The First Day

Whenever I’m on the track riding my dirtbike, it’s never too long before I begin breathing hard. After only a few laps, I always feel somewhat drained: my hands grow tight (yes, I hold the grips tighter than I should) and my forearms and lungs begin to burn. Every time this happens, which is about every weekend, I repeatedly tell myself, “You really need to get into shape.”

Today, I did something about it. At ten this morning, I met my friend Ken Picco at R&A bike shop in Park Slope and spent $605 on a 2005 Giant OCR2 ($550 before tax and a few bucks for a water bottle cage totaled $605). The salesman first showed us a 2006 Giant OCR with a red frame, although I honestly didn’t care much for the look of the bike. They also had a blue Specialized Allez that looked a lot nicer, although at 58cm, I wasn’t convinced the frame would fit my height--6’2”.

Standing around trying to decide between the two, the salesman then came up with another Giant, one with a blue and silver XL (x-large) frame and it looked as though it would fit me perfectly.

It did. After a quick test ride up and down the street, I returned to the shop and said, “Let’s do it, but can you adjust the gears? They’re making a bit of noise toward the lower end.”

Make a long story short (it’s long already, though, isn’t it?), I walked out of R&A with a brand-spanking new 2005 Giant OCR2 ready to ride. My friend Kenny had brought an extra helmet, so a few minutes later, we rode into Prospect Park and began riding, me on my new bitch, Kenny on his green and yellow Independent (with matching helmet and jersey, no less).

Now I have a bike I can ride in Central Park each morning to build up my legs and endurance. I also need to invest in a pair of bike shorts as my guiche was freaking killing me during those two laps in Prospect Park. As far as my ass is concerned, khaki shorts simply won’t cut it. While I’m at it, I plan on throwing a few more bucks into the deal for a tire-repair kit, a helmet of my own so I might return Kenny’s to his rightful ownership, a water bottle or two, and perhaps a new pair of pedals or clip-on shoes. The Giant came with these odd hybrid pedals--one side is flat for normal pedaling as I did today, and the flip side is designed for biking shoes. If not for the fact that the flat side of the pedals are so narrow, I’d stick with these, but after only fifteen or twenty miles of riding today, it’s a no-brainer. My feet are simply too big for these mothers as they are now.

Then, when I’m ready, I’ll also invest in an authentic riding jersey and perhaps a pair of shades so I can be the cool guy on the bike.

Regardless of the gear, the goal is to (a) build up my fitness, and (b) become a better road rider. Perhaps I can enter some races once I’m in shape and judge my abilities. Racing a bicycle seems like a hell of a lot of fun, albeit incredibly hard work. A track race would be nice--just riding in an oval again and again and again.

Oh, I almost forgot. Since I left my truck in Staten Island this afternoon, I took a second ride today. The train took me to the ferry that took me to downtown Manhattan. Beyond Battery Park, I started north along the walking/running/bicycling/inline skating path that runs parallel to the West Side Highway and the Hudson River. Before today, I was under the mistaken impression that path/miniature roadway quit in the upper 50s. Au contraire, mon frere. I’m not sure how far north it actually goes--perhaps all the way to the George Washington Bridge?--but it did take me to West 79th Street, where I made a right, pedaling as hard as I could to get away from the rain that had been falling on my head for minutes already, and cut straight through the park in the Upper East Side.

Mission accomplished. Now I get to sit here in the air conditioning and peck away at the keyboard. How exciting.