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Like I have said before….it’s not all about running. What a great 50 mile ride this weekend starting in Oceanside, riding along the Pacific Coast.

Cycling is great for everyone, especially injured runners. Cross-training (cycling, yoga, swimming) helps keep you strong and injury free.   I often hear riders say that they no longer run due to a bad knee, so they took up cycling. My knees are fine but  I love to ride.

Riding definitely takes more time and effort (unless you live adjacent to safe bike trails). Most riders have to load their bike in/on their car and drive to a trail. Even if you can ride straight from your front door, riding is time consuming. You need to plan to be out for at least a couple of hours. It’s not like running, you can’t go out for 3 or 4 miles (30 or 40 mins) and be done. Most of the time I go out for 15, 20 or 30 mile rides. That takes a little time.

Then there’s bike maintenance…bikes ride best when clean, oiled, and tires pumped (which is a work-out in itself).  And there’s always a chance for a flat tire (which I had on this last ride, but a very nice fellow cycler helped me change it :-)).

Having said all that…it’s worth it in the end. Riding allows you to see things that you might not normally notice in a car, and unlike running you can go so much further, making destinations that much better.

Below is a picture of me and one of my a riding friends, Val, at the finish. Mario didn’t make the picture and the others didn’t make the ride for one reason or another. Hopefully next year we will all be there and in the picture!

The weather was perfect and the view spectacular! This picture  below was taken after riding up a long hill and waiting at the left-hand turn light, turning in to the Torrey Pines section of the ride (I think, I was tired, it’s a bit of a blur, hahaha). We rode inland for a while then came back to the coast

And here’s my main support crew…my husband. He even carried my bike up the stairs to car after the ride! Thank you!

His idea of riding is on his Triumph. And that’s okay as long as he continues to encourage and support me I will always ride on the back of his bike.

I hope this encourages some of you to get out on the bike trails and enjoy the view. I wish I had more pictures to share but it’s dangerous to take pictures while riding and if I stopped to take a picture of all the beauty it would take me forever to get anywhere 😉

For info on next years ride go to Bike the Coast. I promise you, you will not regret it! Now is the perfect time to shop for a bike. The weather soon will be too cold to ride (in some parts of the country) and stores are clearing inventory to make room for next years models. So get out there and enjoy life!

Thanks for reading!

Cycling is great, but…

Keep running my friends!