I tried to remember the last time I was on my bike (for real) . And it was when I was pregnant with Logan. I think I was in the middle of my second trimester. I was starting to feel vulnerable on the bike commuting to work and so I stopped. And then I never got back to it. It got complicated–home with a newborn, sleep deprived, then when I went back to work I was pumping and had to haul a ginormous hospital grade pump and supplies to work with me and it wasn’t feasible to bike.
As Logan got older I thought I would pick it back up but I just never did. Our life got busy and taking Logan to daycare and picking him up complicated things and took up time, time I didn’t have to bike to work.
I’d go for bike rides in the neighborhood periodically but it wasn’t the same.
Being at home, the gym closed, I had to get creative with my workouts. Thankfully, the weather has been getting better here in Oregon so I was able to dust off my bike. I pumped the tires, they weren’t completely dead! And have gone for a bike ride once a week since this started.
Getting back to “biking shape” takes time. Trust me. Your butt and parts will be SORE (even with padded bike shorts). Your shoulders and neck will be sore from the positioning of a cycling bike. But each times gets easier and you are less sore. So I am taking it easy and only doing about 7 or 8 miles at a time, just to get used to sitting on the bike again.
So far, Fridays have been my biking days. I still work out 5 days a week (run one day, weights a few days, walking a lot, bike one day, etc). I miss swimming SO MUCH. Like so much. 🙁
I take an early lunch break from work (teleworking) to avoid the crowds outside and go for a bike ride.
It’s so great! It feels great to be back on the bike again. I am definitely going to figure out how to do it once a week when we go back to work…eventually…I need a bike rack for my car. Then I figure I can drop Logan off at daycare, park at the park and ride nearby and then bike to downtown from there. I just need to get used to doing 20 miles again. So this is good practice.
Friday was a perfect, gorgeous day in Portland! 75 degrees and sunny! I wore a tank top and shorts. <3
Biking is great. I love it. It’s good exercise. It’s fun. I feel good. I love getting outside. I can listen to my podcasts while I do it. It’s “me time” when I don’t have any “me time” right now (I know you all feel me on this right now). Part of me misses the days when it was just Michael and me and we used to 40 miles in a day around the city and then go out for a giant Mexican food dinner with our favorite beer (that restaurant has now closed, which SUCKS). Of course our life has changed in so many ways, so many GOOD ways. Logan is amazing and he goes on “Bike rides” with Michael every day (on his balance bike). I’m really looking forward to the days when Logan is on a REAL bike and as a family we can bike to downtown Oregon City and have dinner outside at the pub and eat bratwurst in the sun and then bike home.
For now, Michael and I take turns on our bike rides so the other one can watch the little gremlin (who misses his friends and teachers at preschool something FIERCE) and Friday night we had brisket that Michael smoked outside on the Traeger. Despite the horror of our current situation and Michael being laid off, life is good.
Life is good…
<3
emmaclaire
Hasn’t our PNW weather been a blessing? I’ve been biking more as well, though not to work. There are a few hellacious (and not very safe) hills on the way and no clean-up facilities at work, so that’s never going to happen, but it’s been good to get out on weekends and after work. Unfortunately, my favorite flat trail is closed for now, so that means streets and hills every direction – building up some good biking muscles for sure! I’m also with you on missing swimming. I didn’t ever swim as regularly as you due to the lack of an easily accessible pool, but I could usually count on it for one weekend day. And I could really use it now with a nice case of PF flaring up – it’s putting a real damper on my running, so swimming would be really appreciated right now. Glad you’re getting the time to get back on your wheels!
Lisa Eirene
That’s a bummer. When I biked to work I used baby wipes to clean up the sweat and re-applied deodorant. That was usually sufficient enough for the work day. I wasn’t too sweaty.
Have you been icing your feet?
I miss swimming a lot!!! Probably the most.
Vickie
Sounds like you need a way to put Logan on bike with you. He is probably too big for traditional baby seat. Have you seen the bike seats where they are on their own wheel and attach to one of the bike frames? I think you could find a used one.
Lisa Eirene
Yes! I really want to get one of those!