Bicycle, bicycle....I want to ride my bicycle.

Do you love riding your bike? I haven't gotten out on mine in awhile, but my son encouraged me the other day and we pulled them out, dusted them off, pumped up the semi-flatish tires and off we went. Bike riding is a kick....in the bootee. My bum was sore for a few days, I'm pretty sure there is a bruise on both cheeks. Bicycle seats (I believe) are made for small bums, not fat bottom girls that make the rockin' world go round....like me!! I considered buying a couple of rolls of Charmin and wrapping them around the bicycle seat or at the very least stuffing wads of it in my pants, (this always works in the commercials) but I've yet to try it out. At any rate, if you want to work on your buns and thighs, I highly recommend riding your bike, at least every other day. My legs were so wobbly after only ten minutes, I knew it must be working, the exercise thing, that is!

And now a story!!

About 4 or 5 years ago, my kids and I liked to get out and ride our bikes down the nearby dirt road. I love these kinds of adventures. I say adventure, because seriously, me + wheels = adventure. In all of my memories of bicycle riding, I don't think I've ever been 100% confident in my riding, or stopping. I attribute this to the fact that I'm rather short and my feet don't always easily reach the ground when I sit down. Anyway, back to my story.....

so, we were out one day for a leisurely stroll down the country lane, when we realized a car was coming. Being the good mom that I am, I quickly motioned for everyone to move to the side of the road and wait for the car to pass (my kids were younger then). Of course, I pulled over too, but somehow in my anxiousness and the sudden awareness that a car was coming and we were on the spot, my bike and I (completely out of the blue) fell over. The pressure of knowing I was being watched was a bit too much for me, I guess. But to make matters worse and even more humiliating, the person backed up (which means they saw me fall over) to ask me if I was okay.

Of course, when she rolls down the window I see that she's a cute young lady, which seemed to make it even more humiliating, although a hunky young guy would've taken the cake. I had no real reason for falling over, so I sat there stunned and not knowing what to say, probably with a "duh" kind of look on my face. She must've realized I was alright, because she left. I wonder how many people she told that day. We live in a smallish town and there aren't that many extremely short redheads, that I know of.

Anyway, I survived that bit of humiliation and I still get out and ride my bicycle. I know it burns

a lot of calories, which means that extremely rich, yummy, homemade chocolate cake I ate today could be burned off tomorrow morning. Goodness knows, I don't need to carry that around in my saddle bags. So, my goal is to ride my bike more often...hopefully every other day and become more expertly at it, or a little less clumsy anyway. If you have a bike and it isn't 400 degrees outside, I encourage you to jump on and go for a bit of a ride. Seize the Day!!!

Carrots on Wheels