Milestone: Back on the Bicycle

Today was a milestone. I took my bicycle out. I rode to New Seasons (the grocery store) and back, a distance of a little over two miles total, and I hauled a couple of panniers full of groceries back with me, up a mild hill. Now that may not seem like much to people who are in robust good health, but it was huge for me. The sun was out and if felt so damn good to be on my (beautifully repaired and re-lubed) bicycle. I rode quite slowly, especially on the way home, but I rode.

I came home, fixed some lunch and got a phone call from my husband, who was, it turned out, home from LA and somewhere in the house. We drank green tea, I ate my lunch, then Howard and Andrine and I went out for walk. And we walked for forty-five minutes, or probably about two miles or more. We even took in a couple of Alameda staircases on our sojourn.

I’m tired now, but not exhausted. This means I am finally getting better. That was over an hour of exercise (not including running around the store). I’m back in bed now and ready for a nap, but I’m very excited that I was able to exercise so much today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, of course, because I have good days and bad days, but still, I’m pleased that I could do even this much.

One of the women in my support group who completed chemo last November is going rock climbing this weekend. I feel inspired, although I don’t think rock climbing is my sport. But I feel inspired to try longer bicycle rides this summer. And I’m hoping to get back into lifting weights again. At any rate, I have always tried to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, whether it is yoga, weight lifting, walking, or aerobics. (I consider bicycle riding to be too much fun to count as “formal” exercise). So I am going to reinstate the 30 minute minimum rule starting Wednesday. As I have written before, I consider Wednesday to be the true end of chemo for me. And perhaps by then I will have thoroughly kicked the Rotten Cold.

Here are some links to Portland maps that I found online:

Alameda Stair Walk Map:
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=143881

NE Portland Walking Tours:
http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=ebihb&a=bedihj

Portland Walking Maps:
http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=39402

Portland Bicycle Maps:
http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=34809