Bicycle Success! (The saga of how I finally overcame my fear of bike riding)

You may or may not remember this post, wherein I mention my adventures in learning to ride a bicycle. (Yes, you heard me correctly. Learning. At thirty.) Well, I did not update you for a very good reason. Jenny (my bicycle) and I had a disagreement. A rather embarassing one.

The first summer I had her (summer 2011), I spent a lot of time *not* riding her because it was too hot. And then I got tired of this, and felt like it would ALWAYS be too hot. You remember that summer, don't you? Yeah. Too hot. For months. So I decide to slowly acclimate myself to the heat. Spending longer and longer periods outdoors. And then I thought, today is the day. Today is the day I will ride my bicycle in the heat. I will be careful. I will bring water. If I start to feel tired, or thirsty, or bad, I will stop. I will stay close to home so I can go inside quickly. Well.

Jenny and I headed out. It was a hundred and some odd degrees, like every other day that summer. I paid close attention to how I was feeling. After 15-20 minutes, my legs started to feel a little fatigued so I turned around. And then I started to feel a little more icky. And I considered my options, which were to continue the short distance to the house, or stop under a tree, which was a refreshing 100 some odd minus half a degree thanks to the shade. Home was close. I went home. By the time I got home I already had heat exhaustion. No matter that I cooled off super quickly, made sure I rehydrated fairly quickly. And so I wound up in the emergency room a few hours later.

This was not Jenny's fault, really, but I held it against her. Stupid bicycle sent me to the ER! Irrational thinking. But I had to be angry at something other than just myself I suppose.

So Jenny gathered dust, and the longer she did, all my intimidation at riding bicycles came back. And then some. I glared at her in the garage the rest of the summer, through the fall, through the winter and spring, and through half the next summer. Knowing that I would have to get over it. And then the perfect thing happened.

Photo from http://www.okcbicyclist.com/

Spokies.

Wow, if I could ride a bike, I could go to the botanical gardens at lunch. But I don't know those bikes. They look scary. OMG, no hand brakes! I'll die! But the thought put them on my radar.

And then Spokies had a series of free tours. That meant I could try out their bikes for free, with a big group of people (which for some reason made me feel safer - they would navigate for me and all the cars would see us for sure), and get to do one of my favorite things: listen to history stories. Plus. Free helmet. I'd been putting off buying a helmet. I think the helmet was the kicker, because I know if I ride bikes I will need one and I know they aren't cheap. The helmet decided me.

So I made a date with a buddy. We signed up. I couldn't back out because... my buddy was my ride my home that night! And right after I got on the bike for the first tour I would have quit if I didn't need that ride home. I was suddenly very terrified. Of being on a strange bicycle, on a busy street, of being on a bicycle at all, IN TRAFFIC even. By the time we got to the first stop on the tour, my arms hurt from gripping the handlebars so hard. But I was ok. And the start-and-stop design of the tour helped give me a break and calm me down. The stories distracted me from being scared. By the time we had to ride again I was usually ready.  I wasn't a great bike rider, but I made it through to the end of the tour. And then I made it through to the end of the NEXT tour, too. There were several moments on these tours when I was absolutely terrified for one reason or another. Because we were riding down a busy street. Because someone else was riding really close to me, or trying to talk to me. A drunk even touched my bicycle while I was trying to ride! Because the sun was in my eyes, or it was getting dark, or I had to ride over a railroad track. I didn't even know there were so many things to be scared of while I was on a bike! But I did them.

And after my second tour I went home and looked at Jenny, and she suddenly seemed so easy! If I can ride a one-speed bike down Reno, with no hand brakes, with people distracting me, in the dark, then I can ride sweet 7-speed Jenny on a designated bicycle route. Piece of cake!

Monday I rode her to the dentist and back. My first full commute that replaced a drive I would have made in my car. And the first time I touched Jenny in over a year. Also, the first time I felt pretty confident while riding her. Once again, I'm not up to driving her to work and back... realistically, I am physically not there right now. But I'm not scared of her anymore.

Hooray for Spokies!

Bicycle success!