Imagine… we are both bike riding, Robert flying at me with a look of semi-dread…literally, this is what his face looked like :-/) …. He reaches out, I peddle harder, push back and then BOOM, he lands smack on the concrete. All the while an Aston Martin watches on waiting to pass us and turn into his driveway from what I’m sure was a hard day work.
Yes. That was ride #2 of Jessica’s new biking routine. The only good news here: I wasn’t the one who fell. Because, as we all know, once that happens, its likely to take a small miracle to get me back on my bike. But never, fear, the fall did not stop Rob (other than I think he was a bit embarrassed b/c he’s like a professional mountain biker who fell on a solid concrete road). Okay, I take that back.. it was not a solid concrete road. It should have been a solid concrete road. After all, that is what, as taxpayers, we are paying for. It had a gigantic crack running down the middle of it making the two sides of the road uneven. His tire got stuck in the crack and he went down.
I’m still saying tho, if his shoes hadn’t been clipped in, he might have been able to save himself. I just cannot imagine riding a bike with my shoes hooked in. I prefer to try all methods of saving myself before I hit the ground and that would require me reaching my foot out to prevent my body from falling all over the place. Any who… he survived. I survived. Although, when he reached out I believe he was wanting to use me as more a rock to right himself and well, when you start going down, you’re on your own in my book.
Plus, I don’t fall. Ever. I’m the queen of not falling. (I’ll write this and then go bust my butt later somewhere). But, just ask the Meier’s. I went skiing with them all through the trees and hills one winter and I’m pretty sure every single male busted it out on the slopes, but not me! My arms might have been swinging everywhere and poles up in the air with one leg off the ground, but I do not fall. I’ll do all that I can to stay vertical. Gravity will not prevail!!
So, lessons learned while bike riding.
1) Riding with padded shorts still leaves your butt being sore.
2) I’m not a fan of road bikes all that much. The tires are just too big and too skinny. I need a little for substance to my bike! I’m currently borrowing a road bike from someone right now (I plan to buy a hybrid in a couple of weeks).
3) Bikes have become complicated with all their gears. Plus, this road bike I’m using, I couldn’t even figure out how to shift down (or was it up?). When did it become so hard. Rob asks me on ride #2 how my gear changing has been, and I said that I hadn’t changed my gear at all for the entire ride. I was in a nice & comfortable one, no need to change it!
4) Just because you follow a sign that says “bike trail” does not mean it won’t be dangerous. We followed one down Washington and it was definitely not “bike trail”ish in my mind. For one, we were right next to the road… at any given time someone could have taken us out, and two, the sidewalk was so messed up that you could not have possibly ridden on it. I was convinced we made a wrong turn somewhere, but I did check the map and we were doing it right.
5) I’m fan of these bike jerseys. It has three pockets in the back and I can put my chapstick, phone, etc in them and not be bothered!
6) I love that Robert carries the camel back for me and lets me take a drink any time. J
7) Robert does not like to share his bicycle. I haven’t convinced him yet to ride my road bike and me his bike. He gets this look in his eye like he’s giving away his most precious toy ever.
8) Installing a spare tire rack on the Jeep is not as simple as it looks. For Rob. For me, however, I’m two for two. Rob is 0 for 2. I did all the hard stuff.. and he kept saying I wasn’t reading all the directions! He just wasn’t following them. J
9) Not a super brilliant idea to bike after it has rained. While it is cooler, its also more humid. It’s also muddy. Even out on the road. A sidewalk was like washed out and we definitely got stuck in about 2-3 inches of hardcore mud. Not so much fun.
10) Biking is expensive. I’ve probably spent like $400 on all the gear it takes to bike (including a bike rack that will hold two bikes for the jeep) and I haven’t even bought the bike!!!
11) Robert will continue biking with blood running down his leg. Me, I don’t think so. I’m thinking of packing band-aids from now on. Probably not so cool for a mountain biker, but I’m just really not a bloody person. Plus, he carries his tools, I’ll carry band-aids! They can even fit in my shirt pockets!!!! Hahaha.
Needless to say, I’m curious to know how ride #3 will go. We currently are averaging somewhere around a 7-8 minute mile, which I think is pretty slow. People run faster than 8 minute mile. I think its because we tend to stop a lot b/c we have to figure out where to go, mud washes out the concrete, people fall, must obey stop lights and stop signs, etc.
We’ve still yet to find a great bike trail that isn’t on the road and isn’t a mountain bike trail, but I did read about one online at Terry Hershey Park, so we might do that either today or tomorrow. I told Rob he could decide since he’s the one still bleeding from yesterday’s excursion!
I do love my husband, but if he ever drags me down with him on fall, I will kill him. Hehehehe.
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| Oh yeah, this is me. Haha. Skirt & all. JK! |
More on our future bike riding adventures.
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