Monday, September 8, 2008

The Bicycle Fairy

Once upon a time (back in May) my wonderful husband and I were driving down the freeway, at about 70 miles an hour, when the back wheels of his truck decided to lock up and stop spinning. As you can imagine that was about the scariest thing to have ever happened to me. So... realizing he still needed to be able to get to school and work we decided to buy a bike for him. (This was not a visit from the Bicycle Fairy) In the two weeks he has ridden his bike he has lost 10 pounds. (Totally unfair... but he is a boy so I will continue on with the story.) I had toyed around with the idea of buying a bike for me. But I had serious doubts that I would use it enough to justify buying it. So we didn't get one for me.
Now... if you know me at all you know that I have struggles with my weight. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to eat healthier and become more active. We did really well with working out every other day for about a month and a half. So when I heard Tom's weight loss I started to think about the bike again. I had mentioned to my family and a few friends that I was thinking about getting a bike too but wondered if I would really use it. Then one day I came home from work and sitting in front of my front door was a bike. I didn't think anything of it at first - I thought it was our neighbor's. But it sat in the same position all night and well into the morning. So... I have been visited by the Bicycle Fairy.
Tom and I went for a bike ride yesterday to see how long it would take me to ride to work. I haven't been on a bike in over 20 years but I thought, "How hard can it be? Tom does it every day." Boy... if I didn't feel bad about myself before I sure do now. I realize that I am not in the best shape - but that bike ride kicked my butt! We didn't even make it to my classroom. I started showing signs of either heat stroke or heat exhaustion and had to turn around. So my plans to ride to work everyday in order to get in better shape have been chucked out the window. I have a new and improved plan. I will still go on bike rides; just not everyday. I will stop by the Rec Center everyday on my way home from work to exercise in the beauty of air conditioning. Yay for the cool indoors. And Yay for the Bicycle fairy!

8 comments:

Tiff :o) said...

Keep it up and you'll be ready to ride all the way to work in no time.

Michele said...

Good for you Heather! Hooray for the bicycle fairy, I need an elliptical fairy, but 30 min. a day that's all you need, you can do it! Good luck!

Davenport Family said...

Yay for the bicycle fairy! Don't worry about not making it to work, it takes a lot of energy to ride. I got an old bike for my birthday & I have barely been on it. Seth rides all the time & I am always begging him to go together on a bike ride. Well last week we decided to bike to his aunt's house for a party. It was about 6 miles each way & I was struggling! It was ok at first, nice and flat roads, but then we hit this hill & I had to stop and rest a couple times! But I finally made it. We have been out a couple more times and I am getting better. You will get the hang of it! Wow, this is a long comment but I have one more thing to say. Seth and his brother biked from our house to the beach! Do you remember how far that was??? 100 miles! They are crazy! I could never do that. Keep up the good work and you can do it! Love you!

Davenport Family said...

Ok, this commercial makes me laugh so hard. I thought of it when you said Tom has lost 10 pounds but he is a boy! Go to youtube and type in slimquick commercial and watch the first one. It is so true!

Flee said...

YAY! I'm so glad for you guys! Now you can go on joy rides together! Dave and I have bikes that we bought in Cali and we used them there probably 10 times and haven't used them since. I want to get a bike trailer for Lizzy now so I can get back into it. (did you catch that bicycle fairy??? :)

Jessica said...

Wow, that is awesome! Can I just say that you are my hero? Just the fact that you wanted to attempt riding to work on your bike is praise worthy. I remember when I last went bike riding. It was when we lived together but I can't remember who I went with if it was you or Chrissy. Anyway it was a (funny) sight to behold I am sure (watching me that is). Tucker and I are going to start going to the rec too. I gotta do something. On a side note, I am so glad you posted! It makes me happy.

Lyndsay Budge said...

That's so cool that you got a bike! And don't feel too bad...I work out every day and I still don't do well with bike riding. It's hard! I'm glad you finally posted again on your blog! I look on it just about every day hoping to see something new and I was so excited when I saw the new post!!! I hope your doing great! I still miss our fun QuicKutz days!

Davenport Family said...

P.S. That was me that went riding with Jess. It was so funny! I couldn't even bike up the hill by our old ward, I had to stop and walk the bike up. I bet we looked so funny!