The 95th Tour de France got underway this past Saturday and I’m excited about watching it. However, I’m not sure if watching it inspires me to ride or makes me not want to. The reason is, those guys are machines. Performance enhancing drugs or not, it takes a lot of training to get to the point they are. (The sport has really cracked down on doping. It’s a new day for cycling.)
After wanting to for a long time, I finally got a bike this spring and have been riding fairly consistently ever since. But, being a novice, the farthest I’d gone until a couple of weeks ago was around 12 miles. I know, I know…that’s just barely a warm-up for all of you serious riders out there. I’m working on it!
Well, a couple of weeks ago a buddy that I went to college with, Eric Duncan, called me up and asked me to go riding with him. We loaded up the bikes, left his house in Kennesaw, GA and drove to the Silver Comet Trail in Smyrna. The Silver Comet Trail is a series of old railway lines converted to pedestrian traffic that goes all the way to the Georgia/Alabama state line. It will eventually go all the way to Anniston, AL. Very cool and very safe for cyclists, runners, rollerbladers, etc.
We put in a little over 30 miles that day. Friends, after only putting around the house for 10 miles or so 4-5 times a week, I had no idea I could go that far. Well, I did. When I rolled back up to Eric’s truck I felt like I was riding into Paris at the end of the Tour de France!
So, get out there and go for it and thanks to Eric for the challenge!
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