Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

The Historian wrote:
wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

LoL! At least it's a fun learning process. :-)

The learning has continued this week. I did 2.5 miles, I estimate,
hiking along horse trails near French Creek yesterday. I learned never
to hike along horse trails - damn messy! Today, I'm going back to Mt.
Misery. There's a covered bridge at the end of one of the trails. I
didn't get to it last time, but I will today!

Famous last words....

I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

On 17 Dec 2006 16:59:58 -0800, "The Historian"
wrote:


The Historian wrote:
wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

LoL! At least it's a fun learning process. :-)

The learning has continued this week. I did 2.5 miles, I estimate,
hiking along horse trails near French Creek yesterday. I learned never
to hike along horse trails - damn messy! Today, I'm going back to Mt.
Misery. There's a covered bridge at the end of one of the trails. I
didn't get to it last time, but I will today!

Famous last words....

I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Cool! I'm eager to hear what you think of it!

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

"The Historian" wrote in message
ups.com...

The Historian wrote:
wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough
water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably
warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my
jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

LoL! At least it's a fun learning process. :-)

The learning has continued this week. I did 2.5 miles, I estimate,
hiking along horse trails near French Creek yesterday. I learned never
to hike along horse trails - damn messy! Today, I'm going back to Mt.
Misery. There's a covered bridge at the end of one of the trails. I
didn't get to it last time, but I will today!

Famous last words....

I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian

chuckle And did you ride the bike when you got it home?

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Woo Hoo! Neil has a bike!!!

Nice choice. I happen to be a real Trek fan. Did you get the silver/black
or green?

Beverly - who owns two Treks :)

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

teachrmama wrote:

chuckle And did you ride the bike when you got it home?

It arrives - get this - on Saturday. In other words, almost on
Christmas eve! I'm going for a bike fitting on Saturday morning. I need
to buy a rack for the Neilmobile. Cycling gear might be nice as well.
Unfortunately the only stuff Bikesports had that fit me were helmets
and socks!

Neil
385/275/220

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

Beverly wrote:

The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Woo Hoo! Neil has a bike!!!

Nice choice. I happen to be a real Trek fan. Did you get the silver/black
or green?

Beverly - who owns two Treks :)

My touring bike is a Trek; I've also owned Trek mountain bikes and
hybrids.

Congratulations on the new addition, Neil!

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

Beverly wrote:
The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Woo Hoo! Neil has a bike!!!

Nice choice. I happen to be a real Trek fan. Did you get the silver/black
or green?

Silver and black. Black is a slimming color, and silver matches my
hair....unfortunately.

I note that the 'Newsgroup Celeb' Preston Crawford rides a Trek:

http://www.prestoncrawford.com/album...s/meontrek.jpg

Mr. Crawford was over 400 pounds when he started riding. How can I
complain about being too fat to ride at 275?

My one concern is that I will become discouraged at the learning curve.
I didn't ride long as a child. I was too busy building my future as a
FFID to do such things as bike. So please don't say "it's just like
riding a bicycle....", because for some of us it's not, because we
never learned in the first place. Keeping balanced is going to be my
first, and perhaps greatest, challenge.

Neil
385/275/220

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

Chris Braun wrote:
On 17 Dec 2006 16:59:58 -0800, "The Historian"
wrote:


The Historian wrote:
wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

LoL! At least it's a fun learning process. :-)

The learning has continued this week. I did 2.5 miles, I estimate,
hiking along horse trails near French Creek yesterday. I learned never
to hike along horse trails - damn messy! Today, I'm going back to Mt.
Misery. There's a covered bridge at the end of one of the trails. I
didn't get to it last time, but I will today!

Famous last words....

I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Cool! I'm eager to hear what you think of it!

We have to wait a week for it to arrive in Trappe. Meanwhile, I can't
decide if I should be happy, or consider myself insane. I'm gonna be 41
next month, for goodness sake!

Neil
385/275/220

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

The Queen of Cans and Jars wrote:
Beverly wrote:

The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
I intended to go hiking today, but I took a "road less traveled":

(Gold's Gym, Royersford. A fat chess historian is lifting. He sees a
gym member exit and hop on his bike.)

Neil: Hey, where'd you get the bike?

Gym member: A place called Bikesport in Trappe. See ya! (He pedals
off.)

Neil: Hmm. Trappe isn't that far from here. I could stop on the way to
Valley Forge Park, spend a few minutes, and then go hiking.

(The scene shifts uneasily to Bikesport in Trappe. All the employees
are young enough to be The Historian's children. He approaches one of
the kids.)

Neil: Could you help me, please? I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was
ten, and that was a 15 dollar Huffy. I understand bikes may have
improved over the past three decades. I'd just like to spend a couple
of minutes looking, and I'm not ready to buy yet.

Employee: OK.

Neil: Do these things still come with baskets in the front?

(She shows The Historian a few bikes. Two and a half hours go by.)

Neil: I really like this Trek Navigator 3.0. It seems stable, and the
seat is nearly as wide as my own. I'm not ready to buy yet, but I'll be
back in a few months.

Employee: We have a sale ending today, and financing is available.

Neil: Financing? A sale? (A smile crosses his face.) Let's ride!

Neil, the Hik, err, Biking Historian
385/275/220

Woo Hoo! Neil has a bike!!!

Nice choice. I happen to be a real Trek fan. Did you get the silver/black
or green?

Beverly - who owns two Treks :)

My touring bike is a Trek; I've also owned Trek mountain bikes and
hybrids.

Congratulations on the new addition, Neil!

Thank you, Queen.

Neil and His Bicycle - A Drama in One Incredible Act.
 

The Historian wrote:
Beverly wrote:
The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
Nice choice. I happen to be a real Trek fan. Did you get the
silver/black
or green?

Silver and black. Black is a slimming color, and silver matches my
hair....unfortunately.

One of mine is black and silver. The other is called carbon black. I like
them because they don't clash with my bold colored biking clothes :) :)

My one concern is that I will become discouraged at the learning curve.
I didn't ride long as a child. I was too busy building my future as a
FFID to do such things as bike. So please don't say "it's just like
riding a bicycle....", because for some of us it's not, because we
never learned in the first place. Keeping balanced is going to be my
first, and perhaps greatest, challenge.

Neil
385/275/220

Find a nice quiet trail and just take it easy. You might be surprised at
the number of people who didn't learn to ride a bike until they were an
adult.

You might consider lowering the seat (so the feet are closer to the ground)
until you feel comfortable balancing yourself on the bike. It also makes it
a tad easier to get up and down on the seat when starting and stopping. You
won't want to keep the seat in a low postion as it's harder to pedal but it
might help until you become comfortable balancing on it.

I'm sure you do fine! Enjoy the new bike.

Beverly