BEAT: Look Who Is Biking!!!

Bike must be accessible

The bucket must always be packed

A long term goal of mine has been to get on the bike.  I run and swim all the time, but the bike never happened UNTIL THIS SUMMER.  A big part of it has been accountability.  I have a Saturday morning running group and a swim program (EXCEL!!), but finding a bike group that could accommodate my work schedule, kid schedule and all the rest of it has never materialized.  This meant that I tooled about my neighborhood on my own or rode on the bike trainer with a Sufferfest video.  While I will say that the Sufferfest makes riding the trainer better, on a scale of one to ten Sufferest makes riding a bike a three, whereas riding outside is a nine.

Also, just to give way too much information, riding the trainer indoors is tricky.  It works best when the house is deserted.  My house is never deserted when I am there.  My kids are on me like spider monkeys.  I have to ride the trainer with headphones while everyone is napping so that the sound of my sufferfest video does not wake them.  THEN, if someone is crying in their crib or trundle bed, and I do not hear them, I am literally consumed with the mom guilt.  Mom guilt is SOUL CRUSHING, friends.

SO, when a friend told me that the Brentwood Endurance Athletic Club was starting rides at 5:30 AM on Monday and Thursday mornings, I was dubious as I get pretty sad about having to set my alarm for anytime before 5:00 AM.  However, I decided to attempt this as it is pretty clear that there is no other way for me to get on the bike.  Getting up early is a big bummer on multiple levels:

1) you have to get up early and I am in no way a morning person
2) you have to go to bed early and my circadian rhythms have me shutting down around 11:00 at the earliest.  I have the night fever, night fever.  What can I say?
3) You have to be completely prepared when you are up early.  In the dark hours, there is no time to rethink your outfit or decide what to eat.
4) tiredness.  I like to be completely rested.  I am not one of those people that brags about the town when I am going on less than eight hours of sleep.  I literally get bitter about losing half an hour to sleeplessness, nightfeedings or what have you.  I am angry for days if a thunderstorm is loud enough to rob me of precious sleep.

Anyway, I now have a plan and here it is:

1) inform everyone in the house (including the 9 month old) that they are dead men walking if they do not leave me in complete silence and peace by 7:30 PM on Sunday night and Thursday night.  The children are asleep and my husband has relegated himself to his office only to emerge if one of the children violates the must sleep mandate. Thunderstorms and other loudness past these hours is not tolerated.

2) put everything that can be put into the car early into the car.  My bike bucket (containing my helmet, socks, shoes, bike glasses, and gloves), two huge glasses of water for post ride, and my handbag with license ect.

3) set out my glowing green smoothie to thaw for breakfast.

4) put my bike in front of the back door

5) put my Garmin 310xt on the charger beside the back door

6) Lay out all of the clothes I will even think about wearing.  Anything not laid out the night before is dead to me come alarm time.

7) take half an ambien at 7:45.  I do not advocate medication as a general rule, but I have to say that it has been working quite well this summer.  In fact, I often wake, fully rested, before the alarm to bike goes off.

My above system is going so well that it takes me 7 minutes to get out the door after my alarm goes off.  It is fabulous!!

I am riding a 17 mile route every Monday and Thursday.  My initial goal was to become fast enough over the summer that I could get in the 23 mile route in the same amount of time that I am accomplishing the 17.  Thus far, that has not happened, but I have twice averaged 17.9 miles on a ride, which is the fastest of my life!!  So, I am improving and I ride with Melvin and Tom every week and they are totally patient with me and have even taught me a few things about shifting.  There is nothing like riding with a group to improve your riding.  There is just no way to slack when you are worried that everyone is going to have to wait on you because you bike like snail.

SO, I am thrilled to have found BEAT!!!  It has changed my bike life forever.