So I would have written this last night if I had the strength, or if I didn’t have someone looking out for me, making me go to bed on time. Thank you. I had community group last night in the Marina (an area down by the water on the north side of San Francisco, only about a mile away from me), and after the first full day with no rain since my smooth first bike ride, I decided to muster up some courage and take a ride on two wheels.

The route to get there isn’t flat. I have to go down Union to Polk street, which is one of the more steep streets I have seen in the city thus far. I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t completely trust my bike at this point. We had a rough first hangout, and he needs to earn his respect from me. I began to imagine my breaks failing as I was creeping down this 89 degree angle of a hill. I was riding so slow, with both hands on the breaks, cars would honk and passerby’s would laugh. Glad I could brighten their evenings.

I made it to the bottom of the hill, and from there it was a great ride. Flat, easy, and fun like it use to be, before wrecking was part of the experience. I was so proud as I arrived. Several in the group knew about the cable car track experience, so I bragged that I can actually ride a bike and not end up on my palms.

So my mood was better as I saddled up to ride home. For the first several streets, I was the man. San Francisco got me once, but I was in charge now. Hyde Street came-a-callin again. As I approached it, I was trying to gain enough speed to carry me up the hill a little bit. I peddled so hard that I began to hear Hambone’s voice talking to me. I began to question how in-shape I was before I realized I had somehow called Hambone in my pocket and managed to turn it on speaker phone. I would say I made it up half-way, who’s counting? ok maybe a little less… I hopped off my bike, played it cool, and acted like I had a phone call. That seemed to work, except I couldn’t really speak. I walked my bike up to flatter ground, and rode into the finish line at my address.

I really felt dizzy and out of shape for the first time in a while. I’m not so invincible anymore. It’s a sad day. As I got a glass of water and began walking back to the sofa, I realized I had spilled half of it, making a nice little water trail in the hallway. I was worn out. I guess I will trade being absolutely exhausted for wrecking though?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 11:21 PM and is filed under My Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.