This afternoon it wasn’t LIKE I was riding a bike, I WAS riding a bike.  Gentle readers, spinning the wheels of a bike is probably no big deal for you, but for this aged girl, it was a little scary and a wee bit thrilling.

Trying to complete just one project, I found myself four minutes past the time I needed to leave to walk to  school to get my daughter. An image of the car keys flashed into my mind. No, Devil, I will not be tempted by your crack offering! Life was not meant to be easy. Do you think the pioneers used cars? No, they opted for covered wagons just for the sake of proving they could do it!

Always thinking, I remembered that there was once a brand new bicycle in my stepdaughter’s room. Since she went to college last month, her room has not been entered.  Reluctantly, I peeked in the room and saw the bike leaning against the fireplace, helmet dangling from the handlebars.  The tires were flat, but a quick blow of air fixed that problem – always does.

My four-year son was beyond ecstatic that I was going to ride the bike, “I didn’t know you could ride a bike, Mommy!” Come to think of it, I was once an adept “no hands” rider. Well, that was sixth grade before my County Seat plastic drawstring shopping bag got caught in the bike spokes and threw me head first over the handlebars.  (Remember County Seat?  Bad store in the mall in the 1970’s that was one of the first stores to offer drawstring bags. Carrying a drawstring bag while wearing Gloria Vanderbuilt jeans and a parrot shirt rendered a kid untouchable.)

My friend didn’t realize I had wrecked and kept riding. Presumably, I passed out because I woke-up confused and lying in the middle of the street with the side of my face scraped off.  Since then, I haven’t been fond of bikes.

But today, Bold Biking Bitsy rapidly peddled toward school and made it on time!  The first-graders were in awe of the cool bike and my daughter proudly rested her hand on the seat as we walked down the sidewalk to a cacophony of “Bye!  See you tomorrow.  Bye, friend!”  Clearly, the bike is going to propel my child into the ranks of the popular. If I only had a skateboard…

Oh, another thing. When the bus came, I hoisted the bike and put it on the front of the bus. Again, people do that action all day, everyday, but it was a first for me. Scary too because I didn’t know how to do it and was anxious I wouldn’t be able to do it or do it fast enough. Maybe the bus driver would honk at me or run over me or drive away with my child on the bus and leave me standing on the sidewalk.  Anyway, it ain’t no thing. Piece 'o cake. 

Pride and self-sufficiency exuded as I held a pole on the bus. So un-needy I didn’t even need a seat!

Comments

[Polly Poppins]

You rock!

[CindyW]

Biking rocks. Biking in the humid heat in Texas is magnitude harder than biking in the dry and cool bay area :) I am still trying to figure out a way to bike to drop off both of my kids. My older one's kindergarten can be biked to via a nice trail. But to get to my little one's family care, I will have to go on a few big roads, where people drink coffee, talk on the phone and half-sleep all at the same time. I always try to imagine that one little side-swipe. Sigh, maybe we will wait until the little one gets to go to a pre-school next our home.

[Holmes]

I just ran across your blog and have been reading up on your no car experiment. I gotta say, I'm very impressed by your resolve. I'll be interested to see what your final thoughts are on the quality of our public transit once it's all said and done.

[hokgardner]

OK, that picture just wasn't nice! I'm about to get a trailer for my bike so I can accompany Ella to school in the morning with babyboy along for the ride. Now that Ella can ride without training wheels, she's just itching to ride to school!

I suppose I should also get my bike back from Heidi.