Today was bike riding day. Hooray! I’ve been dying to get my new bike out and about. Speaking of my new bike. I’d like to take this time to introduce you to my new best friend, Taylor Dayne.

Yep. I named my bike after the 80’s singer. I figured that if I ever got lost, love would leave me back. I know. Horrible joke. Stop yelling at me.

Taylor arrived last Thursday in a big box and my boyfriend and I took her to the Bike Stop around the corner on Saturday to be assembled.

I rode her for a short rid on Saturday, but I soon realized that the seat was too high and I needed to take her back to the shop for a few adjustments. So, today she got a new fancy water bottle holder and a seat adjustment then we were off to Central Park for a ride.

I’ve never had a bike in the city, so this was my first time navigating the subway with one. I’m glad I chose to go in the middle of the day because traffic was low. Here’s Taylor patiently waiting for the train while garnering some inspiration for her upcoming ride. I think she’s ready.


Not sure about me though.


I got to Central Park, which is really only 4 stops from my apartment, so it’s not that big of a commute, and started looking for the bike paths. You’d think there would be a sign somewhere, but no. I mean, I’ve been to Central Park a million times and I always see bikers scooting along, but never really paid much attention. After a bit of trial and error that included just following other bikers, I found the bike lane and Taylor and I started working.

I’m still getting used to Taylor and which gears feel the best where and all that jazz. I suck when it comes to knowing what to do with the gears, so that was my goal of today. Futz around and figure her out. The ride started out really great. The first few minutes were mostly flat with a few small hills and I was feeling like the queen of biking. I could see myself in London next week biking alongside the Olympians. Then it started. I reached my first real hill and everything changed. Now, clearly I never really thought this through. If you had asked me, “Hey Amanda. What type of terrain is Central Park?” I would have said, “What a great question. It’s really hilly.” Then maybe what was about to happen to me would not have come as such a surprise. I started up this hill and about halfway up, I was done. I couldn’t do it anymore. I had to get off and walk Taylor up the hill. I thought, “OK. I need to get warmed up and figure out what I’m doing. Once I get over this hill, it’ll be downhill for a while.” Holy Mother of Pearl was I wrong.

The hills kept coming. I know that this was my first “real” bike ride, but even I was shocked at how hard it was. Last week I did my rides on the bike at the gym since Taylor wasn’t here yet, so riding in the park is a whole new ballgame. So, I shouldn’t beat myself up about struggling with this. As I was riding along, I kept thinking, “it’s gonna go downhill just over this bend,” yet it seemed to continue to move upwards. It was almost completely uphill. How is that even possible?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Central Park, this is what it look like. The turquoise trail is the bike path and the red arrow is where I started.


Since I started on the furthermore SE corner of the of turquoise trail, I intended to cut across West at 72nd street in order to not overdo it today. I was only supposed to bike for 30 minutes, so that seemed fair. I could always loop again, right? Well, I must have been distracted by the monstrous hills that laid before me because once I decided to check where I was on my phone. This is where I was.

Yep. I was committed to biking at this point. I assumed that since I was at the halfway point there would be lots of downhill to come. I was wrong again. It was as if the hills just got steeper and steeper. Once again I ask, how is this even possible? There was more walking in my future, but I did the best I could. By the end of the ride, I did feel like I was getting the hang of Taylor and her gears. I was finally able to keep a good pace going up and down a hill, so that’s progress. I also managed to grab a great picture of the Reservoir while I was taking a quick break. It was a beautiful day here today.

I was amazed at the bikers who kept passing me on the hills. Wowzers. They are really, really, good. Instead of beating myself up about it though, I decided to look towards them for inspiration. Someday I’ll bike as well as them. Or at least be able to bike up a hill. Baby steps.