I’m Not A Roadie

August 24, 2010

Yesterday I rode my longest-ever road bike ride, 44 miles. That’s not the longest I’ve ever ridden a bike in one shot; I’ve ridden a mountain bike longer than that – much longer. But on a road bike you can do 44 miles in two hours; that’s hard (impossible, almost?) to do on a mountain bike. On a road bike you can get serious mileage in the time it takes to drive to the gym and lift/treadmill/sauna, and burn way more calories to boot. So I saddled up and attempted my longest ride ever, and it wasn’t even that hard.

I don’t even like road biking that much. I just do it for the fitness benefits, which are considerable and overshadow the negatives, which are: my road bike is uncomfortable and I get scared by traffic (thanks, 18-wheeler that felt the need to pass me with literally six inches between the side of your trailer and my handlebars! And a special shout-out to you, Sudden Valley-living, Land-Rover-driving blonde woman whose late afternoon errand was so urgent that you had to run a stop sign and make me brake hard to avoid, well, dying), and I can think of other fitness-based activities that are more fun. But the benefits of two hard hours on the road bike cannot be denied. So I do it.

But here’s the thing. I rode 44 miles in just a couple of hours, that is a lot of miles to my MTB-oriented senses. Prior to yesterday, my best was 25 road miles. This was a big jump and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I won’t be satisfied with that, now, no: I am going to have to do 50 miles the next time. And 50 more after that. Seventy-five at some point. And not too long after that, break the 100 mile barrier. IN ONE GO. You sick road biking freaks! Look what you have done to me. I was solidly a mountain biker but now that I am effortlessly ten pounds lighter with a blast-furnace metabolism, I can’t possibly stop doing this. And I have to do more, and more, and more as time goes on! Where will I find the time to ride 100 miles in one day? I have things to do, you know!

So this is just a dramatic way for me to brag that I rode 44 miles in two hours on my first try.

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