bike comes out of the shed.

springtime = outside time! wisconsin winters make for seriously frantic excuses to get outside when the temperature hits merely 40 degrees.

last summer i purchased a basic trek road bike for basically leisurely riding. i have no real interest in racing, but i took advantage of early morning rides before work quite often -- one of the longer morning rides i did was actually out to work, which is a solid 15 miles. it was awesome.

but then...

i hurt my back quite badly in the latter part of the year. not sure still what happened exactly, but a couple of times i threw my back out terribly. it may have been because of the bike, it may have been because i wailed on the deteriorating clutch pedal in my saab a little too hard (haha), it may have been because i lifted boxes the wrong way at work, or i was walking funny when i fractured (both of) my feet while trekking through europe, or the bad shoes i tend to wear on concrete floors all day at work... or a combination of all these things. regardless, it hurt and hurt and continued to hurt. all the way through the beginning of this year i was having really annoying issues with sciatica down my left side. terrible. annoying. and i still get weird pangs every once in a while, or when i twist the wrong way it will go stiff.

thing is, winter has turned me into a total sedentary being. my exercise involved walking up and down the stairs to my apartment and meandering around mostly slowly at work, shelving books. and of course, to keep my back healthy, exercise is the one best thing i can do. so this afternoon, regardless of the chilly rain and 41 degree temp, i decided to take my bike out for its first -- what turned out to be a very short -- spin.

i'd meant to go to the grocery store, only to realize halfway there that i didn't have a lock with which to fasten my bike in place while i shopped. alas, i turned around, not without that tell-tale wet-and-sand streak up my rear, and very cold hands. i probably biked all of five blocks altogether, though, granted, up a couple of hills -- and i was totally winded. it just goes to show how out of shape i've become over the last few months. however short, however ridiculously out of breath i was when i returned home, it was a perfect teaser run. all i want now is for the sun to come out and to be able to ride just a little bit further... and then a little bit further.

and it's only march. yay bike.

on the docket tonight: vigorous walk around town with mom and sister in the p.m.