Stompin' Pedals

 

 I'm a fat man.  If you looked at me you would probably guess that exercise is not necessarily my friend.  I do however have an exercise I love.  I fell in love with it by accident.  Actually, I started doing it just to get some exercise and because I didn't own a car, and in Texas in July and August, walking sucks.  So, I( bought a bike for transportaion and exercise. 

 

When I started riding I weighed about 290.  I got down to 225 by riding 20 miles a day, but in 65 lbs, I only dropped one waist size.  It was a little disheartening.  Then, I stopped riding because i had access to a car, and to be truthful, riding a bike in July and August also sucks.  Then I developed asthma, and my regular riding days were over.  I regained the weight, plus some, because of a lack of exercise and 10 years of marriage, and now I'm looking at riding again.

 

I rode for the first ime in a long time last week.  I didn't ride very far, just about a mile and a half, all up hill.  it would have been a three mile round trip, but I blew a tire with no way to repair.  The ride was encouraging, I had some difficulty breathing, but it ended fairly quickly, and my legs felt great.  I love the feeling of turning a big gear up a hill and then getting off to walk and your calves and thighs feel tight, but it feels like your bouncing on air.  I love stretching and feeling the lactic acid burn in the muscles, and I love the euphoria I feel after a ride, easy or hard.  So what is my point?

 

There isn't much of one.  I could get all spiritual and compare my loss of shape because I stopped participating to the church's general loss of effectiveness because it stopped practicing the ministries it was called to by Christ, but I won't.  I'll let you stew on that one.  Instead, I think I'll go to bed and get rested.  I've got a bike to ride tomorrow.