Web Essay

So you want to take up Biking?  Read this first.


In the spring of 2001 at the suggestion of my daughter I purchased my first bicycle in nearly 20 years.  Not knowing much about bicycling had some particulars in mind which were

  1. Comfortable, the bike should be easy to ride, easy on the body (especially the backside) and the tires should be thick.
  2. Appealing, I didn't care much for the skinny fender less tires with the gear sprockets and cables all over the place. Instead I regressed to my youth and noticed a Huffy Brand that was a 3 speed on the "bars" with a great big seat which included springs to cushion the ride.  Beautiful shiny chrome fenders and white walled tires.  What a Bike!
  3. Price, at first glance I thought a bike of this stature would run as much at $300.00 however the Target Price was only $119.00. Yee Haa!  what a deal.

When I arrived home with my new purchase the visions of "One with the Trail" quickly faded as a torrential thunder storm put to rest of any bike riding that spring day in late April.

The next day during work my mind was on riding the bike and couldn't wait for the hours to move by.  During my lunch break I talked to people about bike trails in the local area and was informed by more than one to check out Washington Area Bicyclist Association site. So I did and there was about everything you needed to know about biking in the D.C. metro area. 

The Custis Trail was near home and I took out my new Huffy for the first time and was somewhat disappointed that no one seemed to notice. Riding for the first time on Wilson Boulevard to N. Veitch crossing Lee Highway brought me to the Custis Trail where I began my journey. About two miles into the ride I discovered that there were more hills than I ever anticipated and did what I thought I would never do; dismounted and pushed the bike until I was level again.  This went on for about 10 miles and noticed that I was hot, sweaty and getting pretty tired.  The only thing that bolstered my sprints were a couple of riders commenting on how good my bike looked.  Well it may have looked good, was comfortable but it was not built for the trails of Northern Virginia . Perhaps a good bike to have at the beach on a boardwalk that remained constant in elevation, flat.

Someone suggested that I not give up yet and try the ride along the Potomac River, The Mount Vernon Trail. Well I did and the trail was marvelous! It was easier to peddle along a river rather than along route 66 that ran adjacent to the Custis Trail.  However with all good things comes bad.  I forgot to mention that I coasted down 4 hills to The Mount Vernon Trail.  Now I had to peddle up them and I almost did.  It was time to get smart about biking and where else to start? The power of the internet first:

Three bikes and 3000+ miles later I'm still riding and now think about and have my sites set overnight bicycling trips.  The hills are still is big and as steep but with the right equipment and know how they seem much less of burden and although I still walk up one occasionally its more by choice than a necessity.  I wear an MP3 player now and the music adds to the ambience of the ride.  After I ride a trail a couple of times I usually bring a camera along and have some of those slide shows posted on my About Me Page.  All in all I have never regretted my decision to peddle.  I'll tell you this, there is no better way to see the sights of the area than on a saddle of a bicycle.  In closing someone once asked me why I enjoy riding so much?  I thought for a while and replied,  "Some people go the psychiatrist for what upsets them, I ride a bicycle".

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