Terror on the Streets!

OK. Well, I do live in Utah's Dinosaurland, but there are no dinosaurs running down our street wreaking havoc.
Still, it's a great picture, yes? 

Actually, today I am talking about that dirty E-word—the one that is eight letters long and, therefore, the equivalent of two four-letter words. ;-)

Well, no. I am not talking about exercise after all.
Instead I will talk about FUN!

As I considered the dilemma of how to get myself moving without paying a monthly fee, and doing something that would be fun to do by myself—but also fun to do with other people, something I would enjoy, and that wouldn't give me shin-splints, the obvious choice was...

...BIKE-RIDING! 

Yaaaayyyyy!

So I talked Bruce into getting a couple of bikes for him and for me—it wasn't a hard-sell. Last Friday we went bike-shopping. Now my friends who are bike-snobs (which is OK... I, myself, am a music-snob, and a cooking snob...) might poo-poo the places we looked for bikes:  a pawn shop, a thrift store, K-mart, and, finally, Walmart. Walmart won because they had some bikes that had been returned and so were on an excellent markdown. (Bike-snob friends, skip to the next paragraph...)
We paid less for both bikes and two helmets than we would have for one bike at regular Walmart prices. Good deal! Maybe on a future day, after lots and lots of riding, I too will become a bike-snob. ;-) But for now I'm very happy to have the equivalent of a little girls' ride-around-the-neighborhood bike.

We took our two little bikes home, and that evening we had to try them out. My very first bike-ride in twenty-five years—since before anyone even thought about wearing bike-helmets!

Frankly, I was a little terrified.

I learned to ride a bike when I was between eight and ten years old; all my parents' assistance did me no good. It was my cousin, Wendy, who wouldn't let me not know how to ride, who got me biking all on my own. And once I realized I could do it, I could do it! I used to ride up to the top of my mom's street then turn around and pedal just long enough to get going really fast, then put both feet up on the crossbar, stick my arms straight out to the side and speed down the road. (I would kill my kids if I saw them doing that. My mom might have killed me too if she'd ever seen me doing it.) No fear.

But not now!

Bruce adjusted my seat for me then, while he adjusted his own bike seat, I took my second drive around the neighborhood all by myself—soooo brave!

I have discovered that it really is true that once you learn to ride a bike you never forget.The scary part was getting on to the bike and getting it started. I stood there looking at my new bicycle for a good two minutes, contemplating how to mount it; finally I took it to the curb where my short, little legs could have some help. It turns out that for the first ride my seat was higher than I was comfortable with; once Bruce lowered it (as far as it would go—which made him roll his eyes at me) getting on wasn't such a big problem.

Once astride the bicycle, I was a little nervous and shaky. I wobbled up and down the streets, hands tightly squeezing the handle-grips, feeling the air through my helmet-vents.

Check out my posture! I look like one of those Victorian ladies. If I wore a corset while I was riding, my figure might be closer to hers too. Or maybe not...

But the truly terrifying part was stopping! And trying to get off of the bike again without breaking myself and the bike! As I rode around, I thought and thought about how to do it and couldn't get the idea in my head for the life me. I started to imagine myself  riding around in circles for eternity—until I starved to death or fell down from exhaustion. Had I not been thinking about it so hard it might not have been a problem. But I have faith that, after a few more rides, it will all be as natural as it ever was.

Bruce looks totally natural; I look pretty darn stiff. But it'll come back to me, you wait and see. And it will come back quick, too!

Well, on Friday evening we took three spins around our neighborhood. I got pretty winded pedaling up the slight, slight inclines of our roads. And my whole body—legs, arms, and back—felt like jello when we were done. But with each ride I got a little more comfortable on the bike. And guess what?

It was FUN!