Saturday, July 14, 2018

To ride or not to ride again?

On Wednesday I muster the willpower to get my road bike out and rode again for the first time since my accident more than 6 weeks ago. I was a bit apprehensive while walking my bicycle out of the garage, but once I hit the street, it was as if I had never stopped using it.

During my short, 5 km ride, I thought about the pluses and minuses of getting back on two wheels. I came up with this:

On the negative side, biking, just like skiing, is equipment intensive and requires a lot of preparation just to get going, like slipping on special clothes, helmet, gloves, eye-wear, getting water ready, checking the bikes for air, etc.

It's also extremely equipment-dependent (maintenance, transmission problems, flat tires, etc.)

Finally it's not a super safe sport, especially as we get older (vicinity of cars, falls, collision with people and animals, etc.)

On the positive side, it's obviously fun and part of our long, beautiful spring, summer and fall seasons, here in Park City, whether it's on a road bike or on fat tires.

In addition, we just can't stop simply doing something because there's some danger associated with it, living alone, is eminently dangerous.

Finally, we own the bikes and they're anxiously waiting for us inside our garage!

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