First bike ride since I don't know when

Finally was able to get out on the two-wheeler this morning. I was inspired by Lance Armstrong – I saw that his annual Ride for the Roses (RftR) was yesterday / today / however you want to look at it, depending on where you live (objectively, it was on Sunday, 25 October).

Hard to believe it has already been 7 years (!) since I traveled to Austin to do that ride. That year the ride was in April, and I think starting in 2003 he moved it to its current place on the calendar, October. Like RAGBRAI, which I rode the same year (2002), I would really like to do the Ride for the Roses again sometime…I keep thinking that one of these years the timing will work out, but as long as I am in my current job, the chances are pretty slim. Maybe in 2011…

Unlike the RftR (100 miles) or RAGBRAI (a week of daily rides ranging from about 60 miles to over 100), my ride today was less than 20 miles total, pretty easy, only one big hill. (There aren’t a lot of hills to speak of here in Kaohsiung – it’s a pretty flat place, which is OK for a “flatlander” like me!) You have to start someplace – you don’t get back on the bike and go for 100 miles the first time out.

My bike just arrived last Monday, so it’s not too bad for me to already (only one week later) take it out for a spin. Seriously. It would have been pretty easy to just have skipped the ride and worked on writing something, but I’ve got to get exercise now and then or I’m not very fun to be around (ask Barb). Plus it helps me think. After my run last Friday I finally broke the writer’s block I had been experiencing for about two weeks on my international relations paper due tomorrow. I went from nothing then to 7 pages as of last night. I’m not saying it’s all high-quality, but at least there’s words on paper now. I still have some time to tweak it before turning it in. It might actually be pretty decent by the time I finish with it. This morning’s ride may help me in finishing it up – get the creative juices flowing.

Here’s the link to the workout data in case you are interested. I was able to do a lot more exploring of the city on the bike than I can on foot, which I like. Maybe one of these times I will remember to take my camera out with me, there were a lot of things that would have made some interesting pictures to share.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17124030

GJS