I've Got a New Hobby - Riding a Bicycle

Before I met Atala, I didn't know many people who loved riding and took it as a hobby. Moving to UK as a student and interacting with other students had of course opened my eyes to bikes as a viable option for commuting. But in Nigeria before then, the closest I had come to biking was half-following the Tour de france and admiring Lance Armstrong in his jersey.

Fast forward to Atala sharing pictures of his weekend rides with me from across the ocean and enthusing about the experience. The last time I'd ridden was my childhood, and once when I failed woefully to learn how to ride the big boy's bicycle from a cousin. But after I moved here, Atala painstakingly taught me till I became a steady on a bike for longer and longer.

Earlier this year, to lose some of the weight I'd put on as well as bond with Atala after a hard couple of years TTCing without success, I decided to really explore riding. I started by practicing with a fold-able bike, riding around the neighborhood, 1mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, flat stretches, and then hilly streets until I felt I was ready.

When I did feel ready, we went into the bike shop and I picked a bike for myself. There was this curved ladies bike that looked so cute and I fell in love at first sight. But Atala checked it out and with the sales attendant, informed me it was basically for show. One couldn't ride 1 mile on our hilly streets on that. We planned much longer rides so I had to find something else.

I finally settled on another bike. It wasn't as lovely as the green ladies bike, but it has 7 gears and was more rugged. The colorful blue frame was quite cheerful too. I rode it around the driveway of the bike shop and pronounced it taken. Next I bought some padded riding shorts, believe me you'll need it if you ever want to do longer rides.

In these pictures, we drove the bikes to a nearby city with a nice, quiet trail around the lake, and then did an over 15 miles loop up hills and down vales, ok, only half joking :)

We've not done something like that since but more close to home. We ride at least once a week, but often between two to three times. I'm really liking it. My leg muscles and my tush are now thanking me for it, though it was a hard slug at first as my legs tried to adjust.

In those early days, I rarely shifted out of gear 1, now I can do uphill on a gear 3 without breaking much of a sweat. It makes me so proud of myself. And I love that it spills over into my overall fitness. Our workout dvd exercise routine gets easier and easier by the day.

So did anyone else take up new hobbies this summer? Are there any other riders in the house?