5 Borough Bike Tour

Pretty exciting day for me today... my first bike tour. Each year, there is a 5 borough bike tour that is about 42 miles through New York. Like the name says, it covers the 5 boroughs. So you start from Manhattan, ride to the Bronx, then back to Manhattan, then Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. The trip was a real tribute to my relationship.

My bike needed to be tuned up prior to the ride. Due to my hours at work that week and subsequent laziness, I ended up not getting the bike to the shop. No big deal right? Wrong. The first 9 miles of the tour, I was getting passed by people that were either much older or younger than me and/or much larger than me. For someone that is in pretty decent shape, there was no reason for me to be passed like this. Fernando was a trooper. It was visibly obvious that he was trying not to be annoyed with my "abilities". Gotta hand it to him. He was trying to be so positive. Needless to say, at the first "rest stop" we brought my bike to the tent and fixed the brake rubbing against the wheel which made a huge difference. Too bad that 9 miles really had already felt like 18!

In the end, I made it though. It was a really nice experience for me. Fernando had done it before but this was my first time. It was fun to see the boroughs from a different perspective - but the bridges were a bitch! Fernando is in really good shape. After a while, I just kept telling him to meet me at the top of the hills. Don't get me wrong, I did pretty good on them I think (I never stopped to walk!). Just not as good as him.

While the bike ride was awesome and really fun, I have been paying for it ever since. My back is whack. I'll get over it though. Not the first time and won't be the last. Just wish my massage therapist from Utah was here. Really miss that. Three one hour sessions with her was the same price as one session here. Ugh! So, I haven't been.

Not sure what it is about backs and rites of passage. But, I think that there should be one for them. You know, it would be like this: age 13 you become a teenager, age 18 you can vote, age 21 you can drink, age 25 you can rent a car and pay normal fees, age 30 you are no longer considered one of those punk ass kids, and then comes the back. Age 30+, back pain. Blah Blah Blah. Ill get over it.