Plan to be less huge

The last time I was really actively mt. biking bar ends were on everybody's bike, toe straps were okay, and we threw anodized crap on our bikes. I still have my bike from back then complete with bar ends, two straps and a purple anodized bottle cage. That bottle cage was necessary. Or maybe it was because I was single, didn't have kids, and didn't have anything better to blow $15 on.

I was a clydesdale back then but I was an up to date one. I rode nearly every day and even did some racing. Now I never won, and I DNF'd a couple, but I got the point where I finished and didn't come in last. I considered it a successful racing career. Really the races were just a great place to meet other mt. bikers and discuss important topics like what our favorite beers and gear were.

Fast forward almost 20 years and somewhere down the line I put on too much weight, got married, traveled extensively for work, moved to Florida, and had three kids. Biking faded out of the picture. I did manage to pick up other expensive hobbies though. Kayaking, fly fishing, astronomy, and online video games are the current main culprits.

In the mix of all of those hobbies I still wandered out to the garage and hung out with my mt. bikes. Sometimes I even took them for a spin when I wanted a reminder of the type of shape I used to be in. At some point I also bought a fitness/city/comfort bike - a Gary Fisher Capitola. I flirted with getting back into biking many times.

And then a couple of months ago something snapped. Fortunately not literally. I had been looking into 29ers and the single speed movement. The thought of it appealed to me. The reality was a single speed was a bit out of my physical reach. But a 1x8 seemed like it would work for me.

So I dusted off the capitola and got my butt on my neighborhood streets to prove to myself I could keep interest in riding for more than a week. A couple of weeks later I bought a Redline d440. And a couple of weeks later here I am.

My rides are still short - 20 - 30 minutes. I'm working on making more time for them. But I'm increasing the distance and average speed for each of those rides. And I'm back on the trails. South Florida has some good volunteer efforts that are supported by the county parks. I have one of these parks 10 - 15 minutes from my house. I, for one, appreciate this and I'm getting out there and using those trails.

Right now I'm still on the green trails working on building endurance. I hate to say beginner trail. I do remember how to ride although I am rusty. Now I just need to get my body up to speed with my memories. So I'll call them the green trails.

Here's my plan for weekday riding:

Wake up and get ready
Drive to park to arrive at opening (8 am)
Ride for 1/2 an hour
Drive to work to arrive around 9 am
Shower in the gym at work
Be in office and working right after that

Today was my first day of trying this out. Well yesterday was my first day really putting it into play but it was a neighborhood street ride on the comfort bike. Didn't have access to the gym at work yet.

So there it is. My plan to get less huge. There is plenty of room to develop and refine. But right now goal number one is to get things moving.

I'll still be a clydeosaur though. Maybe one day I'll try that suspension stuff everybody's talking about.