sea level

i have spent the last 5 months riding my husbands' old steel specialized for my cross training days.

it's heavy.
it's steel.
it's over 20 years old.
the shifters are on the downtube.

but i never really cared. i figured if it had wheels and propelled me forward, it was good. i mean sure - all the bikes i'd see on the club rides & all my friends' bikes were snazzy, shiny, light & fast. but there was an element of riding my husband's old bike that appealed to me -
i would think: my-bike-is-so-old-and-heavy-its-old-school-cool.
but still. i secretly really wanted a new one.

and then again - i was a runner girl. who occassionally biked. and wasn't that good at it anyway. i had one thing. the hills. that was it. i didn't think i really deserved a new bike. i would say - let's just see if i like this. and lets see if i can really get good at it. then we'll think about a new bike.

i would tell my husband that i looked at riding the heavy old steel bike as high altitude training. if i could get good at lugging that thing around, then when i finally got on a lighter, faster bike, it would be like riding at sea level.

well.
runner girl has a new bike.
and i rode it today.
i was right.
it's like riding at sea level.