I’ve been riding with my bike club, Space City Cycling Club, for 17 years.
I started riding my bicycle as a way to keep in shape, meet friends and eat ice cream without gaining weight. As time went by, my body started changing. So I changed my bike!
Last year I converted from a road bike (fondly called a “wedgie”) to a recumbent (proudly called a “bent”).
Have you ever been driving down the street and seen someone peddling what looked like a recliner on wheels? Or perhaps you’ve seen several of them going down the road and the kids started screaming, “Mommy, Mommy, the circus is coming to town!” Well, those bicycles are called “recumbents.”
I remember the first time I sat on a “bent.” I remember saying, “Do other people know about these things?” It was that comfortable. It even had a lumbar support system. How cool is that?
Although it has been one year and three months since I got my “bent,” I can still remember those wedgies I had. My fingers seemed to frequently go to sleep because of the tremendous pressure I was putting on my shoulders and hands. And I could never really get comfortable on the saddle. You don’t even want me to go into exactly where those saddles were making sores!
Over the course of time (or perhaps as I was getting older), I found that I was cutting my mileage in half. I found myself never going more than 40-50 miles at a time. For five years I even gave up going on one of my 500-mile tours across various states.
But thanks to my new bike, that’s all changed.
Instead of hunching over my handlebars and keeping my eye on the hub in front of me, I recline, look all around, have no pressure anywhere on my body, all while working my lower abdominal muscles, my quadriceps and my gluteus maximums and I can eat ice cream without gaining weight.
I just finished the 15th Texas Chainring Challenge.
The weeklong tour gives people the opportunity to experience Southern hospitality and the charm of some small towns in the great Lone Star. You also get to experience sleeping on a gym floor with 150 of your closest friends.
A truck carries your bag to the next town, leaving you to enjoy the 450-500 miles of sights and hills of East Texas without the added weight of clothes and sleeping bags.
I now usually ride about 150-200 miles a week. I not only smile when I get off my bike; now I smile while I’m on my bike. Life looks great from this angle.
+++
Sharon Tummins, a retired educator, lives in the Clear Lake area.
