Have you ever challenged yourself?  Is their something you’ve looked at in a nonchalant way that turned out to be extremely challenging?  Not to brag on myself but the hardest sport I have competed in was amateur boxing some years ago.  My first fight the card was titled Rumble On Lakemore.  I was so exhausted, but I loved every minute, round, and the sweet victory. 

Years later, enrolled myself in a Cycling class at the university I attended.  I wanted to test my internal organs and all major muscles involved with riding a bike correctly.  A lot of people including myself at the beginning of the semester didn’t know much about Cycling.  The class was a decent size maybe more ladies than men.

As a child, I thought I was a mini Evel Knievel.  Around ten I decided the pair of skates and my bike were one machine.  I through on my pair of skates and hopped on my brand new shiny chrome bike.  I began pedaling as fast as I could with my skates on the spiel.  My front wheel aimed purposely toward this regular old car with an all steel body.  The goal was to approach the parked car at a fast rate and stop before I made contact.  My skates became lodged in the pedal as I tried to stop, somehow I couldn’t stop.  Time had ran out I hit the car and knocked the wind out of my upper body.  Gasping looking for air as I lay there.  Me and the car created a loud ka-boom upon impact.  My mother became nervous and grabbed the cordless phone and dialed for the paramedics.  I was ok, shaken up a tad bit, though. The entire class was asked to keep a journal and here is my edited version.

2/5: Today we had our first ride and the class was able to do about 2 miles in 27 degree weather.  The roads were cleared enough for us to experience a nice ride.  I enjoyed the class and we saw artwork of Dave Chihuly by the Polymer Center.  The next morning my legs were a little sore, but physically I felt fine.  To my surprise, only half the class decided to show up.  While we rode in a single line with the instructor leading and maneuvering using hand singles at the appropriate times, I could hear conversation going on behind me as we rode inside the painted bike path on the street, through the student campus and university dorm area. At a stop sign we would sometimes switch, meaning riders being in front fall behind and participate in the new conversation.  A few even ride solo, but keeping up with the class.

2/19: Our ride today was roughly around 3 miles, and the weather was about 31 degrees.  I also had a great time and a lot of fun and enjoyed class today.  Rather than just taking off for our ride, we had to make sure everyone had their equipment on properly and bike inspection, for those who missed week one of riding. Also, we who rode the prior week were slightly more conditioned than some of the new comers, maybe.

2/26: This morning we were able to ride approximately 3.5 miles and the day started out somewhat gloomy but the sun began to shine on us as we prepared to ride. The weather today was 38 degrees or higher.  By the time the third week rolled around my legs and conditioning had improved dramatically.  On our ride back to the university one of our riders didn’t feel well and decided it was best for her to walk her bike the remaining 1/2 mile.  A student offered to walk with her while the rest of the class continued riding.

3/5: Today we rode about 1 mile in 25 degree weather conditions.  We learned how to perform certain maneuvers and we had to demonstrate each one inside the parking garage here at the university.  I had a great time riding and going through the riding test.  We were taught a lot about what to do and what not to do, and how to use your body while controlling your bike to make a complete stop.  With all that being said I lined my bike up for a speed front brake test.  As I did in my parking lot when I was younger, I took off pedaling as fast as I could.  Moving at a fast speed my eyes squinted and focused on the fast approaching stop point I squeezed my front brake to hard and I did a total front flip over the handlebars landing straight on my back.  I stood to my feet the instructor and most of the class asked if I was ok.  I was, but the next day my body felt that impact, too.

3/12: This was another great day and our longest ride so far, we rode across the Y-bridge and it was a day for celebration for the entire Iris community as well as others because today Akron was having a St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown.  We rode about 5 miles and the temperature was about 35 degrees.  Everyone was ok traveling and pedaling each direction on and off the high Y-bridge.  For this ride a little more together for this trip most of the time pairing next to each other in sets of two’s we rode at a decent speed through downtown.  Stop is what we heard from behind loudly. One of our riders had gotten sick and couldn’t go any further.  Another classmate offered to walk her bike alongside her friend back to our starting point.  We continued to ride until we reached Summit lake.  Our instructor knew the bike paths well.  We also rode above the lake on top of the new  all wooden trail built for multi use.  After that, we rode back to the university and back to our respective homes if we rode our bikes.

4/02: Today the class rode for about 2.5 miles and we saw the Don Drumm studio and Spicer Village.  After that, we also learned our second half of maneuvering skills on the top of the Polsky deck.  This skill set focused more on steering your bike through tight spaces.  We also had a surprise day.  Our instructor handmade a makeshift ramp for the class to jump.

4/23: This was our big day at Quail Hollow and the weather had cleared up great for us to have a wonderful ride.  The actual temperature was around 50 degrees and the trails were quite challenging, but it made for an enjoyable experience.  This was the most exciting class and the most creative riding experience I’ve had as an adult.  I am very glad I took this course and recommend it to anyone.  I will also go back and ride at Quail Hollow the trails are great.  Even though the weather cleared the trails were somewhat muddy and made for a grimy ride.  The ride through Quail Hollow took over one hour to complete, but we all had to wait until the entire group returned before packing up and driving back to the university.  That handmade ramp we rode the previous week prepared us for Quail Hollow, the instructor didn’t tell us this. Like a puzzle the pieces came together.

Max  AKA BraineMatter AKA DeWayne White

Max Pro Check Publishing