Since Hoss came home lame from Descanso, I've been worried about what I'm going to do to keep "Team Fluffy" from becoming "Team Destruct-O-Mutt." The obvious answer is in the form a mountain bike my recently departed roommate kindly gifted me before she moved out.
I've been looking at the bike with a mixture of trepidation and excitement as I've healed from my surgery. A mountain bike was, after all, a major component in my injury in the first place. It's been two years since I've been on one. I did hop back on the old one some months after the initial injury, but the ride was very short. I didn't feel like I could adequately control the bicycle.
So now I find myself in the unenviable position of having three dogs not getting adequate exercise while the horse is laid up. This lack of exercise has manifested in runaway dogs getting way too far ahead or far afield on the morning walks. So far no destructive behavior has been on evidence, but it is coming, I can just feel it. The last two days or so, Mac has been lying around and whining. This is not a sign of good things to come.
Today, after my husband spent quite some time getting the bike ready for me to use, I screwed up the courage and got on.
The dogs were just about as excited as they could possibly be. There was much growling and play fighting going on as I negotiated the bicycle down the driveway and out on to the road.
I don't mind admitting I was nervous. I yelled at the dogs a lot to keep them from in front of me. Going down the first hill, which is still pretty deeply rutted from the winter rains, I had a hard time feeling like I could negotiate the obstacles.
It wasn't just Team Fluffy that went along. Roxy came along, too, excited and running as fast as her elderly legs could carry her. Which, all things considered, is pretty darned fast. I also heard the desperate bleating of my goats, as they came running along, as well. I suspect I am going to have some really, *really* fit goats!
It didn't take me long to start gaining confidence on the bike. I felt good, really. The dogs settled in and stopped wrestling in the middle of the road in front of me, and I was able to pedal along without fear of being spiked into the ground by a dog.
We didn't go far, just ever so slightly farther than we usually do on our morning walks. With Roxy and the goats along, I didn't want to overdo it on them. Besides, it was my first time back on, and as much as I was enjoying myself, I knew it would be easy to overdo it on myself. Roxy and the goats stopped at the pond where we usually turn around and waited for us to come back. Evidently they decided the rest of us are crazy.
I surprised myself by pedaling up all the hills. This particular bicycle is very well geared, so I don't think it's as much a reflection on my fitness as it is on the equipment. I even made it down the same hill I wrecked on two years ago at a pretty respectable clip. The dogs were feeling the exercise by this point, and I didn't have to worry about anybody trying to run in front of me.
It wasn't a long ride. We went perhaps three miles in total. It didn't wipe me or the dogs out completely. I'm pleased to say I feel really good about it. I'm looking forward to going out again. My shoulder is a bit sore tonight. Other than that, I don't feel like I really worked out at all. So as I continue to explore this particular exercise option, I'll have to pay extra special attention to the messages I'm getting from the shoulder. It is going to be way too easy to overdo the shoulder while the rest of the body feels just fine.
Tomorrow we're taking Hoss and the goat to the vet. I will faithfully report on the results.
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