Just like riding a bike...

So most of us have heard the phrase "it's just like riding a bike."  Of course, what we mean when we say this phrase is that this is something that you will never forget and will come back quickly once you try it again.  Now most people use this phrase as a chiche and never take it literally.  Well my friends, yesterday I took this phrase literally!

I had been wanting to get a bike for a few different reasons but the main two were:

1. To excercise (and get healthy)
2. To be able to ride a bike with Owen (and Quinnie once she gets older).

So when I think about what it will look like when I ride my bike, here is what I imagined:

Ok, maybe imagining that I'm Pam Anderson is a little too far of a stretch.  Let's go for something a bit more classy.  So imagine a nice spring day where you are meeting a friend to go sip some (adult) lemonade and you get:

Cute, balnced, still lady like.

So yesterday I got on a bike for the first time in about 8 years.  Let's set the scene:

I am inside wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  Brandon says he got the brakes put on so I can take it for a spin and he asks Owen if he wants to see Mommy ride her bike.  Of course he says "Yeah!"  So I put on my bright pink flip-flops (I know, I know - great role model here) and head outside.  I crawl on my bike which has its seat lowered as far as it can be and I can tippy-toe touch the ground. 

Ok, you can picture it, right?  No?  Well here are a couple better images of what I may have really looked like:

Now for the ride.

I take off and I am a little unstable.  I make my first turn and I have my one leg out just in case I'm going to go down (which Brandon believes is about to happen).  Yet, I make it without a problem.  I now know that my biggest issues with this bike is finally remembering that it is NOT like a car.  When you turn the wheel of a car, you gradually start moving to the left or right.  You turn the handlebars of a bike, there is nothing gradual about it.  The other big thing I forgot - there is not a brake pedal!  Who designed these bikes?  Wouldn't a brake pedal be so much easier than these dang hand brakes?  The good news is that both of these realizations were when I was out of family sight! 

I make my way back to the house and I began to wonder, how did I ever ride this thing with no hands?  What are the hand signals for turning again?  So my experience with "its just like riding a bike" was that some things we remember (balance), but other things (important things like turning and braking) take a bit longer to come back!

Oh, and one last thought about my biking experience - my butt must not have remembered as I am feeling the bike seat today :)