I signed up for Ride Don't Hide. I will be doing a 25 km bike ride in June to help raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health. It's less than a month away. Eek!
Ok, so I got my helmet and picked up the borrowed bike (well, actually had it dropped off). And went on my first ride today. I'm super discouraged. I did 6.46 km in a little under 40 minutes. I had to take 3-4 breaks.
- This is what I know:
- I went too hard too fast, so I need to find a middle ground that I can enjoy it but I'm not sure how to find it
- My helmet chin strap was too tight, so when I was out of breath from exertion, I found it really hard to breathe (which was scary)
- I'm a bit wobbly so I need a lot of practice to improve my balance to make it safe for me to be on the road in order to signal my intensions
- I need to take water with me and maybe buy some gloves because my hands hurt/were uncomfortable.
- The reality is that I haven't really biked since I was a kid and never really worked the gears, so I have a learning curve. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself....but I have less than a month to get up to 25 km. And I almost died at 6km today.
- In miles here....but you get the idea...
