The Long And Tiring Road

Wasn’t it this time last year, I decided to get in shape by running. It only took a week or two before I felt the difference – stress fracture in my left tibia!

Wasn’t it this time last year, I decided to get in shape by running? It only took a week or two before I felt the difference – stress fracture in my left fibula!

Maybe that’s not the way to go.

This morning, I attached my long neglected bike rack on the back of the car and headed to the trail.

Canal Trail HamdenYears ago, a rail line ran through my town, paralleling an abandoned shipping canal. Now, both canal and tracks are mostly gone, but the right-of-way lives on as a linear park. It is a gem.

It is, or so I’ve been told, the town’s most used park. There was a moderately light crowd this morning as I headed out on my 18-speed Huffy.

Do I really need 18 speeds? Wouldn’t three or four be perfectly fine, and less confusing?

I’ve had this bike a long time. It’s always had one ‘feature’ I wish I could fix. The brakes are incredibly noisy and squeaky. You can’t exactly spray a little 3-in-1 on brakes.

Today, the trail featured men and women of every size and body type. There were short squat women walking and at least one tall lean one running. A bunch of people were walking big dogs. One couple pushed a stroller with a bored looking toddler, in sunglasses.

A group of girls from Quinninipiac University passed by, totally engulfed in a cluster conversation.

Next time, I should throw my GPS receiver in the tiny pocket beneath the seat. It would be nice to know how far I’ve gone. My guess to Helaine was 4-5 miles, but it’s only a guess.

My trip took exactly thirty minutes. When I got back to the car, I wasn’t exhausted, but my muscles were twitching a little. That’s good. My butt doesn’t like the seat. That’s bad.

If I can keep this up when the weather is less friendly and the motivation not quite as strong, it will be a good summer.

6 thoughts on “The Long And Tiring Road”

  1. The trail has little blue mile markers every tenth of a mile painted on the asphalt on one side of the trail. They are difficult to see unless you are looking for them. They have helped my desire to know the numbers for a new exercise routine as well. The trail is really wonderful this time of year.

  2. For exaample – following the tracks it’s 4 miles each way from the Todd St parking lot to the Lock Keeper’s at North Brooksvale Rd in Cheshire.

  3. If you use the i-gotU tracker ( I love that thing, thanks for the recommendation!), I suggest putting it on the dashboard of your car on the way there, sometimes it takes a while to find the satellites.

    Then put it on your handlebars so it has a clear view of the sky.

    Later when you get home you can trim the way-points off that got logged while you were driving. I do it that way every morning with the dog.

  4. Thanks for the link to gmap-pedometer. I walked on a newly paved section of the Housatonic Rail Trail in Trumbull yesterday and didn’t know how far I walked. This is a neat tool. I’ll have to use a real pedometer next time and see how accurate it really is.

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