2020 in 2020 (Part 2 of 3)

Armed with a new target mileage, I quickly discovered there is a huge difference between walking 6 miles once and walking 6 miles every day! I started to experience some serious challenges to making my goal. For a review of the goal or if you haven’t already read it, check out my previous post 2020 in 2020.

One of the first things that I had to deal with was the rising heat in Arizona. I didn’t have much in the way of proper wardrobe to be walking outside. I needed lighter clothing. No problem, I’ll just walk to Walmart and get something cheap because who knows if I can really keep this up. Round trip it was over 6 miles. I bought two new outfits and came home to discover my second biggest challenge.

My feet had HUGE blisters. I walked back the next day and purchased a decent (not great) pair of shoes to walk home in. But the damage was already done. It would take weeks for my feet to recover. As new blisters still formed, I also learned how important socks are! I made a third trip (count those miles!) and not only got socks, but found a clearance section of leggings that I scooped up for $2/pair!! I also learned that if I break up my 6 miles into two sessions, I was usually able to avoid forming new blisters. Luckily the trip around my little RV resort is almost exactly 3 miles! This worked until the temperatures in the afternoon still didn’t drop down until well after 9pm. Then, I needed a new plan…

Buying a bicycle

A group of friends invited the new fitness orientated me on a bike ride. Awesome! Only a couple of problems there. One, the bike I had was gifted to me by a friend. I have a few really great friends! But the bike was pretty old, tended toward flat tires, and was the pedal backwards to brake variety, no gears to shift. It really was designed just for going around the RV park, not long distance group riding.

Another small challenge was I didn’t own a helmet and knew I would hear Mom’s voice screaming at me the whole way. As a nurse, she had seen too many trauma cases and we had safety drilled into us from an early age. And finally, I hadn’t actually ridden a bicycle more than say 100 yards in almost 20 years! But what the heck, I figured I could do it. After all, it’s just like riding a bicycle, right?

I survived that first 15 mile trek with my friends, but not without some saddle sore issues and new respect for cycling for fitness. I knew from my January gym experiences that cycling was something I could see myself actually enjoying. So, I decided when my government stimulus check arrived, I would do exactly what they wanted me to do with it. I would go to a local bike shop and make a purchase!

At that point, I was fully committed. Spending more than $50 on a bicycle to me is a big deal. I figured if I was going to spend what I considered to be big dollars, I was going to get everything I thought I might need. I purchased a bike, a bike rack, a water bottle holder, a basket, a cell phone holder, a special gel seat and, of course, a helmet. Good thing I had already been strengthening my heart because the total would have caused a weaker me to have needed resuscitation. I did call Mom before I handed over my debit card and made her promise to harass me unmercifully if I didn’t use this thing and get my money’s worth!

My new goal was 3 miles walking/day and 3 miles on the bicycle/day. Did that one day and found that it was barely worth putting on the helmet for a 3 mile ride. Though, in retrospect, it was an entertaining first 3 miles. There are beautiful bike paths in Mesa, Arizona. Miles and miles and miles of them. One of these paths runs along one side of my RV resort. It follows a canal system built to irrigate the crops of citrus in the area.

As I did that first solo 3 mile ride, my imagination ran crazy. The thoughts in my head were something out of a horror film. I had visions of me riding over small children or ducks or little dogs…they are everywhere on the path. Or trying to avoid those hazards and ending up impaled on rebar as I ride off the path into the canal. Even though Mesa streets are laid out in a very simple grid, I saw myself getting lost and dying slowly of dehydration (because none of the many other people on the path could see my distress or would offer to help). At about 1 mile intervals, you have to cross a street with regular traffic on it. I was pretty sure my brakes were going to fail on my brand new bike and I would fly right into the middle of the street and get hit by a truck. Never mind that just a week before I had survived 15 miles with my friends and not one incident. Yep, those first 3 solo miles were probably the most adventurous biking miles of any cyclist ever!

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