Biking for Brews
Why else would I ride a bike?
This was my attempt at posting weekly on a Wednesday…then a Thursday. And now, it’s Saturday! BUT, a part I needed for my car came in on Wednesday, so I went and had my sister install it; I had to take the two oldest to get immunization boosters, and then it was vinyl night at a local brewery (Wax on Wax off Wednesdays at Wake Brewing - where you get to sign up for a 20-minute set and play your records!)…then we went to a local bar for karaoke night, and I ended up crashing on my friend’s couch. I worked on this a bit on Thursday, but then took my first bike ride in a week and a day, took myself to lunch, and hung out with my mom and sister for a bit. So, it’s later than the deadline I gave myself, but it’s only a week later than my last post!
I used to bike the trails in my area a lot when I was a kid. We lived just a few blocks from the big bike trail, and took advantage of that. We would do these big family bike rides every weekend and all throughout the summer. We rode our bikes to softball games because the parks we played in were all connected to the trails. We would stop at the parks and play, or stop by the McDonald’s1 along the bike path for a treat.
As an adult, I haven’t done much bike riding. In the early 2000s (like 2002?), I bought a bike and did a little bit of bike riding here and there on the trails around Iowa City. The last time I had ridden a bike was in 2008.
Off and on over the past four or five years, I thought about getting my bike from storage and maybe seeing if I would want to ride it. I don’t live in an area close to any of the bike trails, and my block, in particular, is a big hill that I have a hard time even walking up after I walk down! So, whenever I thought about it, I would immediately shoot it down because the logistics just weren’t there.
In August, my friend bought an old retro bike and went on a local brewery ride. Then, during the first couple weeks of September, she bought herself a new bike for her birthday. She started biking the trails and stopping at breweries along the way. That had me thinking that I should totally get my bike from storage and join her on those brewery bike rides! Because who doesn’t want to make brewery stops for beer?
My sister helped me check the loft storage, find my bike, and bring it down. She also oiled the chain, aired the tires, and hosed it off. It had been in storage for so many years that it had layers of dust and muck. The tires looked like they had seen some shit. I hoped the tires would hold air! I also hoped it would fit in the back of my car, and thank God it did!!
The next morning, before my first ride, I went and got a couple of cheap necessities from Walmart: a gel-padded seat cushion and a helmet. I didn’t want to get too much, or spend too much until I knew whether it was something that was going to stick.
We met at a brewery downtown (Front Street) next to the river trail. We planned to ride to a brewery (Adventurous) just off the trail that is 3.9 miles away, have lunch at the food truck that was going to be there (Floyd’s!), and then hit another brewery (Stompbox) on the way back (just a few blocks away from where we started).
The whole drive downtown to meet my friend, I was singing “Fat Girl on a Little Bike,”
and imagining the tires blowing or going flat the second I got on the bike. Also, imagining that I would have completely forgotten how to ride.
Neither of those things happened. It’s true that you don’t forget to ride a bike. I made it to the first brewery. It was a challenge, of course, but not horrible. I was impressed with myself. At the halfway mark, I had to stop death-gripping the handles because my hands were killing me. I had funky legs when we got off the bikes. And even with the gel seat pad, everything front and butt hurt - like all of it. Every little piece of flesh and bone.
I had a light lunch, and we had a couple of brews on the patio. Enough beer that when she suggested we bike across the I-74 bridge and visit a brewery across the river - it was only like 2.4 miles away - I said “OK! Let’s do it!”
I’m not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but basically, it’s an incline up to the middle of the bridge and a decline to the end. The first 3.9 miles had been relatively flat.
If you know me, you know that exercise is not something I do intentionally. I never really have. Many years ago (2012), on my first day of a teaching job in North Dakota, while one of my colleagues was showing me around the building, she asked if I worked out because they had a track that people would walk during breaks. I laughed and responded, “I have four young children; that’s exercise enough.” At that point, I also weighed about 120-130lbs. I was also chasing four little children around (aged 7, 5, 3, and 18mos).
I became a bit obsessed with tracking steps when I got a smartphone and was working a temp job in 2015. A few other co-workers were tracking their steps and showed me how to do it on my phone. There was also a makeshift track there - a hallway that looped - that people would walk during break times. I was amazed that I would log over 10,000 steps daily. But then, it was a block or two walk to get to the building from the parking lot, and I would make myself take one loop in the hallway before going out on a smoking break. Around the time that job ended is about the time I discovered Red’s Apple Ale and Not Your Father’s Root Beer. I started a different temp job and couldn’t figure why my pants were getting tight…
I ended up getting a fitbit to track steps. I found a cheap used treadmill and would use it in the garage a few times a week. That lasted about six months - until I put the lawnmower in the garage with wet grass on it. It turned everything in the garage moldy, and mold freaks me out, so I pitched the treadmill to the curb. The next year, I got the kids a folding stationary bike for Christmas. They liked using the treadmill too, and my middle son indicated that he wanted either a treadmill or a stationary bike to work out with. I casually used it as well, but by that time (2020) I really didn’t care how much I weighed and couldn’t be bothered with really trying to exercise. Everything I had done prior was really just on a casual basis anyway.
Long story, made longer with some reflection: that incline up the bridge KICKED MY ASS. When we left the brewery and were heading for the bridge, I lit up a cigarette, and was not done smoking it by the time we got to the foot of the bridge. As soon as we started that incline, I pitched the cigarette. I was determined to make it up that hill without having to get off my bike and walk it. It killed everything in me to make it up. By the time I got to the top where my friend had stopped and was waiting for me, I was out of breath, sweating my ass off, and my legs were so completely shot. I went way beyond my abilities to get up that hill.
I have been sedentary and have not done anything active in at least three years. The most active thing I had done was two craft beer events - Shops with Hops, and Village Hops where you walk from store to store or tent to tent to sample brews!
Thankfully, the coast down the other side of the bridge was easy. The ride to the next brewery after the bridge was relatively flat. We had a beer and some cheese curds at that brewery while we relaxed.
Then, we stopped at another brewery that was another 2+ miles on the way back to where we started. Thankfully, I’d had enough beer that I couldn’t feel the pain! We hung out at the third brewery for quite a while before making the 2+ miles left. My first bike ride in fifteen years was 11.1 miles. The next day, my entire body hated me. Especially everything between my legs!
That didn’t stop me though. Three days later, my friend asked if I wanted to do a ride the other way on the trails and stop for lunch. That day we biked 10.1 miles. We didn’t break until we had done probably 8 of those miles. Several times I almost told her I couldn’t go any further and wanted to head back before making the whole trip we had planned, but I didn’t. I pushed myself. By the time we got to lunch, I was beyond in need of a break.
After that second ride, I bought a water bottle holder, a cell phone holder, and a pair of padded bike shorts. Still cheap stuff of course because I’m always on a budget. I should get myself some padded gloves at some point as well because I still death-grip the handles and have to spend time using my palms to give my hands a break.
The third ride I did, I went by myself to a trail I wanted to check out close to the kids’ school. That trail was full of inclines and declines, so it was all I could do to ride the 4.6 miles that I did! I didn’t think I was going to make it back. My everything was sore still from the previous two rides, but I didn’t want to give myself too much of a break between rides.
After the third ride, I thought, “I should weigh myself!” It’s not something I’ve even paid attention to since I gave up. I stepped on a friend’s scale, and to my surprise, I had lost ten pounds!! But, then I had to try to remember the last time I weighed myself, and it was probably January! I weighed myself after about my sixth ride, and I was down another five.
Since then, I have managed to take a ride at least every 3 days until last week. After getting my bike out on Monday (Oct 2nd), my hatchback sounded a bit funny. I opened it back up to see that my lift arm for the hatch had come off one side… I went to my sister and had her help me out - she was able to do a temporary fix that gave out a couple of days later (after a ride on Wednesday, Oct 4th). My lift arm had detached again and inserted itself into my taillight this time…
As much as it is a challenge, and as much as I continue to push myself beyond my limits, I am thoroughly enjoying bike riding. I will be sad once the weather gives out, and I will have to wait until spring to pick it back up again. I did invest in some padded bicycling pants because that padding and the gel padded seat are so necessary!!
I was so beyond thrilled to be able to get back out on my bike this Thursday. I stopped midway and treated myself to lunch. I was starving when I started, and the promise of lunch kept me going further than I though I could while riding into the wind! After lunch, I was able to go a couple of miles further into the wind before turning around and having an easier ride back with the wind helping me.
This has been converted into a couple of sports bars over the many years since it was a McDonald’s.