Pride Goeth . . .

Granny on a Bike

After a good day's work on getting the house ready and a nice dinner out with DH we set out for a long ride--my inaugural ride with the new bike shoes and snazzy pedals. I was psyched to get the increased efficiency of movement, now using the upward pull of the circular pedal motion as well as the regular downward push.  I wanted to sail right over the Hill (the capital H is well deserved). I wanted to finish in our regular hour and realize that we'd gone a few extra miles. I very much wanted to get through the ride without falling.  In spite of the good advice I got from you all [I live in Virginia--we say "you all" lots around here]. In spite of that good advice, I decided to just learn how to clip on and off along the way.  DH gave me the briefest of demonstrations and off we went.

Our normal ride is through neighborhoods with just one or two crossings of major traffic roads.  DH had me kick out my heel to un-clip at about every other stop sign.  Lots.  As a precaution, I un-clipped before the three or four dicey spots (just before the major road crossings and when we went through a very narrow opening to the park that often brings us to a standstill).  I found it fairly easy to clip off and pretty easy to re-attach.  I chose the pedal style that has the plain pedal on one side and the clip pedal on the other side, so it took me a bit of time and sometimes a peek or two to see if I had the right side.  Things went well.  I felt good.  I tried to be aware of the mechanics of the pedal and to work at using the pull up motion.  I could do it for 10 or 12 turns in a row, but it doesn't come naturally yet.  I must say, I didn't sail right up the Hill.  I worked at it, like I usually do.  Maybe it was a smidgeon easier, but maybe not.  I definitely hope it will expect it to get easier as I get more and more used to effectively using the new set-up.

We went our usual route to start and then went a new way to join our alternate route.  We wanted to drive by our new house again.  The sign out front still reads "For Sale," but the agent is picking up our signed agreement dropping the inspection contingency tomorrow, so maybe we'll get a Sale Pending or Sold sign up next week.  All this time, I'm still releasing and re-attaching my bike shoes every other stop sign or so.  I felt a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, clicking her red shiny shoes.

I had wanted to go 15 or so miles tonight to stretch out the distance, but the days are getting shorter and, by the time we got back from our dinner date, we just had an hour before sunset.  We went about 13 miles.  As we reached the home stretch I started writing this post in my head.  Tell me I'm not the only one who composes posts in her head, trying to think of clever titles and thinking about how to tell you all  about my doings.  My title was going to be something about "it's not FALL yet," because I was going to make it.  Only a block and a half left.  DH reminded me not to forget to unclip as I turned into the driveway.  I was feeling confident.  I was excited.  I was going to do it.  I signaled the last turn, came down the hill, signaled the left turn into our driveway, smartly un-clipped my right foot, and . . .

a GNAT flew into my eye.

I thought it was funny and was trying to clear my vision, break brake (mmm, was that foreshadowing?) to a stop, and tell DH about it when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't un-clipped my left foot.  At this point I had no forward motion left and I gently fell to the left, my left foot still firmly attached to its pedal. Fortunately, I had pulled to the left edge of the driveway, and I fell onto the grass.  A much softer, less damaging landing than my last fall.  DH helped extricate me from the pedal and we were both still laughing when he finished putting the bikes away.

This makes a MUCH better post.  What I won't do for you guys!