I did something bold! Did you?
September 23, 2009 Posted by The Little Red Hen
Well, as promised, I did something bold over the weekend: I followed up on my long desire to try road cycling. At first, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. I had two borrowed bikes (one was a beautiful work of art, one was older, slightly dinged up and had some electrical tape on it- guess which one I was more comfortable with) and as soon as I obtained them, I had two bikes with flat tires. Granted, these were both bikes that hadn’t been used for a while, but it still didn’t feel like an auspicious start to my endeavor. But I persevered, and took the bikes out to a trail for a ride along the river.
Now picture it: I’m nervous about the clips on my shoes (what cyclist doesn’t have a story about getting stuck in them and falling over?). I don’t know if I’m physically up to the challenge, I’m worried that our short ride will involve several tube changes, and five, yes FIVE turkey vultures are circling over the trailhead as if they are waiting for me to show weakness. Then we checked everything one last time (I was with my husband) and took off down the trail. At first, the trail traffic was pretty heavy, but as soon as it was lighter I took off!
We went about 13 miles- not a very long ride, but I didn’t want to overdo it the first day- and it was everything I had hoped it would be. The trail was beautiful, no tires popped, and I have no road rash to show for my efforts with the clips. And it was fun! For a very brief time, I got up to speed, sat up tall and let go of the handlebars- I was 10 years old again! I had a grin on my face for most of the ride, and can’t wait to do it again. Now I’ll have to start shopping for my own gear, which will take some time (and, sadly, a great deal of money), but I have found something I’d really like to pursue.
So what about all of you? I was shocked at the response to my original article- so many of you took me up on my challenge and pledged to do something bold this weekend, too. If you didn’t read the original post, check out the comments section and see what some people have decided to try- it is inspiring. It made me think that, between kids, work, homes and jobs, moms don’t have many opportunities to try something new just for the heck of it. I’m proud of all of us who did something bold, and hope everyone was successful. Let me know!
Liz says:
September 23rd, 2009
Well- I did something that was sort of bold- I ran a half marathon this Sunday. But it turns out it wasn’t quite bold enough. Details in the blog post!
Chris says:
September 23rd, 2009
Hey Little Red, congrats on your bike ride. So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Unfortunately, I didn’t carry through on my challenge…but for a good reason. I said I’d ride my bike to the top of Mt. Evans. Well, CDOT closed the top 5 miles of the Mt. Evans road for the season already! Then I vowed to ride to the top of another mountain, but to no avail! The weather has been rainy/snowy at the tops of most of the peaks I was considering for past THREE days! I promise though that I WILL ride the Mt. Evans as soon as it opens again in the spring!
The Wanna Have Fun Hen says:
September 23rd, 2009
Good for you little red hen! It is a wonderful feeling when you try something you are scared to do, you succeed and love it. Not only that, but there are people out there that you influenced, in a positive way, to do the same. I did try something new today and so far so good.
tahtimbo says:
September 23rd, 2009
I started doing my 100 crunches a day last week after I read your article and I’m still going. Almost 1 full week of crunches. Thanks for the inspiration and motivation.
Little Red Hen says:
September 23rd, 2009
Tahtimbo, I thought about you doing crunches while I was out for my ride. I’m happy to hear you are sticking to it! And Chris, sorry your Mt. Evans trip didn’t turn out the way you’d planned, but I’m glad to hear you are keeping it as a goal.
Liz makes some interesting points in her blogpost (click on her name to get to it): big goals are different from small goals, and sometimes you have to go for big!
Paige says:
September 23rd, 2009
No, I didn’t run with the bulls, build an igloo, or swim with sharks, but I did watch the sunrise. One word…BEAUTIFUL. Now, there was one more little item on my “life list” besides the bulls, igloos, and sharks and that was skydiving. I didn’t do it yet, but I’m signed up to do a tandem skydive with an instructor in 2 weeks! I’m a bit scared but I think it’s going to be fun.
Lynne B. says:
September 23rd, 2009
A quote for everyone to live by. “Above all challenge yourself. You may well surprise yourself at what strengths you have, what you can accomplish.” – Cecile M. Springer
Little Red Hen says:
September 23rd, 2009
Thanks for the great quote, Lynne. We should all keep that up on our refrigerators! And Paige, it sure can be a challenge to slow down long enough to enjoy a sunrise- that’s something I should all be doing more often. And skydiving????? That’s fantastic! Write to us and let us know how it goes.
Tweets that mention The Try Something Bold Challenge Follow Up | Five Hens -- Topsy.com says:
September 23rd, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chris Spagnuolo and Chris Spagnuolo . Chris Spagnuolo said: RT @fivehens Take the Five Hens challenge today: I Did Something Bold! Did you? http://bit.ly/vfDhU [...]
Kathryn says:
October 5th, 2009
My challenge to myself is; Mastering my Wii fit board without falling on my keester ! Bold part was; going up to video game store counter and buying complete Wii system and several games AND the Wii fit board during a buy 1 get 1 free event they had going on! …Then asking how to use it all~I think I amused the ENTIRE store on that one:) ….It took me over 1 1/2 hours to complete all of this and walked out feeling like I climbed Mount Mansfield! I really did…..