I took the bike out for a spin today, since the weather is gorgeous and not too hot. It's the first bike ride in a long time, since I didn't want to court heat stroke by riding on a Georgia summer afternoon.

I'm in better shape these days, working out three or more times a week, and it showed. Instead of feeling like I was having a heart attack for most of the ride, I only felt that way briefly two separate times. This is progress, of a sort.

Excuse me while I go collapse now.

I think it's time for me to admit buying the bike was a bad idea. Every time I have to go up a hill, even very small ones, even ones that are hardly more than a slope, I have to pause at the top to catch my breath and wait for the nausea to subside. I can't go more than about 1/2 a mile without stopping to rest.

Great article! That last bit's a real zinger.

While I find Daylight Savings Time a nuisance, I admit there's nothing like the pleasant surprise of those first few days of leaving work in daylight. Wednesday I got home early enough to get a bike ride in.

An unfortunate, and strange, quirk of my psyche is that I live with a DST-phobia. Any time I arrive early for a meeting or event, and I'm the only one there, I think, "Oh my god, is it Daylight Savings Time? Did I forget to set my clock forward/backward? What if I'm an hour late and everyone else is gone already!" Seriously, this occurs to me all the time. Even in December. Even in July. Even when I know for a fact that Daylight Savings happened last week, because I remember resetting all my clocks. It still worries me.

Oops, gotta run. I had a meeting scheduled for an hour ago...

The bloody rain held off all bloody day until the moment I got on my bloody bike. At that exact instant--thunder, lightning, downpour. I got all of five minutes cycling in. Grrr.

On the other hand, five minutes is about all I could handle anyway...I came back in all wheezing and panting and sore in the quads. Ok, so there was that big hill I had to get up to come home...but still.

I did log my measly five minutes on the gym's website, though. I may be a wimp, but I'm a geeky wimp.

Since it was such a nice, sunny day, I decided to take the bike out for a spin. I didn't go far, but the route was hilly enough, and myself wimpy enough, that I'm afraid I overdid it slightly. In the midst of pedalling frantically up a hill, I stopped halfway for a water break, and noticed, goodness, where did all these dark spots come from? I walked the bike the rest of the way home, and collapsed (literally) in our front hall, waiting for the nausea to subside. My husband found me there, and encouraged me to sip some water and eat some saltines, and gradually I started to feel human again.

So next time, less hills.

I've bought a bike! It's a Huffy Mainstreet Comfort Bike, and it's PURPLE!! What's better than a purple bike, I ask you?

I went out for a ride today, almost immediately after getting it home (and putting the front wheel back on--it wouldn't fit in my car in one piece), through the back streets around Oglethorpe University, which is right next to our house.

Even a slight slope translates to a LOT of downhill momentum. I'd like to learn to ride without one hand hovering over the brake, and without an expression of exhilarated terror on my face.

Speaking of slight slopes, it's amazing how much effort it takes to get UP one, like the one at the end of our street. This is a lot harder than the stationery bike at the gym, even on the "random hills" setting. I'd like to learn to ride without constantly muttering things like, "Dear sweet freakin' Jesus, this hurts."

I ended up wimping out and walking the bike part of the way back home. I think I went all of a mile and a half. It's a start.

Yes, mom, I bought a helmet too.