I decided to get a new bike yesterday after thinking about it for quite a long time. I used to be an avid biker, and would put in 30-plus miles every weekend. That ended when we moved to Haverhill because the riding conditions here aren't as nice. In the mean time, new combination road/trail bikes have come out because we have a lot of nice trails in the nearby Winikini Park. So yesterday, while out running an errand my brother and I had the opportunity to swing by the "Schwinn Shop" down the street.

I've dealt with these people for over 30 years so the owner knew me when I came in. There was no trade-in on my street bike so I'll need to find a home for it, but anyway for just under $400 I picked up a decent bike. I rode it around the parking lot, and my brother and I brought it home in his jeep.

In the afternoon, after reading through the manual, which I had to do because the controls are different on it than my old Voyegeur I have in the shed, I went out for short ride. I needed to pick-up a new water bottle because my old one became really unhealthy looking after 20 years of use, and we had thrown it away. This trip meant climbing over Golden Hill where I live. I had to use 1st gear out of my driveway (up to the road), then 1st gear all the way to the top. Once I got there, I had an easy coast down the rest of the way to the shop. On the way home, I took the flat route along the Merrimack River even though the trip was longer because it's easier than climbing up over Golden Hill again. In between, I stopped by Building 19 in the shopping plaza at a sidewalk vendor that was selling icecream and hotdogs and purchased a bottle of water.

Anyway, I noticed something. Besides being out of shape, and having my thigh muscles burn, other things happened that scared me. I expected sore thighs and shins, but this was different if not scary. First of all I couldn't lift myself out of the saddle to push into the pedals. My legs were too stiff to move. I would make it up partially then end up sitting down again because I couldn't make it all the way up.

The other thing, my arms kept shaking. I could barely steer the bike properly. I thought I was going to crash a few times because my arms were shaking so much. On top of that, my bicep muscles in both arms were really sore, and so was my shoulders. When I finally stopped at the bike shop, I had quite a tremor in my right hand. When I left, I could barely climb back on the bike because I had difficulties lifting my right leg over the middle strut.

Now after my medication increase, I can get out of a chair easier so I figured that I could ride the bike like I used too, well this isn't the case so my riding will be more limited than it used to be, but the good news is I'll get some good exercise out of it as long as I don't do too much at once. I think if I keep at it, my muscles will hopefully loosen up again, and I'll be able to put in some more miles than I did yesterday so I can ride down to Plum Island and enjoy some time at the shore on a nice sunny but not too hot a day.

John