A few days ago I went to a family lunch and shared that I was looking into buying a bike. They mentioned that they had a bike they hadn’t used in years and they showed it to me. It’s a beautiful vintage bike as you can see from the above photo, and I’m so grateful they offered it to me. It’s a man’s bike and it’s kind of too tall for me, though. They suggested I gave it a try, since no one was using it. After work yesterday I stopped by to pick it up and to ride it back home. I checked my friend’s site www.ridethecity.com, to get the safest route in Brooklyn, and I followed it.
Before I tell you how the journey went, let me share my own journey with riding bicycles. I did ride as a child and a little bit as a teenager, but maybe over twenty years had passed until I tried again. I was at a friend’s beach house in Rhode Island a few years ago, and her granddaughter wanted to ride her bike and she invited me to go with her. When I got on the bike, fear took over, and I told her I couldn’t do it. She said, “tell yourself: Yes, I can, Yes, I can, Yes, I can.” She was seven years old at the time. She also gave me some great tips, I honestly didn’t remember how to get started and I’m still using her tips to this day. I loved it! So, every year since, I have made a point to rent a bike with a friend, at least once, and ride it either at Central Park or by the Riverside Park. Every time, I walked the bike through traffic and then rode it where I felt it was safe.