This past Monday, I tried something slightly whack:
I biked to the gym, did an hour of Muay Thai, then biked home.
What I mean by “slightly whack” is that I haven’t biked more than maybe 3km in well over ten years. From my home to the gym is about 15km each way1 bike trails that include some moderate hills.
Oh, and it was a little over 30C outside when I left.
How did it turn out in the end? Good. Real good, actually. The next morning I actually felt pretty ok.
Most of the reason I felt good was that, as I was cruising along at a moderate pace, listening to music (with my earbuds set to Transparency and the media volume low), I found myself noticing the amount of people outside. While my legs were burning2 and my shoulders were starting to ache3, seeing all these folks out in the fresh air gave me a boost.
There were so many people biking, from jacked up roadies to old folks just going their own pace and living their best life. There were kids on scooters and people walking, solo and in groups. There were joggers and those who were just sitting on the grass near the beaches along the river reading, chatting, napping, or just watching the world go by.
In the larger public areas there were groups barbecuing at the provided BBQ pits. Kids playing frisbee or tossing balls around, or chasing each other around and just generally being kids. The adults were gathered and chatting.
The only time I noticed phones was when people were taking pictures.
Now I’m sure more than a few were probably staring at their phones more frequently than others, but it was uplifting to witness a large amount of people outside doing non-Internet activities. And it made me realize that I’d much rather be out and about on my bike than spending any amount of time reading what people are on about on the Internet.
Note: Post “Featured Image” by me. I paused on the way home to rest my legs and snap a picture of the sunset. They kayaker drifted into frame. Gift horses and all that.
- In my mid twenties I was a bicycle courier. But, unlike the rest of the couriers, I didn’t live in the downtown core. I lived about 15km outside of the core. For about three years, every morning, Monday to Friday, I would bike downtown. Then I would zip around picking up and delivering packages for eight hours (well, factoring in down time, I would average maybe 6 hours of actual riding and walking). Then I would bike home. The thought of doing that today makes me shudder. ↩︎
- It was my thighs telling me that I probably need to adjust the height of my saddle. ↩︎
- Two things here. First, I need to explore raising my handlebars as I’m too hunched over and it puts strain on my neck after a while. Second, the backpack I have all my shit in is not really designed for bike trips. Also having heavy shit on my back doesn’t really help me considering I spent the better part of the winter going to physio for back pain. So maybe panniers? I don’t know – still investigating. ↩︎