Bicycling Bonanza

I haven’t been on here in a while and I’m sorry! Things have been crazy busy and the things that have been happening I don’t really want to talk about…but I do have an interesting story.
Friday I decided to be good and go get my mom’s bike to go for a bike ride. I haven’t rode (ridden?) a bike for a long time but I decided to try it out because I know that it is good exercise and it’s been so darn humid and hot that I didn’t want to go for a walk because it would have been miserable. It also decided to start raining right when I was leaving but that actually made the temperature more bearable. So I was riding the bike and I was definitely not feeling very stable and I had a crazy flashback…

Doodadaloo Doodadaloo Doodadaloo (in my best pyschadelic flashback mode circa Scooby Doo…)

The year was 1997. I was riding my bicycle home from cheerleading camp. It had been a good practice (I’m sure because I was 13 and nothing was on my mind). I got done with practice and had to get home. I was riding along the sidewalk when I came across a parking lot. Hmmm…I’m sure it would be a better idea to ride through the parking lot instead of on the sidewalk so I wasn’t so close to the street.

Cue horror music…

I go into the parking lot and my bike starts to slide on the gravel. I tumble to the (really hard) ground. I start crying. I am bleeding. Horribly I’m sure, but it was 13 years ago, so I can’t remember exactly! A looming figure stands over me. It turns out it was just the groundskeeper from the church across the street. He helps me up and I hobble over to the church where I call my mom. She comes and picks me and my stupid bike up. We go home and I realize after I clean myself up that I have a rock stuck in my leg. Not just barely in there, but jammed in there. My mom calls the doctor and they tell her that she can take it out at home just as easily as they could at the office…with freaking kitchen utensils. I can’t remember the exact utensil but I have to sit in the bathtub loosening up my skin (which in itself is mortifying, let alone being a 13 year old girl in the bathtub while my mom has to scrape something out of my leg). Then the Nazi war criminal comes in to do the damage (ok, just my mom and I’m sure she was as gentle as could be. But if I were her, I probably wouldn’t have been because I’m sure I was a pain in the butt as a teenager!). She miraculously gets the rock out of my leg, but 13 years later I still have a divot in my knee area that isn’t caused by fat! (Score one for the rock and not the fat!)

So back to the year 2010. Riding a bike was kinda scary. I’m not going to lie. I was pretty proud of myself for getting back up on the bike and riding, but there were some times that I had to come to a complete stop to change direction. And a few times where I jumped off the bike instead of changing direction while stopping because I thought I was going to crash. And I wasn’t even listening to my Ipod. I just cruised without music because I didn’t want any distractions! I’m so lame. But I rode close to 4 miles and in about 30 minutes. That’s pretty good time for a new-again-beginner! And I’m going to ride again soon. I just have to find time in my stupid busy schedule. Probably this weekend. And hopefully in a few weeks I will be a biking pro. Or at least one that isn’t afraid to change direction without stopping!