In the last couple of weeks, I’ve ridden the single-speed to work a few times, and around town on errands.
I can now put Zoe in a rear-rack-mounted seat on the old hybrid—much to her delight—and make it at least as far as the preschool.
However, today, almost 8 weeks after the crash, was the first time I’ve put on my cycling shoes and taken the road bike around the hills.
It’s a different experience. In addition to the speed and agility of the bike, and the feeling of the road flying by under the skinny tires, there’s the workout: the sustained elevation in heart rate and breathing, the leg and arm muscles working close to their peak, the abdomen and back providing the balance and counterpoint.
Today it felt weird, and wrong. I was fatigued, then strong, then queasy.
Usually, climbing tires out the quadriceps and gluteus muscles. Today, my knees and calves and ankles and toes felt painfully out of alignment. Usually, a sustained climb brings a general weakness as blood sugar dwindles. Today, with each turn of the crank, the out-of-line, out-of-sync feeling in my lower legs, and the knocks and vibrations of the road, brought back the spacey out-of-it feeling I associate with the brain injury. Usually, an hour or two later I feel pleasantly tired and relaxed. Tonight, I feel a bit raw and needing quiet.