jianantonic | I bought myself another present...

More expensive than the shoes, but only just. McKenzie and I went for a long walk today along the Bear Creek Greenway, which is a lovely little paved (and mostly flat) bike trail through Medford. The whole trail is 20 miles long, and the southern end is 12 miles away in Ashland. The walk was so pretty, I kept saying how I wished I had a bike so I could come out and ride more of it -- it would be the perfect place for a ride. Since we're going to Ashland tomorrow anyway, I proposed getting a bike and riding to Ashland to meet Z there at the end of his workday. We do our Ashland thing, then load the bike in the back of the van and drive back to Medford together. Good plan, right? The only question is whether or not I can handle a 12-mile bike ride. Oh yeah, and the question of the bike itself.

After talking it over, we decided that a bike would be a good thing for me to have in Oregon, since whenever we're here, I'm stuck in hotels while Z uses our wheels for work. We found a cheap road bike at Fred Meyer of all places, got a helmet, a lock, and a tire pump, and came back to the hotel with it all. I took the bike out for a short spin and decided that I can probably handle the ride. It's less a question of my stamina and more a question of whether or not the seat will bother my lady parts. It doesn't bother my coccyx at all, which is good. Mountain bikes would, but with a road bike where you sit so much differently, I have no problem. But the seat will take some getting used to, regardless.

So I'm excited. I'm all about the exercise these days, and I feel really, really good. I walked about 5 or 6 miles total today, in addition to some jumping rope and weight training in the hotel room. I feel great. I'm looking forward to my ride tomorrow.

Peace.