In the past ten months, I have had many firsts. Last Thursday was another one. I had a company picnic over at Paradise Beach County Park, Tiburon. The more exciting first was that a bunch of coworkers organized a cycling trip to the park and I joined them.
Putting some things into perspective. Cycling is, of course, not a first for me. However, the route and the distance were indeed firsts for me. Tiburon is located at Marin County, north of San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Cycling across this famous tourist landmark is also a first for me.
Hmm. Okay seems like I failed my math, last Thursday had more than one first for me.
The entire route from my apartment to the park is around 20 miles (around 32 kilometers). Cycling is definitely not one of my strengths so this is definitely a big deal for me and my legs.
The whole route happened over two excruciating hours. My lungs and legs burned and went into overtime. I was reminded umpteen times by the punishing uphill slopes how unprepared I am.
For the most part I was huffing and puffing my way, trying to keep up with the group. I was consistent... consistently last in the pack.
Lucky for me I had really patient coworkers who made numerous stops and waited for me to catch up. Many thanks to Charles for organizing the whole trip and being so patient with me along the way. He literally waited, made sure I was able to catch up and did not get lost along the way.
The second leg of the trip was a lot shorter for some of us.
After the picnic has ended, we cycled to the Tiburon Ferry. The route ended there for three of us where we waited for the ferry service back to the Ferry Building at San Francisco. After shepherding us to the ferry, the rest of the group pushed on and cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge back to city.
I was totally exhausted, the entire body was aching in retaliation but I am definitely glad I went for it. A good first.