As you can see from my former post, I bought a bicycle. Although I have yet to “officially” ride it to work, I have been consistently riding it 2 to 3 miles each day since I bought it. I mapped out a mile route through my neighborhood, and I ride it in the morning before I get ready for work and then again as soon as I get home from work. I have increased my route a little this week so I can work up to at least 3 miles each day. My goal is to probably ride about 10 miles a day when its all said and done. I have to say that I am feeling much better physically since I started riding. My back doesn’t ache as often, my knee and hip joints don’t seem to ache, I can get up and down off the sofa easier, I have more energy and less of an appetite. I can actually do a mile and a half … at a good pace, as Erica says … without getting winded. She has ridden with me a few times and decided that I set a pretty good speed for someone as old as myself. Yes, the temps are warming up and I sweat before its over, but there’s always a shower or bubble bath, right?

And I have decided to start a ladies’ bicycle riding group. There are about 10 ladies at church … of all ages from college to my age … that want to participate. We have our first planning meeting next week. My vision for the group is to meet weekly at various locations such as hiking and riding trails nearby, and ride for 30 to 45 minutes. Then we’ll pack up our bikes, drive to Panera or Starbucks or somewhere like that and have a drink and a brief devotional time … I’m thinking 10 minutes. Then we can visit until we feel like leaving.

I chose the name PEDAL PUSHERS for my group as a play on words. Those my age will understand what that means. The younger set calls those type of pants CAPRIS. Plus, we will be pedalling our bikes.

I also thought of playing off the name of a motorcycle group my pastor leads called the JC RIDERS. I thought JC PEDALERS might be cute. I mean, we’re not riding motorcycles but we are pedalling bicycles. In the end however, I decided on Pedal Pushers. The other one was just too cutesy for my taste.

So, that’s my life the last few weeks. Pretty mundane, actually, but hoping it will pick up soon.

Wow! I can’t believe it has been almost a month since I posted anything on this website. A lot has happened since my last posting: (1) Chase got a job, although he has a little over an hour drive each way, (2) Erica turned 22 years old earlier this month, and (3) I completed a 3-year clinical trial study with MD Anderson Hospital. Add the normal, everyday things that go on and you can see that it’s been a busy time. Another positive thing is that I bought a bicycle last week. It’s the old-fashioned kind … one speed, no hand brakes … and believe it or not, they’re few and far between especially when you want a new one and not one from a yard sale. Mine is very retro looking, which I like. Here’s a couple of pictures:

On nice weather days I would like to ride it to work. I live just under a mile from my office so it won’t be any big deal. Not sure I’ll do much daytime riding like that once summer actually hits, though. Just something about being out in 95 degree / 95 percent humidity weather that doesn’t sound very appealing to me. Call me crazy. So when those kind of temps get here I will probably try riding it first thing in the morning before I get ready for work. It should only be 90 degrees then. Or right before I go to bed. It will still be 95 degrees at 10:00 o’clock at night, but at least the sun won’t be bearing down on me! Anyway, I guess that’s about all the news I have to tell right now. Hopefully I won’t wait as long to update next time.