Lessons Learned the Hard Way

So on Wednesday I decided to finally venture out of the house on my bike and out into the town of Flagmount to get some vegetables from the store there. Seems simple enough; get the bike out, cycle along the road for about 1/2 hr to the store, come back! I managed to make it difficult.

It started out alright. I got on the bike, adjusted the seat, and headed out! It was fine for awhile, until I came across hilly bits. Up-hilly bits, to be more specific. Now I'm what's called a skinny fat person, meaning I'm thin, but completely out of shape. Not something I'm proud of, but there it is. So I was struggling quite a bit with the up-hilly bits, which was fine at first. A bit of exertion, pushing myself through it, feeling good about myself. But then I had quite a bit of chest pain and that wasn't fun. The down-hilly bits were of course good fun though! Although I was always careful to slow down when there was a curve in the road ahead, and there were many. By about halfway through, I took to walking my bike on some of the up-hilly bits, because I suspected I shouldn't jump right from fairly stagnant lifestyle to marathon biker cold turkey-like. Or hot-turkey, if that's the phrase for when you're beginning something, rather than quitting something. So I finally got to Flagmount after what was probably about 50 minutes of travelling to get there.

First I bought some phone time, as I seemed to have run out, and then went upstairs to the little cafe area to rest before getting groceries and making the journey back.

So I soon was headed back out, as it was 3:30 now and I did NOT want to get caught in the dark (around 4:30). It rained a lot on the journey back, so I got very wet, along with my cloth bag of groceries. It's just a bag you wear over the shoulder, and I was wearing it as a (very heavy) backpack for the first little while, until I realized I could balance it on the middle of my handlebar. I was not having very much fun on the way back, as the whole thing was just seeming unreasonably difficult for just a trip to the grocery store, although there were some nice moments when I was riding down a hill appreciating the green Irish scenery and the fresh country air against my face. But then it would rain again, and it's hard to see when you're biking the rain... Then at one point, a big dog started aggressively chasing me. I started freaking out a bit, as it seemed to be running faster than I could cycle, and was catching up with me quickly, when I happened upon a rather steep hill that made me suddenly go very fast, and at first it seemed to still be chasing me, but eventually gave up. Luckily it gave up before I got to the bottom of the hill and lost my speed advantage! So I cycled on and on, on and on, looking very carefully for my house but not seeing it. It was getting darker, which was making me very nervous, and I just wanted to be home. Finally, after coming to an intersection I didn't remember seeing before, and not knowing which way to go, I went to the left and cycled about 1.5 km before realizing that something seemed very wrong. I was pretty stressed out at this point. Scared, even. I mean I ha no intention of being out at night, so I had no lights with me, and I'm in the country, so there are no streetlights! And if I can't find my house in the daylight, how the hell was I going to find it in the dark?! So I called a couple neighbours to ask them if they knew where my house was from where I currently was. I didn't want to ask to be rescued, as these are people I barely know, and why should it be their problem that I can't find my own house, and have no reflective clothing, and there are no lights anywhere, and nothing to mark my house? But when I called Rachael, who I hadn't actually even met or ever spoken to yet, she offered to come pick me and my bike up and take me to my house. I was so, so relieved, and so she came and got me and took me there, and I had gone quite far past my house! A good 20 minutes of bike riding, I'd say.

So I've gotten myself a reflective vest to put out front of my house somehow to mark it, so I'll be able to recognize it next time I need to find it, day or night. Although I don't desire to bike at night anytime in the near future. I mean, I can put a light on my bike, but with no streetlights, it's incredibly difficult to see your way... Anyway, that was Wednesday. Feeling very grateful to be home in my house, and to have to such wonderful people here to help me when I need it.