You Learned To Ride A Bike WHEN????

I just went over to drop my supper off in the fridge at Ye Ol' Evil Part-time Job. One of my co-workers said to me, "I heard you didn't learn to ride a bike until you were in your 30's??"

That is 100% true. I was 36 when I learned to ride a bike. I somehow failed to learn to ride a bike when I was six like a normal human being. Actually, it's no mystery: When I would try to ride my older brother would come along on his bike and knock me off. So, I never learned. It was actually one of my biggest regrets in life.

Then, the summer before I turned 37, I signed up for a spinning class at my gym. The seats on the spinning bikes are truly evil. The instructor recommended padded bike shorts. So, I went into the local bike shop to look at padded bike shorts and mentioned that I couldn't even ride a real bike. One of the people said, "We've taught lots of adults how to ride a bike. You'd be surprised at how many people there are who didn't learn to ride a bike when they were kids." So, I showed up the next Saturday and asked if they could really teach me how to ride a bike, and they did.

My first bike was a Trek 7000 WSD. It had a 19 inch frame which is the tallest woman's frame Trek makes. My mountain bike has a 19.5 inch frame, and I could probably go for a 20 inch. I learned to ride on that bike, but it ultimately wasn't the right bike for me. I needed something with more stability, so I started getting interested in a mountain bike. I had a couple of minor accidents followed by a major one on the 7000. I am absolutely sure that the two minor accidents wouldn't have happened if I'd been on a mountain bike. The major accident involved some black ice, so there was probably nothing that could have saved me from that one.

When I decided I wanted a mountain bike, I also decided that I wanted to try out several. I was willing to pay more for it since I already had a bike. I tried a couple of Gary Fishers, but I don't like the way their frames fit me. The top tubes are too long. I tried a Trek 3700 and the Trek 4300 (which is what I got). I'm told that the 3700 and 4300 have the same frame. But, there was a significant difference in how the two bikes felt to me. I think part of the reason I ended up with the 4300 was that none of the higher end bikes they had in the store were tall enough for me. My only regret is that nobody said to me: For only $150 more we can order you the exact same bike with disc brakes and here are the benefits of disc brakes. It would have saved me some money now. I have never not once fallen off my mountain bike or even come close to it. Even when I accidently ran into the back of a car that cut me off, I didn't fall. I did land on the top tube which sucked. There have been a couple of times when I've come close to losing my balance when I had to drop me feet for some reason, but I never have. I have grown ever more confident of my balance on my 4300, and my seat height keeps creeping up giving me better leg extension and more power when I pedal.

However, I still cannot stand and pedal. I can do it on the spin bikes at the gym, but when I do it on my bike (or any other bike) my knees lock and I can't pedal. I can stand and coast. When I did the 35 miler in Florida, I'd get as much speed as I could, and then I'd stand up to get off that horrible seat for a minute.

My mountain bike has served me well. I am comfortable and confident on it. I will probably always have a mountain bike. But, now, I am ready for another bike besides my mountain bike - something capable of more speed.