This Month
Translate Page
Silver Screen Classics
| RE-CYCLING MYSELF |
 |
 |
 |
|
RE-CYCLING MYSELF By: Pam Vanden Bos Squealing, "Yes-Yes-Yes," I toss the phone on the bed and dance a little boogie around my room. My son just invited me to ride with his cycling team at the LiveStrong Challenge in Austin, Texas. The team's captain, Zang Toi is a friend of Cory, and just so happens to be a New York Fashion Designer. How cool is that? Before long, I began to panic. Why did I say yes? Have I lost my ever-loving mind? Then my mocking inner-voice gets down and dirty. "How can a big-boned Baby Boomer living quietly in the deep-south get into shape for a 40 mile bike ride?"  Sick to my stomach I phone Cory to back-out. However, all I get out of him is, "Relax Mom. It's not that hard of a ride." Yeah, that's easy for him to say, he's a male model who stays in shape by walking all over New York City. Moreover, it's my rear-end that'll be grossly plopped over a tiny bike seat for all to see.
Without further ado, I find an official training schedule on the internet. I have a game plan. I will be in tip-top shape for this forty-mile challenge. I'm ready to start. Well almost, I need to buy a bike. Picking out a brightly colored ride is easy however, getting the matching accessories and flattering clothing options prove to be a problem. In addition, I must have music, a mileage meter, a pair of gel-padded gloves, a water bottle, and a mini backpack to hold my new-fangled emergency cell phone.
On the contrary, I am able to lift my leg up and over the seat to dismount, and I swear my butt is getting tighter. I can do this! By the ninth week, I'm able to zoom ten miles up and down the back roads. I ride in a racing position, bottom up, and off that impolite bike seat. I bounce through potholes and over fallen branches. Just for fun. The Austin trip is off! Cory split up with his girlfriend. Consequently, do I have the courage to drive twelve hours to Austin and then stay in a hotel...alone? Oh-Hell-No. When I re-cycled myself, I also reclaimed my youthful effervescent personality. I say this because at the end of my visit I noticed that Cory shoved me into an airport bound cab and crawled back into bed because he's dead dog-tired. And I, with a grin on my face and a spring in my step trot down LaGuardia's corridor to catch a plane. I may be an older modern culture Baby-Boomer living in the deep-south but this re-cycled momma just wore her pretty-sons' skinny-butt out!
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          |
I start out gradually riding around the block staying on flat paved roads. By the end of the second week, I'm feeling good and zip down the narrow asphalt road on my new fire-engine-red Mongoose bike. I round a corner spotting a young boy wearing a metallic black helmet. Whoa, it's just like mine. This kid is wildly jumping ditches on his posh BMX bike. I turn onto the gravel road. I want to enjoy this talented demonstration up close and personal. I'm comfortable trekking up the rocky incline because I have on a pair of color coordinated strategically padded bike shorts. (Oh yeah, I'm lookin' hot.) The rough terrain requires that I gear down, or is it gear up? Sweat drips and burns my eyes. My jiggling legs seem to be spinning rapidly without any progress. Sticking out a shaky foot to keep from falling, I use my tippy-toes to make small tapping movements to turn around. The bewildered daredevil is now watching me slowly roll back down the shallow incline. Man-alive I've got to be stuck-on-stupid.
