Like Riding a Bike, Huh?

That's a stupid saying. It should die. Well, it probably has. From laughter. At me.

Me and the sinister, yet innocent looking, new bike before it tried to put my face to concrete! 

Track Coach finally got his bike and loves it. I will let him tell you more about that and his maiden journey in a sec, but back to the how it almost killed me first. Do you sense I am over dramatizing, that doesn't sound like me... So anyways, since our legs our similar lengths (yes, poor coach, but imagine those puppies in little track shorts and knee high socks, oh too much, sorry!) I thought maybe I could ride the bike a little till I found one for me. Plus, all this fancy riding with its high tech gear shifting and all was making me nervous and I didn't want to look like a doof when I went to try out a bike so I was hoping to get some practice in. Things did not go as plan.

The pictures speak for themselves, as do the blaring white legs, but I also added commentary because I can. I just have to say that this bike is too big for me, and I did not have the confidence to just hop on and go, hence the falling over! There was even a point where I almost forgot how to use the breaks, it was like go-karting all over again (I pushed the gas right into a wall instead of the break, I looked cool, I mean everybody was checking me out.) Needless to say, I never got to the shifting part of the lesson. Maybe when the training wheels show up. Now I really need to find ME a bike.

Oh and I'm down!

Trying to get up on the bike...

But with a push from my 3 yr old (how embarrassing!)...

I was finally able to ride.  And if I could have gotten my feet in those dang straps I would have looked like a pro, too! Guess I really do need my own bike so my feet can reach the pedals.

Track Coach- On the Clock- So yes, here's my bike... shiney and used. I've been wanting, nay, dreaming of a bike since last year's Chelanman when I had to rent a bike to compete. That was the first time I had ever ridden a bike that didn't have large knobby tires and I fell madly in love. It was like a breath of fresh air, like beating young children at board games, like your first kiss with your true love... ok so maybe not all those things, but I did like it and reeeaally wanted to get one. However, I'm not rich so it had to be put on the back burner. But we recently came into a windfall (thanks to my wealthly uncle Sam and his first time homebuyers credit) so I had just enough to get a nice bike off craigslist.

I was able to take it out for my first real ride today and it was better than I had expected. I rode up around my house and was able to make it up some fairly gruesome looking hills without dying. Almost dying mind you, but not dying. But the nice thing about gruesome hills is you usually get to go down and the hill I happened to pick had a nice 8% grade on the back end so I got to see how fast I could really go. That bike can really move... So after my test of the sound barrier, I finished up my ride going to the neighboring town and turning around and riding back along the highway. I suppose this will show how new I am to biking, but my brother had told me that you should pull up on the back end of the stroke in addition to just pushing down on the pedals. I tried this on the second half of my ride and I couldn't believe how much faster I was able to go. Well I think this biking thing is here to stay, I think I might need to find some buddies in the area to ride with; mostly because I don't know what I'm doing and secondly because I can imagine it can get lonely out there on the open road.

BTW: We also scored a sweet trailer for the boys to ride in so when adorable wife is able to find her bike we can go on family rides. (feel free to "ahh") 

Track Coach, next to his new love in life. I am now second. See that child wandering in the background, he couldn't care less about him! (that's not true)

Of course, he doesn't fall off or look like a fool riding it! Nope, coach is a bum numbing pro! (also not true)