Ride Like the Wind

The first time I went to college (I have graduated twice. No, no special reason. I just liked going to school.) I went to a university in the southern part of Minnesota located on a river. Well, thecity is on the river. The university is on top of a bluff. This sounds all very picturesque until you realize that your father doesn't think you need a car but will buy you a bicycle. The ride into town is fun. The ride back to school . . . not so much.

Dad did buy me a very nice mountain bike -- which was good for getting up and down hills and my boyfriend at the time decided we would become serious off-road bikers. He didn't think we had very much in common (We didn't.) and thought we needed a hobby. My kick stand was immediately taken off. Serious biker do not have kick stands. I had cages for my pedals. (Is that what you call them?) I had a speedometer. I had gloves. I even wore spandex bike shorts. No bike helmet.

I hated it. Hated it. Hated it. I didn't like being jostled around. I was sure I was going to get hurt. I got hot and tired. On the up side, college boyfriend was a pack a day smoker, so he certainly wasn't out-riding me. I think it was all in looking the part.

Well, anyway. I have dragged the old bike out every now and again, but, frankly it just brought back bad memories of being in the woods, looking for a bathroom. One of the first things my lovely practical husband said after we got married was, "We need to find you a kick stand." What's not to love about Big Daddy?

This year, however, I thought it might be nice to, you know, bike to the park. Brent likes to bike with the boys and I got to thinking it might be fun to join them. This weekend we went to the bike store and bought this:

Look! Kick stand! Helmet! Room for a basket! I am getting excited. I even looked at spandex shorts on-line. Did you know you can now buy them covered up by other shorts? How great is that? Oh, yes. I think I am going to like biking after all.