Cross training on a bike

Tokyo, Week 1, Day 7; 3.3 miles on a bike.

So I've never actually bothered to consistently cross train before. Back in high school and college (and, randomly, one of the times I was in Beijing), I often went for a quick swim after running since there was a pool right next to the lockers, and always loved how loose you feel after that. The problem is I'd actually have to shell out cash and spend time going somewhere to pull that off here, so that swimming off the list.

Back in high school, we also had stationary bikes that I used to use for a post-warmdown warmdown sometimes, and that had a similar effect of loosening things up. Well, as a I have a cheap bike (complete with a basket on the front for carrying things) that I bought at Saty primarily for transportation purposes back when I was living it the 'burbs of Tokyo, I broke it out for the first time since moving to Tokyo proper for today's work-out.

I was kind of time constrained because I needed to be back before my wife needed to go out, and that constraint got worse because I needed to pump the tires, get the bike out of where it was stored, etc. I ended up not having a lot of time, so I just decided I'd do the same course I did yesterday, but with only one lap around the park-like thing.

Since I don't have a wrist-borne time device of any sort (I use a Nike+ iPod when running, but that's not so useful when riding a bike), I had to improvise, so my wife gave me a kitchen timer to put in the bike's basket. It did the trick, but it almost fell out of the basket as it bounced violently around when I decided to ride the bike down some steps that are on the alley part of the loop.

Anyway, what's the verdict? A 3.3-mile bike ride feels like nothing, even for someone who never rides a bike. I barely broke a sweat and was back in no time at all, although I did get the loosening-up effect I was looking for. I'm definitely going to have to up the mileage next week so maybe I'll actually feel like I had a work-out.