The Joy of Riding

I remember reading this comic with Ari last year and thinking, "What an exaggeration! There is nothing that bad about riding a bike;" and "Ha! None of that stuff has ever happened to me!" You see, I just got my bike last year and began riding consistently; so everything was hunky dory. My bike rode like a well oiled machine, nothing could stop me! It's funny how much difference a year makes. After a recent series of events, this comic popped back into my head, and I saw there was actually a lot of truth to it.

So far this year, I have had a flat tire, my chain came off, and I had my first wreck on my bike. The chain incident and the wreck were within a couple days of each other, and to add insult to injury, both happened on my lunch break. When my chain came off, my hands were too covered in grease for me to eat my lunch; and after I figured out how to put the chain back on, it had a kink in it that made riding less than enjoyable. I then spent the evening trying to work out the kink. Thankfully, I was successful. As for my wreck, I lost control of my bike while riding on some wet pavement and scraped my arm up pretty bad. I was in the park at the time, and used all my water to wash the dirt out of the scrape on my arm. I don't think the chain incident or my accident would have seemed as bad had I not been on my lunch break.

Even with these minor setbacks, I still love to ride; and I still ride to work and during my lunch whenever I can. The comic rings true now, though, and I could even add a situation not depicted there. Maybe something like riding five miles while pulling a couple of screaming children in a bike trailer. Yeah, that got old real quick.

All in all, it's been an excellent year for riding, and I have been doing plenty of it. The weather has been cooler and not as humid as we're used to here in Indiana, and we have had very little rain. I got a bike rack for my car, so we have been able to drive to some of the paved trails around the state. Even with the missteps, it's been a lot of fun so far and I look forward to the adventures and challenges ahead.