Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2021 - 11

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But what about trying to get back on the bike? I told myself
I'd be careful and take it easy just to see how my back reacted.
I opted to clean up my '93 Trek 820 Antelope mountain bike
because the more upright seated position should be more
forgiving for lower-back pain, as compared to a road bike. So,
on April 15, I set out on a short ride around the neighborhood it took a little less than 17-and-a-half minutes to ride 3.8 miles.
My back was a little sore after that ride, but it was not
like the aching agony sitting in a chair for hours at a time
creates. In a way, it was a positive soreness with the promise of
improvement. A few days later, I went for a second ride about
a mile farther. Over the next month I rode a few times a week,
ranging anywhere from one to seven miles. By the end of May,
I was riding nearly every day, averaging seven miles at a time
and throwing in two longer rides of around 20 miles.
After four years of rather limited physical activity, I was
experiencing an increase in stamina while starting to slowly
shed some weight. I was still walking for at least 20 minutes
a day at this point along with riding the mountain bike. Most
importantly, my back seemed to be strengthening and tolerating
longer and longer rides. Having put a few hundred miles on
the Trek, I felt it was time to increase the challenge. So midway
through June, I tuned up my '88 Giant Kronos and started road
cycling for the first time in a decade.
At heart, with cycling, I'm a roadie. Drop bars, slick tires,
and racing-inspired geometry are my romantic icon of a
bicycle. If at any time the lonely isolation of quarantine became
romantic, it was on a warm summer day spinning away the
miles on a road bike. With more than 400 miles on the Giant,
it was obvious time and technology had passed it by and it was
time to go shopping for my first new bike since I was 14.
Anyone who has tried to buy a bicycle in the last year knows
there's a global shortage of bikes. I was very lucky that the good
people at the Bicycle Barn in East Earl, Lancaster County had
a 2020 Specialized Allez Elite in my size. I brought that bike
home July 25. By the end of the year, I racked up more than
2,000 miles on it. My average daily rides went from less than
five miles in May to more than 20 miles at a time through the
end of summer and into the fall.
As depressingly as isolated quarantine left me feeling at
times, it is the reason I was able to get back into cycling. It
afforded me the chance to take constant, particular notice of
how my back felt on a given day. I could get up and move
around when I needed. I could roll out of the garage and eat
my lunch while out on the bike.
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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2021

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