Flashback

This blog has been sitting idle for about a year....it's simply been a matter of time more than anything else. Too much to do and not enough time, so the blog gets left behind. But riding to work yesterday made me think about it as I had a flashback....

So there I am cruising along the Potomac on the Mount Vernon Trail, North of the airport and closing in on the ramp to the 14th Street Bridge, passing various riders, runners, joggers and walkers and just enjoying the morning. A rider headed the other way sports "Bikes USA" jersey and my brain takes a big leap backward in time.

The late 90s. I'd just started graduate school to get my MBA, adding to my load of working two jobs. After a few months, I realized I needed something to break things up and my thoughts went back to one of the greatest joys of my youth - riding a bike.

One weekend I drove over to Bikes USA and looked around. I wasn't sure how serious I was about returning to riding, so I didn't want to spend a lot. I decided on a Gary Fischer Hybrid that they were touting as a "sport utility bike." The cost was, well, let's just say I probably spent more on text books for some of those grad school classes. By the time I added in the necessary accessories - helmet, pump etc, it probably exceeded a textbook bill, but not by a lot.

Out I went, onto the neighborhood trail. It isn't long 6 miles maybe, with one hill (ok, I thought it was a hill at the time). After that got a bit dull, I went across the river to the Mount Vernon Trail. Every time I went out, I admired the riders on the road bikes. I envied their smooth, seemingly effortless pedal strokes and vowed that one day I would be like that too. I knew by then that cycling would stay in my life, the passion of my youth rekindled.

My brother gave me toe clips for Christmas that year. And shortly there after I learned exactly how fast I could come out of them to save myself from a fall when I hit a patch of ice over by the powerplant. I wasn't put off by the near disaster. Instead, I started thinking about SPDs. I got those a couple months later and only fell once on the first ride due to having trouble unclipping.

I rode a supported metric century and started thinking about a road bike. 9 months after getting the hybrid, I spent time visiting half a dozen bike shops, test riding until I found the bike that spoke to me. Part of me argued it was idiotic - I was spending the cost of a class on a bicycle! But the rest of me knew it was money well spent, at least as well spent as my education. I own several road bikes these days.

I realized on that commute yesterday morning, as I cruised along the river (now on my way to the office) that I was doing it with that smooth, effortless beauty I had envied back at the beginning.