So if you have been reading my recent blogs, you know that I am trying to ride my bike for all the short trips I make.
Yesterday was my first day.
Here is what I have learned:
1. Make sure your backpack fits properly for riding. You will have to loosen the straps a bit since reaching out for the handlebars will make the backpack tighten on your shoulders. I had to stop after about 100 feet to figure out how to adjust my backpack. And then I had to stop again to adjust it another time.
2. Think about your route with safety in mind. For my first ride I was simply going to my ex-wife’s house (about a mile and a half away) to greet the kids as they got off the bus. I took the route I would take in my car. Part of the road is narrow and it has a steep hill going down and then (groan) back up. The narrowness of the road meant cars had to do the half lane pass around me. At one point there was a guard rail and uneven pavement. I ended up jammed against the guard rail, going down the steep hill and afraid to veer away since the road was so narrow and cars go about 50 mph on that stretch. I lost some skin there: about a 1 inch circle on my shin as I rubbed against the guardrail while trying to move just far enough away to have it stop burning while not moving too far to get into traffic. I succeed in not dying and am confronted with an incline.
3. Do maintenance on your bike. The gears on my bike do not always stay in place. I can switch gears without touching anything. This can be a pain while going up a hill. Also in my ex-wife’s driveway (did I mention this was a steep hill too?), I just wanted to get to the top so that I could say to myself that I made it the whole way, despite my skinned shin, my randomly changing gears, and my overweight, out of shape body: my bike chain broke.
So what did all of this tell me? The cynic in me thinks that it would be cheaper and greener to just drive my car. I had to have my step-daughter drive me back to my apartment so I could drive back in my car to get my bike. Then I spent $18.00 in first aid materials and today I am getting a new chain.
But the idealist in me realizes that all of this is just learning. I will get better at this whole bike thing.
