First's

So I haven't always liked biking, well to be honest I never thought of biking for pleasure ever. Until about 15 years ago. This hurts but I am a chubby biker , but a cyclist in my mind just the same. So there I was 15 years ago in the middle of my mid-life crisis, divorce, kids, mortgage blah blah blah. And somewhere a bell went off (maybe a handlebar bell, could have been) hey I should get a bike, a real bike my first adult bike purchase. Off I go to the local bike shop in Grand Bend and buy myself an entry level puguet.

It was early spring I remember, I had made a trip to All Season Sports bought a pair of bike shorts , a helmet and some biking gloves I was now set for my first great biking adventure. Up early on Saturday morning for my first ever bike ride for fitness. There were so many things that I did not realized had to take place before my grand adventure was to take place. One spending 10 minutes trying to maneuver myself into spandex that was a first I would like to forget, two adjusting the seat height of my new bike, three making sure the tires had enough air in them. Well that list of first could go on for sometime but I will save you and I the embarrassment of several of those firsts.

Not even on my bike yet and I am already to the point of exhaustion and frustration. I had planned on biking around town that day just a leisure ride getting used to being back on a bike, maybe a nice1/2 hour ride. Well my lane way is about 700 yards and that was my first ride, yep you read that right I made it to the end of my own lane way,and back, and that was it. In fact it took longer to get into my bike shorts then the entire ride took. Distance ride one 1400 yards. What have I done, I am not a biker that was evident with the gasp and wheeze of every breathe I took, the shaky legs well if I am to be honest I had a body that was in complete spasms wondering what the heck I had just done to it, it was rebelling, it was trying to make sure I never did this to us again. Well that was the start of it, little by little I crept further and further from the house and until I could measure my distance my miles not yards. That was the start of what eventually became a love of cycling, the freedom, the quiet, the alone in the sun and eventually to the MS bike tour. I would not trade in the bruises the stitches the fabulous friends I have met over the last 15 years all thanks to cycling and getting past the end of my lane way. Needless to say I have lots of first to share with you, so keep checking in.