Turtle comes out of shell in search of air

By Virginia Winder
Finally got on my bike.
But it wasn't a fun ride with views of the sea; it was an inner-city outing looking for a petrol station with free air to pump up bike tyres.
Not my pink beast, but my husband's purple bike. For some reason he thought it was OK to head out with flat tyres, believing the nearest servo would do the trick. But no, BP and Shell both failed - their air machines had crosses over wee pictures of bicycles.
So they both get the thumbs down for their lack of support for human-powered transport.
Caltex, however, get the big tick for cycles.
Out on my today bike, I learnt a couple of things.
1. I need wing mirrors to see behind me. You can get that grin off your face - I know you're doing it because my husband gave me the same look. The truth is I can't turn my neck to see what's coming up behind me. I'm sure this is some sort of karmic payback for teasing my Dad about how he couldn't turn his neck properly while driving. He always looked like an awkward turtle. Now I'm the turtle.
2. I'm more bike fit than I thought, but it could just be a comparison thing. When you do normal, out-in-the-open-air pedalling, it's a doddle compared with spin class. I could pedal up the hill past the Taranaki Daily News with relative ease and that surprised me. For those not from New Plymouth, it's a bit of a climb, but not too strenuous.
3. Intersections scare me, especially when faced with a standing start.
4. When you're in the bike lanes, cars whizz past and they feel incredibly close.
5. The biggest surprise was that I enjoyed biking. When I was a teenager I biked everywhere and raced the boys home from high school. They were on 10-speeds and I was on a bike with no gears and I often used to beat them. My body is starting to remember that.
So there you have it - I'm back in the saddle for real and it feels damn good.

Today, I:
Biked for 20 minutes (a start!)
Worked for 12.5 hours
Slept for 6 hours
Drank not enough water
Drank 3 cups of coffee
Drank 2 glasses of pinot gris
Ate two healthy meals and one that was a bit rich, but delicious (went out for dinner with the witches - you'll meet them soon enough)