I’m exhausted. I spent the day working myself into a lather about the new bicycle. Have I mentioned how obsessed I become before I buy a new toy? After test driving (test cycling is probably the more accurate term) a number of bikes, I fell in love with one but somehow resisted buying it—I convinced myself that I needed more time to research and speak to Scott, my local biking hero. (I’m still not sure which word I prefer: ‘bike’ or ‘bicycle.’ ‘Bike’ makes it sound either more manly (“look at that guy on the Harley with the big-boobed chick”) or more childish (“Now, Charlie, get your bike and put it into the garage). ‘Bicycle’ makes it sound either sporty (“Lance Armstrong, on his bicycle for his last Tour de France, is sure to be talked about as the best bicycle rider in history”) or old-fashioned (“Looky, looky, the whole gangs here: we have Audie on the unicycle, Rupert on the bicycle, and Konrad on the tricycle—look at the size of the tricycle’s wheel; isn’t that amazing?”). I’m going to have to give this much more thought.)

Getting back to the bike, after work today, I headed back to the bike shop (notice that they don’t call it a bicycle shop, or do they?), and plunked down my credit card to make the purchase. For those interested in this type of stuff, the bike is a 2005 Litespeed Firenza with an Ultegra 9spd (18 gear combinations) package. As is my curse (or weakness or advantage, depending on which way you look at it), it’s a fancy bike, lightweight and built for speed. I spent thirty minutes picking out all the necessary biking gear (it’s amazing how much gear I buy for my hobbies). I bought and installed the bicycle rack on the back of my car, a very time-consuming process, and spent the entire drive home staring into my rearview mirror to ensure that my sparkling new bicycle didn’t try to run off into traffic.

After arriving home (and a quick run to the PCC for fuel), I took the bike for an hour ride. It was glorious. Sure, the bike shorts made my already chicken-looking legs look, well, chickenier, and I couldn’t for the life of me get used to the shoe clips (note to self: when breaking at the bottom of the hill, disengage the clips before coming to a complete stop and tipping over), but the speed (according to the trip computer—a necessary biking accessory—I topped out at 32.4 mph, road 10.4 miles over around 50 minutes (I forgot to turn off the computer, so I don’t have an accurate time), leaving me at an average speed of 12.4 mph.)—what was I talking about? Oh, yes, the speed, when I got myself going, was amazing. Now, my numbers are not incredible, even for a first ride, but, remember, I’m working toward my goal of riding to work, a 30-mile commute, in about 1:15. I’m still a wee-bit off that pace.

The ride would have been perfect except for the ending. A huge hill (it’s actually three hills with large spikes sticking out of the concrete and Hun warriors chasing me and poking my legs with big pole arms) leads up Orcas Avenue from Seward Park to my street. After riding a wide circle along the lake—not the entire lake, just a small piece of it, at a point of which I turned around and retraced my steps—I made it back to the park, switched to the lowest gear, and cranked up the hill. I made it around three-quarters of the way up before I gave up. That was a mistake. Had I continued pedaling and fighting the hill (and the Hun warriors), I would not have had the horror show that was my attempts to get my feet clipped back into the pedals on an incline. It took me many false starts and countless slipped shoes before I managed to finish the hill. I’ll beat Orcas. It’s just a matter of time. It’s quaking in its mountainous shoes as we speak.

I’m not sore yet. I figure it’ll hit me tomorrow or perhaps the next day. It doesn’t matter much. Assuming the weather holds, I’ll continue riding during the evenings and weekends. I love goals. I would post pictures of my new bicycle, but I’m too comfortable (and lazy and tired) to get my camera. For the record, it looks sort of bike-y.

Switching gears (do the puns ever end?), many people have commented that my writing has been suffering as of late. Doolies believes that physical activity will get me back into the swing of things. I’m hoping she’s right, because I’ve been frustrated over the last week. I doubt I’ll get much more writing done today, but I’m hoping this week I’ll put a few words together and post something substantial.