Me and Limey

I am babysitting a bike.

While my friend, Sharon, is away, I have been left in charge of her trusty brand new bicycle, Limey.

It is a TREK Lime and it is very cool. The handlebars are raised so you don't have to lean over to ride it...and the gears are automatic...no shifting necessary! It is like a "modernized old-fashioned" (?) bike. No hand brakes are needed...as the pedal brakes work just fine.

Sharon has fallen in love with bike riding recently and wanted me to try it out and see if I liked it as well. She has visions of a couple of us purchasing bikes of our own and making a sort of "biking group" where we all go out riding together... So, yesterday morning, I decided to give it a try.

My memories of bike riding reach way back to my youth when I used to get a thrill out of putting clothespins and playing cards on the spokes. This would make the most awesome sound, almost as if you were riding a motorized bike.

I also remember mastering the art of riding around without having my hands on the handlebars and feeling quite cool about it. And, how about those fluorescent streamers that we would hang down from the rubber handlebar ends? Yes, having a bike way back then was quite a treat...

Well, with a bit of trepidation, this 58 year-old Grammie put on the helmet that Sharon left me and got on the bike. I was ready to go!

Going down my driveway was a cinch..."You know,"I thought, "I am really going to like this!".

But, then I started up the hill...

Even though I could hear the gears automatically changing, I was struggling as I tried to make it go up the slight slope right outside of my house. I was facing an even more severe slope...actually a hill...beyond that--and I knew that I would never make it up that!

At this point, I began to wonder if the neighbors were peaking out their windows to catch a glimpse of me attempting to ride Limey and getting a good laugh out of the whole thing...

Giving up on the incline, I decided to walk the bike up to the top of the hill where the road flattened out somewhat. It was very tiring pushing this cute little bike and I was huffing and puffing all along the way.

Ah, I finally reached the top and now the real riding began. As I started to gain some momentum from the downward slope, I was actually enjoying myself. The bike was zipping along at a nice speed...the wind was blowing against my face...and, I actually felt like a kid again. This went on for a few minutes...until, I hit another slightly upward incline.

Now, I consider myself in pretty good shape in that I walk this hilly path every single day...but, riding the bike was different and I found my legs hurting a bit as I struggled to get over the hill. I was really breathing heavily at this point ..and, again, I got off of the bike and walked it to a flatter area.

I wasn't sure if all of this work was worth the couple of seconds of "wind blowing against my face... and feeling like a kid again...yada yada yada"

I rode for a few more minutes and then headed back home. The bad news was that my legs were tired out...the good news was that the trip back was pretty much all downhill.

I may take it out another day and try it again...but, for now I am keeping a watchful eye on it as it sits in my pottery studio until Sharon returns...and catching my breath...