Way out of shape... EDIT: Reposted?
Sep. 5th, 2014 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carlfoxmartenIt has come to my attention that I've already posted something like this, though there are a few updates and some addition information.
Feel free to ignore this post if you want.
It has recently been demonstrated just how out-of-shape I really am.
(no, I have not been vainly hoping that I'm in shape...)
My first real bike I got about twenty years ago, and was probably the very first thing I ever won.
(and probably the only large item I've ever won)
It was too big when I first got it, and too small to properly ride now, but it has also suffered somewhat in the intervening years.
For example, it was in our first minivan when it spontaneously caught fire (but survived with only a minor coating from the smoke), it has never been lubricated, it has never been serviced at all, save for replacing a couple of brake pads and one of the brake lines, and it has never been washed much, save for a quick clean after the fire.
On the other hand, despite it being a mountain bike, I've never ridden it very hard, or very far, so it hasn't had much wear on it.
Unfortunately, it is now too small, etc, for me to use, so I need to get rid of it soon.
Fortunately, my sister found a couple of recent mountain bikes somebody was going to throw away because they didn't need them anymore, so my brother and I now have matching bikes.
They're Dunlop FS-767 mountain bikes.
It's actually a pretty spiffy bike.
V-brakes (at least, I think that's what they're called), front shock absorbers, twist-type gear shifters (with numbers to help me keep track of what speed I'm on), and it's hardly been used, which can be demonstrated by the fact that the tires still have those weird bits of rubber sticking out all over...
There are a few things I'd like to add on to make it easier to work with, such as mudguards (yes, it doesn't have those), a water bottle holder (yep, still don't have one), some sort of saddlebags (yeah, no storage on this thing), and perhaps a drink holder (you certainly can get them, and it would be rather handy).
Now for the real problem.
I'm out of shape.
I used to ride. Honest.
But ever since I started university, oh, wow, ten years ago, I haven't.
So, while my body still knows how to manoeuvre a bike and keep upright, on track, etc, my legs have forgotten how much work it is just to stay moving.
Of course, the terrain around here certainly doesn't help me at all.
While it's great that there are streets at half-block intervals, there is a distinct hill upwards from East to West, and while it isn't really all that steep, it's hell on my legs.
(over 1.62km, it's a rise of 17.275m, or on average a 1% grade. Not that it is in any way a flat grade...)
Apparently I'm so out-of-shape that merely going West even one block is enough to tire me significantly.
So much so, in fact, that on my very first ride on the new bike (which was an ill-chosen 10km, intended to be a round-trip to the nearest ice cream place) I was very tired for three days afterwards.
I'd had to pause to rest about 5km into it, which was mostly due to the fact that 4.5km of it was very flat, suddenly rising in the last half a kilometre.
After that, I paused at the first Tim Horton's I reached and had something to eat.
The nice thing about having a brother who's currently in a pretty good exercise regime is that he is then available to give advice on how to recover from such things.
In particular, after a good workout, protein is very important, and meat being the best at helping to repair muscle tissue damaged by strenuous exercise.
Unfortunately, it isn't often that I remember to prepare for such an occasion ahead of time, so I've figured out an easily-obtained food item that is high in meat content:
The Tim Horton's Chicken Wrap Snacker.
Strips of cooked chicken in a wrap with lettuce, tomato, and dressing, all for $2.50 each.
Since I first got the bike, I've been trying to go for a shortish ride at least once a week so I can build up my muscles again, but without overexerting myself.
It hasn't always worked out, but I'm still giving it a go.
Not that I've noticed much in the way of improvement yet...
Feel free to ignore this post if you want.
It has recently been demonstrated just how out-of-shape I really am.
(no, I have not been vainly hoping that I'm in shape...)
My first real bike I got about twenty years ago, and was probably the very first thing I ever won.
(and probably the only large item I've ever won)
It was too big when I first got it, and too small to properly ride now, but it has also suffered somewhat in the intervening years.
For example, it was in our first minivan when it spontaneously caught fire (but survived with only a minor coating from the smoke), it has never been lubricated, it has never been serviced at all, save for replacing a couple of brake pads and one of the brake lines, and it has never been washed much, save for a quick clean after the fire.
On the other hand, despite it being a mountain bike, I've never ridden it very hard, or very far, so it hasn't had much wear on it.
Unfortunately, it is now too small, etc, for me to use, so I need to get rid of it soon.
Fortunately, my sister found a couple of recent mountain bikes somebody was going to throw away because they didn't need them anymore, so my brother and I now have matching bikes.
They're Dunlop FS-767 mountain bikes.
It's actually a pretty spiffy bike.
V-brakes (at least, I think that's what they're called), front shock absorbers, twist-type gear shifters (with numbers to help me keep track of what speed I'm on), and it's hardly been used, which can be demonstrated by the fact that the tires still have those weird bits of rubber sticking out all over...
There are a few things I'd like to add on to make it easier to work with, such as mudguards (yes, it doesn't have those), a water bottle holder (yep, still don't have one), some sort of saddlebags (yeah, no storage on this thing), and perhaps a drink holder (you certainly can get them, and it would be rather handy).
Now for the real problem.
I'm out of shape.
I used to ride. Honest.
But ever since I started university, oh, wow, ten years ago, I haven't.
So, while my body still knows how to manoeuvre a bike and keep upright, on track, etc, my legs have forgotten how much work it is just to stay moving.
Of course, the terrain around here certainly doesn't help me at all.
While it's great that there are streets at half-block intervals, there is a distinct hill upwards from East to West, and while it isn't really all that steep, it's hell on my legs.
(over 1.62km, it's a rise of 17.275m, or on average a 1% grade. Not that it is in any way a flat grade...)
Apparently I'm so out-of-shape that merely going West even one block is enough to tire me significantly.
So much so, in fact, that on my very first ride on the new bike (which was an ill-chosen 10km, intended to be a round-trip to the nearest ice cream place) I was very tired for three days afterwards.
I'd had to pause to rest about 5km into it, which was mostly due to the fact that 4.5km of it was very flat, suddenly rising in the last half a kilometre.
After that, I paused at the first Tim Horton's I reached and had something to eat.
The nice thing about having a brother who's currently in a pretty good exercise regime is that he is then available to give advice on how to recover from such things.
In particular, after a good workout, protein is very important, and meat being the best at helping to repair muscle tissue damaged by strenuous exercise.
Unfortunately, it isn't often that I remember to prepare for such an occasion ahead of time, so I've figured out an easily-obtained food item that is high in meat content:
The Tim Horton's Chicken Wrap Snacker.
Strips of cooked chicken in a wrap with lettuce, tomato, and dressing, all for $2.50 each.
Since I first got the bike, I've been trying to go for a shortish ride at least once a week so I can build up my muscles again, but without overexerting myself.
It hasn't always worked out, but I'm still giving it a go.
Not that I've noticed much in the way of improvement yet...
