Cycling As Stress Relief

I was having a rough day. I know, a shocker for a stay at home mom of three (4 if you count Darrin). I blame 4th grade homework for my sour mood. When Darrin came home he could easily see I was ready to pop.  He calmly suggested that I go for a bike ride to feel better. Normally I would have a list of reasons why I couldn’t go.  That day, however, I was happy to get the heck out of the house. So I got on his bike and left.

I managed to leave the driveway without falling, ok, good start!  I was on my own and so I could choose my own route. I knew I didn’t want to go the same way as last time, that was way to freakn’ hard! So I left and went the opposite direction.

Then came the time to decide how hard I was going to ride. I was in no mood to really put in a hard ride so I took a fairly easy route that lasted around 5 miles.  That distance would appease Darrin and keep me away long enough to relieve the stress of the day.  The entire time I was gone I was praying that I would not see anyone I know. I have an inherited trait of turning the brightest color of red when getting the slightest bit winded. It’s bad, people see me and think, “does she need a doctor?”. So I was trying to go where I was not likely to run into any friends.

I  live on the side of a mountain so I couldn’t avoid hills altogether.I knew I would have to at some point go up a hill.  I saved the big hill for last (bad idea by the way). I huffed and puffed and since I had no one to cheer me on or push the back of my bike, I got off and walked for about 20 yards. I climbed back on and rode,at a snails pace, back home.

My legs were tired when I got home but I did feel a lot better than when I had left. At least I didn’t want to wrap my kids in duct tape anymore. Maybe there is something to this riding for stress relief idea. I think I’ll go on another bike ride after all.