BIKING LEGS

Last summer, I had the most amazing legs.

I mean, really - I biked across the country (from Jacksonville, FL to San Francisco, CA), and by the time I had reached Santa Fe, NM, my legs were freaking awesome.

None of my pants fit, mind you (strong quads=big quads=pants not fitting up and over your butt), but jeez... I had some kick-ass muscles, and I liked wearing skirts.

Now, I put on my spandex to go on the first ride of the season (I know, I know - it's been WAY too long), and as I get on my bike and glance down at my legs, I can't help but feel a bit mortified by the lack of muscle tone.

Yeah, I taught spinning classes all year. Yeah, I went on a week-long biking tour over winter break. But the truth is that it takes a good month of solid biking to build up the kind of leg that makes you look like a real athlete. When am I going to have another MONTH to just. bike.? Ever? God, I miss it. Biking makes you feel so free, so void of problems and responsibilities and scandal.

But actually, what I miss most is the feeling that I was doing something great. I was biking across the US with a bunch of idealistic 20-somethings, and I was having the time of my life.

I'm happy right now (and my beautiful pink Orbea Diva with FP80 wheels is a lot easier to ride than the entry level bike Bike and Build gave me), but there is definitely a part of me that wishes I was still sleeping on church floors and consuming 5,000 calories of junk food a day.

And yeah, I definitely miss those huge biking legs.