Bike bike bike bike bike bike

[gement]

Monday I got on a bike for the first time in a year.

Monday I got on a bike for the second time in a decade.

Monday I practiced mounting and dismounting and starting and stopping my bike, with no more than three pedal cycles between each action.

Wednesday I bought myself a new helmet, and very butch little bike gloves so my hands will not get road rash. (I intend to bike in full leather jacket and jeans until further notice to protect the rest.)

Today is Thursday. Today I practiced figure 8s in our dead end[1] for almost 20 minutes, figured out gears[2] and then rode three blocks out and three blocks back in our secluded neighborhood.

I didn't die and everything.

This amazing breakthrough in mobility which I have been putting off for years even though I have longed to get groceries from the store a mile away without it being a production number has been brought to you by the city of Seattle finally tearing up a horribly congested thoroughfare and cancelling ALL of the bus stops within a mile of my work as a consequence.

There are ways of addressing this that would not have involved biking, but they would not address the fact that I've gotten very accustomed to a bus stop directly in front of the grocery store, and thus gotten accustomed to eating about two pounds of produce a day at work, which has been fantastic for my mood.

Apparently fantastic enough for me to deal with bikes.

I have to go shower off a whole lot of adrenaline now.

[1] It turns out our dead end is almost exactly the same dimensions as the concrete patio in my back yard growing up, on which we rode in circles for days and days and days and days without getting bored before Mom pushed us to go out and learn to bike in a straight line. I'm pretty sure the resemblance is what got me past the hurdle tonight.

[2] The bike I am borrowing from arjache is of fantastically high quality and, like everything she owns, mysterious in its complexities. It has Presta valves (which is to say, the weird ones I had to look up online which have a little screw top), no kickstand, and gears that are powered by two separate levers each. I keep telling myself I know the next bit because I have had a bike before, and I keep being wrong.[3]

[3] This is not a bad thing. It is just hilarious.

Comments

[gement.livejournal.com]

Fang store.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Elephant!

[caladri.livejournal.com]

I would like to complain about arjache leading me into the world of Presta valves here, too :) (I _still_ can't figure out how to fill them on my own, and end up taking them to a shop when needed. Few pieces of technology that don't involve PDF fillable forms make me feel so incompetent.)

[gement.livejournal.com]

I used an internet video, and had surprising quantities of success!

I also had to use an internet video to figure out how to flip the internals of J's dual-valve bike pump. After which I discovered the screw-top bit of Presta valves. It was all very exciting.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

useful and not-sufficiently-documented bit: unscrew the nut a couple of turns and then whack it so some air comes out. The seal sticks. You can pump until you're blue in the face and the pump gauge reads 170 psi and sometimes the seal will stay stuck and you will be doing nothing pursuant to your goal. But if you dislodge it, it will work right now.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

If you have access to two bikes, a nice way to spend the afternoon is riding around in a park on grass slowly running into each other. Not like headon but just bumping shoulders. You get lots of practice in balance, graceful dismount, and dealing with adversity in a safe soft location. (this is _particularly_ the case if you should ever start using clipless pedals, the things like ski bindings, because you will spend a lot of time on your butt in the middle of traffic if you don't learn in safer conditions.)

also yay bike.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

also yay gloves. There are few things more wretched than deep cuts in your palms. In all seriousness, and having tried both several times, I'd take three cracked ribs over one badly slashed palm.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the confirmation on that! I felt like I was being paranoid wanting even my hands to be covered, but the fear of pavement is strong in this one.

[plantae.livejournal.com]

do you have a lamp? do you want a lamp?

[gement.livejournal.com]

If you have a spare bike lamp you're mathoming, I'm happy to accept.