April 15, 2003 - 10:10 a.m.
When I was younger I had a bike and it was my ticket to freedom. I would ride it everywhere; friends’ homes, the store, anywhere to get away. Then we moved to an apartment and my parents got ride of my bike.
Recently, I’ve been reading about Mo’s adventures in bike riding and have become inspired to get a bike again. I finally live in a bike friendly neighborhood and would love to get back into that mode of exercise. I always enjoyed riding my bike. It was a wonderful sense of freedom and escape. I loved feeling that no one could find or get to me when I was riding my bike. Now that I’m older, I don’t necessarily feel the need to escape through a bike, (Hey, what are cars for?) but I do feel the need to find something to keep me active that I enjoy a little more than walking on a treadmill.
Maybe that’s one of my biggest problems with working out, too. I just don’t enjoy walking on the treadmill. It bores the hell out of me. Trapped in a small, sometimes rank, room, listening to some particularly nasty stunt on Fear Factor way too loudly on the gym tv. (“Look at what we have here! Mmm, testicles!”) There’s always some weird frat couple, lifting weights together, eyeing me shiftily. Whatever pants I wear to the gym always seem to scrape the treadmill or my shoes decide to start squeaking every other step. So I’m trying to concentrate, relax, give myself over to the walk, feel my inner chi, whatever. *squeak-a* swish, swish swish, *squeak-a* swish and Chad and Brad giving me the Shifty Eyeball. And as comfortable as that makes a young lady, I think I’m ready to move to something I may enjoy more.
I’m also hoping that plopping down $100 or so will also motivate me to use a bike more than I would a free gym. Because that’s my other main problem, lack of motivation. If I see my bike (and I think I should name it, like Mo did.) laying in the corner of my studio, attracting dust and small games of unused equipment poker, I’ll feel all guilty and have to hop on and ride out the front door. If nothing else, I think my guilt will lead to a turn around the block at least. That’s gotta be healthy right?
And maybe if I get that far, guilt-fueled bike rides, I’ll get back into all the yoga stuff and pilates DVD’s and my exercise ball. Wouldn’t that be great?
Or maybe I’ll just turn over and go back to sleep after I close the closet door in the sad, mopey faces of my unused equipment.
The truth is I need to get more exercise and I need to make it a habit. It was never a habit when I was growing up because kids watching tv is way quieter than kids running around outside. I don’t want to be that unhealthy, chubby adult that never eats right or exercises because her parents never trained her up right as a child. I don’t want to let my parents have another hold on me. They have enough sway in my life as it is. I want to sever all bonds they’ve built up between us. Oh, and I don’t want to jiggle when I walk to the shower. That ain’t a pretty naked picture.
Why is it that Ann Taylor only makes clothes in like five colors? Black, white, salmon, teal and sunflower? Am I just out of the loop and those are the Professional Colors? I tend to be more red, blue, and plum. Maybe I’m just not yuppy enough.
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