It's Not Like Riding a Bike

I told you months ago (October 27 to be exact.) that I was going to start biking. But I was afraid to start biking without Lee's company since I haven't gone out in years, and we were lazy retrieving Lee's bikes from his parents, and then we've been busy so last week was our first bike adventure.

Fortunately there's a commercial parking lot by our apartment that's empty outside of business hours so we went there for me to re-learn biking. Not that this should be difficult, right, because they don't say "It's easy like riding a bike!" for nothing!?

Wrong.

Apparently I get on and off my bike incorrectly. I sit on the seat with my tippy toes on the ground to push off. When I stop, I stay in my seat and put my tippy toes back on the ground. I like this. It makes me feel in control. I have some paranoid issues with falling so being able to sit and place my feet on the ground gives me comfort that I can deal with sudden stops or anything else that might sway my balance.

However, Lee says that my legs need to fully extend while pedaling, and if my seat is low enough for my tippy toes to touch the ground, it's not high enough for my legs to fully extend. Which is why I should board and exit the bike correctly: from a standing position. But this requires so much more BALANCE!

No worries though, we have been doing circles in the parking lot just like I did when I was 8, re-learning how to get on and off my bike. I finally got confident enough to do a loop around the low-traffic, wide-lane section of our neighborhood. Baby steps to success! (Or baby pedals?)

In other fitness-related news, I just spent the most on running shoes ever! (Not sure that deserves an exclamation mark.) Lee convinced me that I might like running more if I had my gait examined and got proper shoes. So I went to a fancy running store, had my gait examined (I don't need stability after all!), and got some extra nice shoes and insoles as well. (The insoles do make a big difference and will last for three pairs of shoes.) I have yet to really test them out, but hopefully tomorrow they will make me a runner. Or at least a regular jogger.