Biking Is Good For The Body and The Soul

I recently biked to a nearby lake and learned a lot about myself in the process.

One of my biggest and most important fitness goals is to become stronger. Until I started riding my bike I had no idea just how weak my leg muscles really are. I have seen the random old man riding a bike effortless up a very slight hill and I thought that can't be that difficult.

I was completely absolutely wrong. 

Riding a bike takes coordination and fitness. I have had to learn to really push myself through the pain and the lack of breathe to get to the top of the smallest hills. I have so much respect for people who can ride a bike for long distances and up very steep hills. 

Learning endurance and persistence have been key in my bike riding fitness sessions. It started off as just a way to save money on gas but ended up teaching me to never give up.

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My Bike Has Changed My Life For The Better

My blue bicycle. It's not fancy but it gets me where I need to go and it doesn't cost me a dime. This my two wheel "second car". When I brought this bike last year, I NEVER ever thought it would become so important in my life.

At first, I bought the bike solely to ride around the streets in my neighborhood for exercise. I really had to practice riding the bike at first because it had been so long since I ridden one. During the weekend, when a nearby large parking lot was empty, I could be seen riding around and around in circles in a wobbly fashion relearning how to ride a bike.

Contrary to belief, biking is not as easy as it looks. Biking is about balance. You can really hurt yourself with a fall from a bike. I have a horrible looking huge helmet that I make sure I always wear.  Bike riding also requires a LOT of leg strength. I realized very quickly that I live in an area that has more inclines or small hills than I realized. Biking up hills has definitely helped me lose weight. 

The other great benefit to riding a bike is saving gas. Gas is very expensive and I happen to have a big older car from the late 90s. How much it is to fill up that tank is a crazy amount of money compared with the smaller car I had previously. To combat this pain to my wallet, I decided to bike everywhere I need to go that is within a short distance from my house.
 
Riding my bike, I have seen up close places in my city that I did not know existed. Beautiful trees and fields, buildings I never noticed while driving by and other things you miss while paying attention to the road driving in a car.

 I also have met a lot more people who were just walking along and I stopped to have conversations with them. Today I was riding under a bridge that I have driven under many times and I noticed it is where  homeless people lived. Also noticed a tent in the woods where a homeless person lived. Very sad.

When I bought my bike at a used bike store that is also a charity that gives bikes to children, I took a lot of time making sure the bike was right for my body. I even returned a bike that had no gears that made it impossible to bike up hills. I would have never ridden my bike as much as I do now if I had not made sure I was comfortable with how the bike fit my body. A soft seat is extremely helpful too.

My bike is such a huge blessing in my life. I can't wait to have more biking adventures in the future.

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