Because I Said So
Wife to one handsome man, mother to three terrific sons and two beautiful daughters-in-love, memere' to two fantastic grandsons; entrepreneur, writer, reader, learner and believer! Thanks for stopping by - Alowetta
Last spring, on a Friday-morning-yard-sale stop, I flippantly decided to purchase a bicycle. While my sweetie has been a bicyclist for more than 20 years, I’ve chosen (up to now) not to participate in such athletic activities. I believe the last time I was on a bike was when I was about 12 or so, when we would ride aimlessly around town on a sunny afternoon, going from friends’ house to house to see what there was to eat or do.
I called Marc to come and get my fine purchase, since it wouldn’t fit in my little red sports car. He was exciting, thinking I was going to join him in pumping pedals across the desert. When he arrived, he took one look – paused for a moment – and then said, “well, it has new tires.”
After that he immediately started scouring Craig’s List for a “real” bicycle, not the 25-year-old “Roadmaster” I had paid the smart sum of $20 to acquire. In late July, he found me a “real” bicycle, a Gary Fisher mountain bike. Some kid had obviously outgrown the thing, and we got it for a bit more than my first purchase price.
Marc has worked to fit this bike with everything from new tires to a new seat and new handlebars. I’m not sure what is left that was the original bike before we created Frankenstein out of it.
We have been riding some throughout the summer, and recently I even rode my handsome “steed” around in the mountain bike mecca of Moab, Utah. I’ve discovered a few things that are different with biking this time around:
-Bicycle seats are hard…very, very hard. I remember my banana seat Huffy bike being a lot more comfortable. And amazingly, I have a lot more “natural padding” now, so I’m not sure why it hurts so much to sit on the thing.
-I don’t like helmet hair. Back in the old days, before we knew the effects of skulls and pavement colliding, no one wore a helmet. What a ridiculous thought. Now, they are required for everyone, and make a mess of your hair – especially in hot, sweaty weather.
-It isn’t enough to wear whatever shorts you have on, to get on your bike and ride. No, you have to have a certain type of “jersey,” gloves, padded shorts (they don’t help) and special shoes. I don’t like spandex and never have – I’m holding out for the baggy-pants style to come to bicycling and I’ll get some of those shorts.
-It is true what they say about not forgetting how to ride a bike. But there is a lot more wobbly riding now than when I was 12. Thankfully, I have not (as of yet) fallen down, but a couple of times I almost took out a fence, a car and Marc.
-A lot more of the world is uphill than you realize. Most of it, actually.
I’m still getting the hang of things after the 40-year hiatus, and maybe if I keep working all winter, by spring I’ll be able to do more than ½ hour at a time!
