by my friend Becca today and it really felt as though the wheels were turning on this great adventure of mine.  The bike is a, in Becca’s words “cheepo Schwinn Bike” it has a lady’s cross bar that slops down so a dress wont get caught? Is that really necessary any more? (for some people I guess) it is a metallic blue and white frame.  It has 21 speeds and is RUSTY!!!  All the gears are that wonderful brown but it WORKS!!!! And that is the important thing.   I walked the flat tire bike down Beacon street to Cambridge bike shop and met Dave.  He was my first introduction to what this bike can offer.  He said that it needs a tune up and he can do that for me for 55 bucks.  Me being more interested in just getting the tires filled up rather than paying someone to do something that I really should learn anyways said “thank you but I don’t have the money for that right now…you think that it will ride?”  After him reassuring me that it will ride he offers some information on what kind of bike I am going to need for my trip.  A tour Bike.  That is what I need A TOUR BIKE. (ANY BODY GOT ONE?!?!)  My new friend Dave said that a Tour bike is the most versatile bike and for what I want to do, it will get the job done.  He listed off some names of Bike Brands that he trusts, which of course I don’t remember, and sent me on my way.  After that he went back to doing his thing as I filled up the tires and set off on my first ride down busy Beacon street….WITHOUT A HELMET!!!!!! I need to get me one of those…And my god, having really only biked  on the “busy streets” of Boise Idaho and the Back roads of Southern France (we’ll talk more later), I thought I was going to die.  There was a bike lane that was taken up by all the cars parked on the side of the road and sharing a lane with a Boston driver is more like sharing a seat with your fat uncle Albert, There isn’t enough room for the two of you and Albert is sure as hell not going to move (no offence to anybody that actually has a fat uncle Albert, but hey if you do you really know what I mean).  After surviving my 9 min. bike ride to my apartment (1.1 m) I carried my bike to my apartment and sat it down in my kitchen, took a deep breath in, feeling the burn in my calves, knowing that this is going to be my life. After a brief stay at my apartment I road my bike to Allston  (1.5 m) where I get to play games with this amazing four year old kid named Oliver.  And that was the end to my first day back on the Bike. What a start, right!

TOTAL DISTANCE FOR DAY (TDD) : 2.6 miles

TOTAL TIME FOR THE DAY (TTD) : 20 min

(I walked my bike back from Allston Because I was on the cell phone)