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Remember how (hopefully) nobody strapped your feet to the pedals before giving you a push and saying, "Go"?
There's a reason for that.
Loyal readers will remember, I recently acquired a bike. It's fancier than any bike I ever owned because it has gears. Anyway, Tiffany and I took it to Mike, the husband of one of her clients, so he could fix it up for me. Mike knows everything about bikes, and, therefore, could tell in an instant that I know nothing about bikes. He is also kind enough not to point that out.
Mike put the right kind of pedals on for me after I bought the wrong kind of shoes (they were so pretty--pink! Also, they were on sale.). He made the bike more accessible to my short-ish body. And he put on ergonomically-friendly hand-brakes so I don't have to ride all hunched over like a pro.
What he couldn't do was teach me how to ride the bike.
While his worried wife begged me not to clip in to the pedals (I'd only clipped in three times previously), I clipped in to the pedals.
And then, to demonstrate how adept I was at clipping out of the pedals, I clipped out.
Or tried to. I couldn't clip out, and, instead of riding off for a bit to give myself more time to clip out, I panicked and promptly fell over, narrowly missing a brick wall with my un-helmeted head (Mom, I didn't think I would need a helmet on a practice ride.).
I fell in slow-motion.
No, seriously, I actually fell in slow-motion because it turned out Tiffany caught my rear tire in her hand and substantially slowed my approach to the cement. As I untangled myself from my bike, I laughed, the way you must laugh when you fall to let worried people know you are okay.
"I'm clipped out!" I called from behind the brick wall.
Oh man how funny! Sounds like is was as graceful as a bike crash can be...thanks to Tiff's quick reaction. I myself took a little tumble while riding my latest craigslist purchase today down 5th street...no helmet here either. I was on the sidewalk and didnt see a very ill placed drop off. I went crashing to the ground tangle in my bike. There were some very nice pedestrians there to help, but I wish Tiffany had been there to catch me to.
ReplyDeleteRebequita, I am very concern about clipping your feet, why don't you just put regular pedals like in the old time? You don't need any clipps or what ever they are called, but you do need a helmet even if you are just looking at your bike!!!!
ReplyDeleteRebo - Love your story, and you're not alone! I failed to clip out at an intersection in Brookline riding to work one day last summer...just as the light turned green, I fell over. Thank goodness, the first person in the first car at the light was paying attention! I unclipped, stood up, looked at all of the other bike commuters, and asked no one in particular "Was I at least graceful?"
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