It’s only been like 13 months!
The last time I was on my bike was at the beginning of August last year. I think I was like two months pregnant by that time and even though I wasn’t really showing yet, it was definitely getting harder to bike to work like I had been doing. Morning sickness sucked. Then on the ride home my heart rate was getting too high and I just had to take too many breaks. Then my back went out…so biking was pretty much over for the season.
I thought about getting on the bike this summer but I never did. Honestly I don’t know that my core/back was strong enough postpartum until now. I’ve been doing a lot of PT exercises and core exercises to strengthen my back and things have gotten a lot better.
Anyways, Sunday instead of swimming I went for a bike ride. We had plans to go to Michael’s mom’s house for brunch and I (thankfully) got a chance to sleep in a little bit so I didn’t have time to swim.
I got my bike down in the garage and dusted off the cobwebs (seriously, a lot of them) and both tires were flat. I pumped them up and let it sit for a bit while I got dressed and ready to go to make sure that they held air ok before I went out.
Another plus side to wearing a cycling bib instead of shorts? They fit even if you are 20 pounds over your ideal weight!
It was a little chilly but once I got moving and out of the shade it was the perfect temperature. I biked the route I take into work.
I got stopped by the train for a few minutes but other than that I didn’t need to make many stops. I was surprised at how easy it felt being back on the bike (other than the saddle, of course). Perhaps the walking/jogging I’ve been doing lately has gotten me back into shape for cycling.
I didn’t go as far as I had wanted to go before I had to turn around. It was getting late and I still needed to go home and clean up and get Logan ready for brunch. So I turned around and went back the same way. And I was surprised, again, at how easy it was going up the killer hill home.
It doesn’t look like it but this hill is really long, slow and at a constant incline. It’s not incredibly steep but it’s steep enough to get your heart pounding and it’s a constant uphill climb so you never get to coast or really take a break. But this time it was incredibly easy for me to do.
It was a fantastic little ride. I went pretty hard for my first ride back because I was so short on time. I wanted to get my calorie bang for my buck.
I was glad I got in a good workout in the nice summer weather. We aren’t going to have many more of these kinds of days!
After that we went to brunch. There was a lot of tasty food for brunch. Michael’s mom made a cheesy potato casserole, an egg and meat breakfast casserole, fresh fruit, deviled eggs and blueberry scones.
And I had my first Bloody Mary in like a year and a half. 🙂 Yay for brunch!
Logan did great for his first brunch outing. And we got to show him off to some friends and family that haven’t met him yet.
It was a really good day and a good distraction for me. Monday is the first day of daycare for my little man! So the bike ride and brunch were good distractions … at least until the afternoon.
I’m hoping I can go for a few more bike rides before the weather turns poor. I don’t see myself biking to work this year, though. There’s just too much stuff I have to take to work in order to pump. But by spring next year maybe I can get back into it!
