When I was diagnosed w/ Diabetes almost two years ago I made up my mind then that I was going to do something about it, and believe it or not I was determined. Well, things happen. For instance, I started walking a little bit and I got sores on my feet and in between my toes that just made that a living nightmare. I was encouraged by several of my friends who are runners to try running, I apparently did something wrong because I got plantar fasciitis (if you’ve ever had this you know what I’m saying –it hurts!!!).
In the back of my mind I’ve always known that I liked to ride a bike and I should give my buddy Erik at The Ride a shout and get a good bike to ride. A few years back my wife bought me a really nice electric bike for men, it’s one of the top-end Schwinn bikes that’s engineered for road racing (something that I’m not engineered for anymore –at least not right now). I dropped that bike off a few months ago to Erik and had him go over it and fix my brakes for me and get it ready for the road. Needless to say I wasn’t near as ready for the road as the bike was, haha. I was out of shape, still am, but making daily improvements. I had two wrecks on that road bike because honestly it’s just too much bike for me right now, I even did an end over end thing one day trying to stop and that prompted me to buy a helmet the other day! Good purchase if you rely on your brain for things…
Well, everyday I’d pull into my garage I’d see that bike sitting there staring at me just mocking me that I wasn’t man enough to ride it. My city, Conway, Arkansas, is a bike friendly town, very bike friendly, but for someone who just isn’t comfortable on their bike, riding 3 feet from automobiles on a busy road can be intimidating (or at least it was for me). After being prompted by Dr. Amy at Hippocrates Health to get on the roads and get some exercise in I broke down and called my buddy Erik.
When you go and purchase a good bike, it’s an investment, not only a monetary thing, but also an investment in a partner more or less. I’m going to be strapped to this thing the entire journey during this medical makeover, I need this to be a bike that I’m comfortable on and that I can ride safely. After all, the entire goal of this thing is to live longer so I can be a part of my sons life longer, if I crash my bike into a minivan, well that just defeats the entire purpose of this thing. He made a recommendation on a bike, a Specialized Sirrus Hybrid and he insisted that I take it home and ride it for a few days before I made up my mind. I thought that was pretty freaking awesome, so I took him up on that. There was one other bike that he didn’t have in stock that he also wanted me to check out but it wouldn’t be in for a few days.
Ready to roll and dressed to kill, the Sirrus thrives on getting you there fast, and in comfortable style. Its GO! GO! GO! attitude comes courtesy of the road-inspired, lightweight alloy and carbon frames, making it a prime candidate for beat-the-traffic commutes, heart-starting weekend rides, or the event you’ve always dreamed of completing. It’s got all the function of road bike, but with that extra confidence you get from a flat bar. Fit is dialed and ready, right out of the box, so there’s really only one way to ride this versatile beast—flat out. Learn more online…
After I got the new bike home and had a few rides under my belt I knew that this was the bike for me at this stage of my journey so I went in last week and did all the paperwork on it, etc. I’m loving this bike. I still have the racing bike under the garage staring me in the face, and one day I’ll get back on it and we will do some damage together, but for now I’m content at a 10-12 mph pace (shooting for 16mph so I can get in on some group rides). I’m also doing between 5-10 mile rides right now, really wanting to stretch those out as well. The goal as far as my medical makeover goes isn’t necessarily performance driven as much as it is that I’m getting an hours worth of exercise daily, and I’m shooting for that first and foremost.
If you are looking at getting into riding, by all means, don’t take this as a recommendation for this particular bike, you may be way ahead of me on your journey so go to a good bike shop like The Ride and trust someone there to get you into your new bike.
Questions or Comments?