My Bicycling story

Facebook users who like the Women's Cycling page were asked to "share your story with us. How did you get into cycling? Why do you keep cycling? What inspires you?"

So, I thought those were some really good questions to answer here.   

How did I get into cycling?

Like most kids, I had a bike.  We lived in the country and I started by riding down our country road.  There was a hill at the end of the road, and we loved to walk our bikes up, climb on, and coast down as fast as we could.  Then when I started driving, I didn't ride my bike as much.  

I was blessed to spend my junior year of college studying Spanish in Segovia, Spain, during the 1976-1977 school year.  This was a time when energy costs were rising and OPEC had a monopoly on fossil fuels.   I was very impressed with the energy savings of the tiny cars in Spain, as well as a way of life where most people walked or rode bikes instead of driving.  Gasoline cost four times the price in the USA.  Water was heated on demand, instead of a large tank of water being maintained at hot temperatures all the time, and people had small refrigerators because they bought most groceries at the market on a daily basis.  Our apartment was heated with a small wood boiler.  When I returned to the USA, I had "reverse culture shock" because my eyes had been opened to how carelessly we Americans wasted our fossil fuel, due to its comparatively lower price.  

I dropped out of college. With stars in my eyes and rose-colored glasses on, I put on a tie-dyed T-shirt and bought a bright yellow 10-speed bike. I rode it back and forth to work the next year. I lived about seven miles from my job.  I got rained on, more than once, and arrived at work wet.  I bought a car.  It was a small car, and it got great gas mileage. I quit riding so much.  My bike was stolen. 

After a year of working for not much pay, I realized I needed to go back to school, graduate, and get a real job!  So that is what I did.  I traded in my small European import car for an American-made gas guzzler, since I worked for a Big Three auto company.  But I still dreamed of riding! 

Flash forward ten years. A bad marriage, a divorce and two wonderful kids later, I read a book about a woman who crossed the country on a bike.  I was impressed and inspired. I needed something to do when my ex had the kids for the weekend.  I was able to afford a cycling tour vacation by this time.  I bought a bike at a discount store, and signed up for the tour.  It was hard, because I was not in condition.  I went on another tour a year later, signing up for the "maintenance workshop" and tour.  The tour guide used my bike as an example of what not to buy....  I was embarrassed and didn't like my bike as much any more.  But I kept riding occasionally.  Until the day I ran off the curved edge of the paved trail, then back on and into the curb.  The bike stopped.  I didn't.  The wheel got bent, and my arm was broken.   I didn't ride for a few years after that. 

When I finally decided to buy a serious bike, I knew I needed to get a Trek, because that was the bike the instructor had recommended. I bought a touring bike, planning for the trip I would take across country some day.  Unfortunately, reality was that I had two teenagers who needed chauffeuring to after-school activities, and my career was demanding.  The bike went into the garage and didn't come out for a long time. 

My job as an IT analyst was a pretty sedentary one.  I know that there are people who manage to exercise in spite of having a desk job, but I wasn't one of them. I met the love of my life and I married him.  I had gained weight and developed bone spurs on my hips.  It took several years to diagnose the bone spurs, and I eventually had both hips replaced.  I still wanted to go on a cross-country bike tour, but I knew I could not ride the touring bike comfortably.  I bought a "beach-cruiser" bicycle, which has the pedals in a more forward position.  It did help. 

The week after I retired, I started a chair yoga class.  I knew I needed to move my body.  After six months, it was spring, and I started riding my cruiser bike the seven miles to my yoga class, and back home.  At first I left home two hours before the class started, because I was a very slow rider. But I did eventually get my speed up to average of about 8 miles per hour.   One of my fellow yoga students encouraged me to ride in the "Pedal Across Lower Michigan" (PALM) ride.  I thought this was ridiculous for someone of my limited abilities.  But it sparked the idea in my mind that perhaps, maybe, some day, if I worked for it, perhaps I might achieve my dream of riding cross-country. I could start with just one state!  

I got my touring bike out and started riding it sometimes.  I found that it was much lighter than the heavy beach cruiser.  But I also started developing bursitis in my shoulders.  I knew the touring bike had a longer top tube than the cruiser, and that bouncing up and down on the unpaved roads in Michigan were probably not helping.  

My doctor tested me for endometrial cancer.  While I was waiting for the results, I saw a TV commercial for the Cheers and Gears ride near Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It was a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  On an impulse, I signed up for it. I started training three weeks before the ride. I started with my normal 15 miles and increased by 5 miles or so for each training ride.  I took the beach cruiser, and chose the 40-mile route.  They took my picture because no one could believe I would bring that bike on that ride.   Here's some photos from that day: 

 I started looking for another bike that might fit me better.  I lucked into a used Madone that was a 47cm frame instead of the 48cm touring bike.  I got physical therapy for my shoulders, and in June 2019 I actually signed up for and completed the PALM.  It was a lot of fun, and now I have bragging rights.   I learned about the Great Cycle Challenge, which is a fundraiser to raise money for kid's cancer research.  It overlapped with the PALM in 2019 during June, so I completed 400 miles on that Madone.   In order to track the mileage, I started using MapMyRide, which syncs with the GCC app.  Tracking is a great motivator. 

My cancer test was positive and so I went through surgery and radiation.  Once I healed from that, I had a knee replacement that I had been putting off.   I signed up for the PALM again in 2020, and also for the Great Cycle Challenge, to give myself a goal to get back into condition after the surgeries.  Of course 2020 has not been a great year for organized bike rides.  The PALM was postponed until 2021, and the GCC was postponed until September.  I set my goal for 2020 GCC at 500, and I actually completed over 600 miles. I rode the Ohio to Erie Trail, and then the North Coast Inland trail, and a few others. 

So now what? I am a person who needs a goal in order to stay motivated.  That is why I have started this "Grand Tour" of Ohio cities that are named after European counterparts. 

Why do I keep cycling? 

I am having a blast riding.  I still love coasting down hills at high speed, just as I did when I was a kid.  I love challenging myself to ride further and faster.   I think maybe cycling helps me to lose weight, and I still need to lose a bit.   I need something to write about in my blog!  Movement helps my knees and hips to stay flexible. As I get older, I know that I must stay active or I will stiffen up.  As Lao Tzu said "“A man is born gentle and weak; at his death he is hard and stiff. All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death. Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.”  I like the idea that when I ride my bike somewhere, it saves a few ounces of fossil fuel. And I now have a new bike that fits and is super light!

What inspires me? 

I love reading about other cyclists and their routes, their challenges, their accomplishments and disappointments.  I love discovering new places, and meeting new people as I ride.  And I still want to cross the country some day. Maybe I will write a book! 

#mybikeleaningagainstsomething