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| Sam and Toby |
I'm Samantha (just call me Sam). I recall riding my bike a lot when I was a kid, I even took my bike with me to college. But my bike was stolen junior year of college and by then I had a car, so I never got another bike. Then a few years ago my parents bought themselves a couple of bikes and started riding trails near their house and I remembered how much I loved biking. So I went to Target and bought myself a bike. I rode it a handful of times and my love of biking was partially rekindled. I would go for long rides on my Target bike (like 10 miles!) but the bike was pretty much a POS. So I gave that bike to my little sister (because that's what big sisters do!) and upgraded to a pretty nice hybrid bike from Dicks Sporting Goods. And then I realized I live in Minneapolis - the #1 Bike City in the country! Last year I explored a lot of the great trails and sites of this beautiful city and fell in love - with biking and with Minneapolis.
Then winter came ... and seemed like it would never leave. My husband Jamey (he'll tell his story next) thought my love of biking was cute, but not for him. But around March I couldn't shut up about how much I needed to get on my bike, how I couldn't wait to try another trail I read about, all the places I was going to bike. So he humored me and agreed he'd go on a few bike rides with me. Finally the snow melted and Jamey went for a few rides with me, and then he too fell in love.
Through 2013 we logged more than 1,000 miles on our bikes (I'm sure in a couple more years I'll look back on this and laugh at such a low number) and explored tons of great trails.
Some of my friends are runners and they talk a lot about running - how far they ran, how great running makes them feel, what race they're doing this weekend ... and I always rolled my eyes at them. I'm that guy with biking. I lost 15 pounds, sleep much better and was able to quit taking antidepressants -- all thanks to biking. It has changed my life and I tell everyone (sorry for being so annoying everyone, I just fell in love!)
I'm Jamey. I also recall riding my bike a lot as a kid (until I got my driver's license of course). After that, I pretty much stopped riding. It wasn't until last summer that, like Sam said earlier, I agreed to occasionally go on a ride with her. I was planning on the mile or two in the evenings. Little did I know, that occasional mile or two would turn into this.
This past spring, we went on a ride just after the snow (sort of) melted where we stopped at a couple of bars then came back home. After those 10 miles, I was hooked and my life had been changed. We pretty much decided then and there that the Mississippi River Trail ride was going to be my goal.
The rest of this summer, I ended up logging roughly 1300 miles (and completely wore out my bike from Target) and can't wait to start riding heavily again next year. Biking for me is a great way to clear my head from all the stressors in my life and make everything go away for a couple of hours. My favorite rides are the Friday evening rides from our house in Brooklyn Center to one of the many craft breweries in the Twin Cities area for a couple of delicious beverages and then back home again.
I'm looking forward to sharing my cycling (and sometimes other) experiences with all of you through this blog or perhaps riding with some of you down the road!
Happy Riding and we'll chat again soon!
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