Bike ride

On Saturday, September 3rd, 2005 I went on a bike ride. The last time I rode my bike was just under a year ago, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, for although as the saying goes “you never forget how to ride a bike”, not having ridden a bike since the summer of 1994 put that saying to the test. And come to think of it, I don’t even remember if I rode a bike then. I remember it was a group of five. With two bikes and three pairs of rollerblades. I remember borrowing something…but now I don’t remember what, because I know for the sure the bikes had hand brakes and gears and when I rode a similar bike last year, braking with my hands and changing gears seemed very very unfamiliar. This means, that my memory may be flawed (QUITE possible) and that the last time that I rode my bike was actually LONG before 1994 on a bike that braking meant backpedaling. Old-school.
Anyway, when I rode the bike last year, even steering the bike proved to be very difficult for some reason, so when the opportunity of going for a bike ride came up again, I was quite hesitant, but I really wanted to have positive feelings towards biking (especially since there is a high probability that I will be going on a weekend bike tour in the near future) so I decided to give it another go.
I ended up biking for 34km!
And it went really really well! I could steer, I could brake, AND I could use my gears! I pedaled up hills without stopping…only feeling that annoying “wow, my feet are pedaling really really fast, yet I’m going nowhere…I hope this bike still continues to inch forward and that I won’t tip over” feeling.
We biked from Neuch to Erlach through little towns, on major streets and over bridges, between cars and on sidewalks, through gravel and beside rivers, by fields and through farms, past horses, cows, goats and boats…stopping for a snack, a drink and a dip in the lake…it was really really fun!
Maybe this biking thing isn’t too bad afterall…but I think next time, I will try to bring along a walkman/discman or something of the sort. Listening to myself sing really isn’t enough, and no, I guess I can’t just enjoy the quiet outdoors. It’s nice to sit and watch the world go by in peace and quiet, but when you’re whooshing by on a bike, a soundtrack to life is key.