Now it may sound extreme, but I have literally had a brand new bike sitting in my parent's garage for over two years now. I know, pathetic right? My senior year of high school, right before I was off to college, I asked for a shiny new beautiful white bike for Christmas. Little did I know I would then decide not to take it to college because knowing myself I would not have ridden that bike to class a single day. I personally prefer walking to class then stress about not running into the over 30,000 students that attend Florida State. So, my pretty new bike has never been used. One school break after another I would come home and end up too busy to take my bike out for a ride. Now let me tell you how much I missed out these past two years because I finally took it out for a trip this past Spring Break. So here are the reasons you shouldn't push back this opportunity as I did.
1. Fresh air.
Don't take your bike down some car honking, loud smoky human invested road. Get off your usual path and take a back trail or go to a national park like I did and get fresh air for once. The pollen may be a little rough right now, it did affect me, but it's still a much better experience than what we usually breathe.
2. Exercise.
Trust me when I say it is a lot harder than it looks. I grew up dancing which endurance wise especially keeps you in much better shape than you realize until its two years later (me) and your endurance is shot in comparison to what it used to be. It's not the same as running either because I do that, this is a different sort of exercise. It's literally a more enjoyable spin class if any of you got hooked on those for a little like I did.
3. Tone those muscles you don't use so often.
Legs killer, lungs killer, and bicycle seat isn't comfortable till you get consistent with it. It's good pain though, nothing unbearable of course! It is worth it too, so don't let some sore muscles scare you off.
4. Relaxing.
Yes, relaxing. You are probably thinking I said the wrong word after all that exercise and muscle toning talk above, well I did not. I chose "relaxing" quite carefully actually because even though I got tired, it was a nice exercise, relaxing exercise.
5. Easy tan.
It was my spring break so this was a big one for me. Why spending a nice beach day on a bike? Those were my precise thoughts. First of all, I got a nice tan on my arms and no I didn't get awful tan lines. Second of all, if you go early enough in the day to avoid that thick heat, especially you fellow Floridians than you have plenty of time to tan after your workout of course!
6. Beauty you tend to forget about.
It's beauty we often forget about until we experience it again. It's too easy to become to busy to go outside or to think of a million excuses for other things you need to do that day. You are missing out. We are all missing out when we are holed up in a library studying or curled up exhausted in bed with a book or Netflix on. It's the Earth and sure we see it every day, but we don't truly see it. You don't truly appreciate it until we are in the middle vibrant trees, chirping birds, and blue skies, with nothing to distract us from it.
It's a bike. When we were children we never took them for granted because it was practically all we did. When each and every one of us got those training wheels off and rode our bike for the first time it was a huge deal! If you were anything like me growing up I rode my bike practically every day for half my childhood. So, why did I take it for granted the past couple of years? Who knows. Do not take your for granted riding a bike and do so every chance you get.
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