Biking!

My fellow bloggers, Faith and Bones, are both accomplished bikers.  Faith doesn't drive so she does the vast majority of her commuting (both work and personal) by bike.  Jody and her boyfriend Eli have biked the McKenzie River Trail which is a 26 mile trail with several highly technical stretches.  I, however, have not been on a bike much since I was 15 years old.  

About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to start biking again to add a cross training  element to my running.  So, out we ran to the bike shop and bought two bikes.  Which have pretty much sat uselessly in our garage ever since.  After a trip to the bike shop last night to have my tires filled and get some advice, all that changed today!  

As Ty and Onya headed out on their three mile run, I was right beside them on my bike!  It was wonderful - it felt really good.  Growing up, my step-dad and I did a lot of biking.  I fondly remember the beat up, faded blue pouch on his handlebars where we could stow our books on the way to the library or the little treasures that we found along the way.  As we passed a bunch of fallen apples, I really wished that I had something like that so that I could bring some home to the chickens.  Once that childhood memory was triggered, I found that I was reliving some of the joy that I had as a youngster biking.  My mom never joined us so it was something that was just for the two of us and it was a special bonding time whether we were out running errands or on a ride for fun.  My step-dad, as seen below, was a man ahead of his time with the bike commuting thing!  

Joe and Jess dressed up for Halloween - he was dressed as a member of Devo and I was a witch;). 

That little tangent down memory lane aside, I'm really excited to incorporate biking into my regular exercise.  After a three mile run at lunch plus tonight's biking, my legs feel good but tired - just the way I like them:).