I love cycling.
When I was a teenager I received a green ten speed Huffy bike for Christmas. It became my escape. When I would get into a spat with one of my siblings or felt wronged by my parents I would get on the bike and ride. At first I would just tool around our neighborhood. There were two loops I could take around Edgewood Acres. One was three quarters of a mile, the other just a bit over a mile. I would see how fast I could go, allowing the wind in my face to blow away the anger or frustration that was boiling inside.
Before long I worked up the courage to expand my loop through the next neighborhood then back along the highway, "Fair Road" as it is still known in Statesboro.
Sometimes I would ride to my dad's office - just a mile or so away across Fair Road to the edge of the Georgia Southern campus. I loved riding through campus. I'd fly around Sweetheart Circle, imagining the college girls were all looking my way, wondering who the speedy cyclist was. I was impressive. Just off of Sweetheart Circle was the school I attended through ninth grade - Marvin Pittman Laboratory School - so named because it was connected to Georgia Southern (formerly named Georgia Teacher's College). It was literally a lab for Education students at Georgia Southern, complete with two way mirrors looking into each classroom. Students from the college could observe children "unseen" behind the glass. It seems rather creepy to me now.
When I was in eighth grade my art teacher taught me the trick of getting into the school after hours. All you had to do with kick the bottom of the door, pushing it inward, then jerk it opened. I would go into the art classroom to make pottery on weekends. It was also a great stress reliever for me.
Sometimes I would ride to my girlfriend's house. It seemed like it was forever away. However, Google Maps tells me that it was only 2.07 miles from my driveway to hers. She never seemed to mind me showing up at her house all sweaty from the ride. I later married that girl.
My favorite thing to do was race cars on Fair Road. I would ride up to campus to a traffic light at the pinnacle of a slight incline. I would wait for the light to turn red, stopping traffic. Then when the light turned green I would speed away from the stopped cars trying to get farther along down the road before they caught and passed me. In those days I didn't have a speedometer for my bike. I have no idea how fast I was actually going. However, some days I would ride alongside cars for a half mile or so. The speed limit was 35 mph on that stretch. I'd like to think I was going at least that fast. I felt like I was flying.
I still love that feeling.
I don't know what happened to that old green Huffy. I wish I had it now. I would transform it into a fixie - a single speed bike with a fixed rear wheel. The rear hub is locked. If the pedals and the rear wheel turn together. There are no brakes on most fixies. You stop by slowing down the pedal speed.
I bought my next bike while we were living in the Atlanta area about 20 years ago. My wife was not keen on my spending $500+ on a bike, so I bought an off the rack bike at Sports Authority. It was not nearly what I wanted, but it would roll. I rode it a bit, but could not find decent routes where we lived. Eventually it gathered dust in my garage - until we moved to Athens. The year I came to Athens as one of the campus ministers the BCM began Ride for Christ, a bike ride from Athens to Jacksonville, Florida over fall break. After riding a few miles one year the students got me to commit to ride the whole way - all 289 miles - the next year. I upgraded the bike before that long ride, moving the shifters from the downtube to the brake levers. After going the whole way on that old bike I convinced my wife to let me buy a new one. OK, I had to buy her a Grand Piano first, but I did get a sweet carbon fiber Giant OCR!
My brother has the old bike now. He borrowed it a few years back, but has found the hills in Hoover, Alabama a bit too much of a challenge to endure. Perhaps I should get it back to turn it into a fixie?
After back to back mishaps between the OCR on my roof rack I was in need of a new bike. With the help of Jimmy the owner of Sunshine Cycles, one of our amazing Ride for Christ sponsors, I was able to buy a new carbon bike at a steep discount. I now ride a carbon Giant TCR-1. I have upgraded it through the years with Speedplay clipless pedals, a better saddle, profile aero bars, and a Garmin GPS cycling computer with a heart rate monitor. The later was requested by my doctor. For some reason he wants to track my heart rate on long workouts.
Perhaps the coolest cycling experience has been riding with my son. He begged to accompany me on Ride for Christ for years. We promised he could go with us when he turned 12. However, after the university cut a day from Fall break it looked like we would have to cancel the trip. Nick as only 10 years old for what we thought was going to be the last ride. I built him a small bike (using parts off of my "broken" OCR). We trained together for several months, eventually working up to riding 35 miles together. It was so much fun getting to know him while riding and learning how to motivate him when he thought he was completely spent. Each year we train together before the ride. Being a teenager he does not need as much training as I do. His body has energy reserves that I can only wish were still available to me.
I try to ride two to three times a week now. I'm determined to keep riding even through the winter. For Christmas I received lots of cold weather cycling clothing. I made a trek to the Pearl Izumi outlet in Dawsonville and came home with a bag full of goodies. Tossing them to my wife I said, "If anyone needs Christmas ideas for me they can choose from this!" While I didn't get many surprises this year, I am set for the cold.
Even when I don't feel like getting out for exercise I am always glad I do. I saw a few meme's that capture the reasons I like to ride. One featured a dog hanging out of a car window. The text read, "Only cyclists understand why dogs like to ride with their heads out of the window." The other meme pictured a child on a bike, streamers flapping in the wind, a huge expression of joy on her face beneath a cockeyed helmet. The text proclaimed, "I still get this feeling every time I ride my bike."
There is nothing quite like feeling the wind in my face traveling 40 miles an hour downhill! There is nothing quite like heading out for a two hour ride, just me and my bike. It is such a contemplative, healing experience for me. When the endorphins kick in after 45 minutes on the bike I feel on top of the world!
Sometimes I listen to music while I ride. Sometimes I think. Sometimes I pray. Sometimes I just ride.
I love cycling! I think I'll go for a ride....
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