I’ve mentioned here before that Pete rides his bike to work most days — eight miles round trip. On the weekends, he likes to go on longer rides around town.
Graceful is also an avid biker and has gotten quite good on her bike. She’s ready to start taking some short trips around town — probably 1-2 miles at this point.
Elegant is getting there, although she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of biking without training wheels. She’s almost there, and we figure that lots of practice in the next few weeks should do the trick. Because of her prowess on her scooter, her balance is great; it’s just having the confidence to translate that to her bike.
And then there’s me. I have not been a biker all these years. The last time I rode one was on a vacation in Cape Cod about 20 years ago when Pete and I rented some bikes and rode on a rail-to-trail near the water. Before that, I hadn’t ridden much since I was about 10.
Pete has been trying to get me to take up biking again but I’ve been resistant to his persuasive words. He is a fast biker and it unnerves me a bit, even though I know he knows what he’s doing. Remember, he rides roller coasters and I do not.
I’m not interested in biking for speed. I don’t want to race. I don’t want to break the speed limit in our neighborhood. I just want to cruise around at a nice gentle pace and admire architecture and gardens. I like old fashioned cruiser bikes, not sleek racing bikes that I have to hunch over the handles.
So I’ve resisted getting a bike.
That changed this week:
Cute, yes?
Check out the polka dots:
… and the cushy seat for my tushy:
… and a cute bell, natch:
… and a basket:
I like this basket because it pops off and can be used as a carrier. How cool is that? This is going to come in handy on trips to the library.
Since I have the equipment, now I have to get serious and practice. The last bike I rode had foot brakes and only one speed. Pete had to give me a tutorial on gears and how they work. I am not kidding.
For now, I’m only riding in front of the house. I’ve gotten past the wobblies and am pedaling on flat surfaces with ease. I’ve more or less figured out the gears and what to do and when.
I am a very cautious rider. VERY cautious. I am constantly aware that the only thing protecting me from injury is my skin and a lot of body fat, which I’m thinking isn’t going to be much use at all if I go ass-over-head and end up lying in a daze on the road.
I’m trying to navigate turns without wanting to pee my pants from the fear that I’m going to fall over. And I’m not even going to get into how much speed scares me. Suffice it to say that my hand brakes are getting used, so much so that I’m wondering if I’m going to wear them out from overuse. I’ve learned — luckily, not the hard way — to gently squeeze the brakes, not grab them suddenly, even though my anxiety-filled desire is to apply great pressure to both breaks at regular intervals. Just in case.
But, I did have fun yesterday. I had forgotten the feeling of cruising along easily and with a little breeze in my face. I’m looking forward to riding around town and getting better at this biking thing.
But there’s the little — okay, not so little — matter of my butt. Which gets sore from riding. Even though I have the bike seat equivalent of a premium European down duvet made with feathers from baby phoenixes. So apparently I’m going to have to develop some calluses or whatever it takes to ride without an achy breaky butt.
The girls think all this is great. Their minds were almost blown when we told them we were going to the bike shop to look at a bike for me. They just couldn’t believe it was happening. After all, bikes are like roller coasters — Pete’s domain, not mine. My domain includes gardening, museums, and raising hell over who dumped 13,721 Lego pieces on the living room carpet.
After I got the bike in the car, the girls began discussing what I would name my bike. Their bikes are Sophie (Graceful) and Daisy (Elegant). Naturally, they assumed that I would want to name mine too. I agreed that all female bikes in Jenworld should be named.
Oddly enough, Graceful and I had the same idea, so that is the name that has stuck:
* * * BUBBLES * * *
Yes people, I have named my bike Bubbles. How can I not, with all those cute polka dots all over the frame?
And since I have a bike named Bubbles and have put a turquoise jelly bell on the handles, it’s just a matter of time before I put streamers on the handles and possibly even decorate the spokes.
Your bike is so cute. I’m actually getting ready to sell my mountain bike and buy a cruiser bike. My ridiculously bad back doesn’t like how much I lean forward on the mountain bike.
Get a gel seat cover for your bike seat. It’s made a huge difference for me!
I agree your bike is very cute! I have ridden a bike in about a decade so I can understand your hestitant nature. Good luck and have fun changing up the exercise routine.
Yay, Bubbles!!! That’s awesome, Jen!
I’m impressed that you’ve gotten proficient with the gears–it looks like you have 15 gears? It definitely take a little getting used to, so you’re past the hardest part already. Take your time and go at your own pace, which it sounds like you’re doing. You are going to have SUCH a blast on this bike.
I have been road biking for a couple of years now, and my butt still kills on long rides (and I have a VERY copious behind–you’d think my personal padding would help, but it doesn’t).
Happy riding!
Hurray! Biking is great fun and exercise and C-ville is a great little town for cycling. Enjoy!
I don’t know anything about my gears at all, because I’m concentrating too hard on the fact that my ass hurts. Plus the fact that my head gets ridiculously hot in the helmet.
I had to laugh at your last post, because Grace is wearing pretty much the exact outfit I was!
My bike seat is completely cut away where the coccyx is and it made a big difference. But it does take time to get used to! Before Zack, Rick and I would regularly ride 30-35 mile trips each weekend.
Bubbles looks like pure joy! I love riding my bike, but I would love a road bike instead of my mountain bike since getting older puts a greater premium on comfort. And yes, a bike basket is a MUST!!!
I hope you and Bubbles are very happy together!
Oh Jen! How exciting. I LOVE my bike and am so sorry that it really hasn’t been nice enough weather-wise (i.e. warm with no gale-force winds) for Mr. Hot and I to hit the road. We used to (in our old house) pack water and snacks and head out for 5-6 hours some days (when Shortman was busy with a friend or at his grandparents).
Once, we did a 70-mile road trip from our house to the lake.
(Of course, neither one of us could walk the next day!)
Have a great time, you and Bubbles.
You’re going to love your bike! I like to cruise around my neighborhood and look at architecture and gardens too. And you can’t beat riding with the kids to the neighborhood pool. I have that same basket in black. After you get comfortable on the bike, practice riding with things in the basket before attempting a library run. The weight of the books makes the steering experience quite different.
I recently bought a bike, too. It was the first time I’d been on a bike in over 25 years. I was a little wobbly at first, and extremely cautious. But I hope to use it at parks and such, and enjoy a little time outside.
Bubbles sounds like the perfect name! I LOVE your bike.
Love the bike. When I met my husband he was biking 70 miles a day.. Really. He was in school and would get up at 4:30 in the morning to ride.
He’s stopped riding and we all really need to start again.
OMG; Bubbles is adorable. Love the practicality of the basket, necessity of the padded seat, and pure fun of the bell. Ride like the wind!
Oh my gosh, I want your bike. It’s sweet!
Too bad the kiddo hates bike trailers, or I’d have a bike and we’d be riding everywhere. Oh, except that with the bike trailer attached I couldn’t even go a block without falling over dead.
We sold the bike. And the trailer.
And yes, your butt will hurt forever. Gel seat covers help, but not that much.
I would love to learn how to ride a bike. Two years ago my husband rented a cruiser when we were at a vacation place and I tried that out a little bit. Before that, I hadn’t ridden since I was 10 or so (and even then I just borrowed a friend’s bike for a few weeks). I think I want to get a youth-sized bike. Like one a 14-year-old would ride. I don’t want to be too high off the ground and I don’t want the bike to be heavy – I want to feel like I can stop the thing as I cruise around at LOW SPEED. I am a total scaredy cat. My husband says you’re not supposed to be able to put your feet on the ground when you’re sitting on the bike, and I say “well then no bike for me!”
You’re awesome.
Bubbles is absolutely perfect! Congratulations! Hope you enjoy many meandering glides, without having to go too fast or too far. I’m sure this will all result in many stories – I look forward to them.
That’s a great bike and even better seat! My experience is that if you ride a little every day, the soreness in your butt will subside in about a week. (Though obviously some other commenters have a different experience) I’m with you—my husband puts on the biking shorts and shoes and special vest and he’s ready to RIDE. I just want to meander through neighborhoods and feel the breeze in my face and look at all the homes & yards. You and the girls can stick together and just enjoy a relaxed pace while Pete goes on power trips. I bet by next year the four of you will meet in the middle and go on family bike trips.
I am a lifelong bike rider, we grew up poor, so my Schwinn 10 speed got me everywhere I needed to go, and in the 60′s and 70′s, that was so amazingly far away from home!
I invested in a Cannondale mountain bike in my 30′s because I had enough money to buy a “comfort” bike. It was a man’s bike, and that was fine, as long as I was comfortable swinging a leg over.
2 years ago, I went to swing my leg over the center bar, and almost killed myself when my foot didn’t clear the bar! I would have broken a lot of bones in my poor old 44 yr peri-menopausal body, if I hadn’t been able to do a “save” and I clearly remember thinking “time for a woman’s bike” meaning, a bike with no center bar aka a man’s model.
I looked online and found my MID-LIFE CRISIS RIDE. It is a bright pink electra cruiser, with 21 gears! I did matchy-matchy jelly bell, front bike basket, rear saddle bag, candy-stripped seat and handlebar grips. So cool, and way cheaper than a convertible Beamer!
I embarass the hell out of my teenage sons when I can convince them to ride with me. I love it! I’ve been thinking of streamers on and off for awhile now, not knowing if that would be “pushing the envelope” on crazy mid life looking lady riding a hot pink cruiser bike!
A bike?! You really are living on the edge. You should totally start a blog that incorporates that in the title. Oh wait. Never mind.
Seriously though, congrats on the bike! Love that all of the girl bikes are named!
I have been thinking about getting a bike for the past couple of years. I used to love bike riding when I was a kid, but 20 years off a bike and suddenly the ground seems really far away. And hard. Awfully hard. Especially when hurtling toward it on a fast-moving bike. Yikes. (Wait, that probably wasn’t helpful – sorry!) So I commend you on overcoming your fear. Maybe this will inspire me to get a bike too!
Hooray! Go, Jen, go!! Bubbles is beautiful!
If I didn’t live on top of a much too steep hill, I would ride a bike as often as possible. My bad knee makes that pretty much never, unfortunately. But maybe I’ll sell my old mountain bike (which I haven’t ridden in at least ten years) and trade up for a cruiser bike like yours. I could totally run errands around the top of the hill on a bike like that!
Bubbles is so cute and the name is perfect.
I have two artificial knees, so my bike is a trike–yes, and adult trike, with a nice basket across the back–so I can’t ever fall on my knees and wreck them. It’s a cobalt blue so she’s named Bluebell!
BTW: The Boy + fountain + cupcake = adorable!
I am so happy to hear it’s not just my butt that HURTS from riding a bike. I do not remember it hurting that bad back in the day… and go figure my butt has much more padding than back then. BTW the gel seat cover hasn’t helped my butt.
I covet thy bicycle. Totally. Except I don’t really like riding much either. But it is so pretty. I could change my mind for that bike.
Hurray for bubbles. I heart your bike basket, and the circles! I really heart those!
Dare you to!
I stopped cycling when I discovered I had put ON weight…apparently… muscle is heavier than fat!!!!
So No 2 has pinched my lovely Trek ‘sit up and beg’ bike…she puts the dog in the front basket!
I LOVE your bicycle! I noticed the basket first and think it’s fantastic.
My favorite part of your new bike? THE BELL. How I love gadgets that display their gears. Geeky cuteness!
My mum decided 3 years ago that she would do a bike ride through India for charity. She hadn’t ridden a bike since she was 10 ish and then only briefly. Cue lots of me running after her as she wobbled down a number of cul-de-sacs near her house… But she did it! Her tip to me (just started riding through central London to college – argh!) is PADDED BIKE SHORTS….
Wear’em under your trews and your bum will be nice and padded against the mean streets of whereever you’re cycling!!
I blieve the last time I rode a bike was on a vacation down the shore in 1996. Sounds a little sad now that I think about it.
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Love the new bike! I haven’t forgotten that I owe you for winning the contest a year ago (hangs head in shame) for naming my bike Violet Beauregard. I love her much, by the way.