Peddling forward
Thanks to theklute for giving me his old bike when he got a new one a few weeks back.
Carlos fixed the brakes, lowered the seat for me, and oiled up my chains, making it safe and comfortable for me to ride. Yesterday I went for a bike ride with Carlos, which was the first time I've been on a bike in several years. I honestly can't say how long it'd been since I rode one.
He currently doesn't own a car and rides his bike most places he can, so I had a great companion for my re-introduction to bike riding.
And of course the adage is true, one doesn't forget HOW to ride a bike. But it is possible to sort of forget what's like, how it feels, and what to expect.
I also don't think I'd ever really been taught how to use gears in the past. Not that there's a correct way to ride w/ them (preference is preference), but just knowing what conditions they're meant for does help a lot.
It was wonderfully awesome! But also a bit unfamiliar to me.
I stated, mostly kidding, that I just knew I was gonna get hit or ran over by a car. Humorous fatalism to poke fun at my lack of experience. But of course, nothing bad happened at all and I had a great time.
We rode from his apartment on Rural and the 60 to Kiwanis Park, and then around the hills and paths of the park. We planned to ride for much longer, but while we were resting in the shade of a tree I got a txt msg about a free day party up at South Mountain.
We decided we'd go to the day party (djs, free food, lots of people dancing and hanging out, at the Large Ramada - which overlooks most of the city) and take our bikes there.
The party was beautiful, except for the dust storm that was infiltrating The Valley (and actually that was beautiful too - but it's easy to forget that when your face and eyes are being sand-blasted, heh). I think we were high enough up on South Mountain to avoid the brunt of it, but we still ended up feeling dirty and gritty after only a short period of time.
The music, however, was fantastic. DJs played about 45 min sets and while were there it switched from Trance, to Hard DnB, to Breaks, and then to Electro. I enjoyed all the music and danced to much of it. I drank wine from plastic screw-top bottles (no glass allowed) and also mingled among my friends.
Just before sunset Carlos and I climbed up the mountain to a peak about 100 feet above the ramada, to check out the view. The sunset was obscured by the clouds and dust in the air, but the scene was still lovely albeit chilly and windy:
After climbing back down the mountain (a bit precarious for me since I was a bit tipsy), we headed to Carlos's to shower off the dust, and then to theklute's for 'Adult Swim and Liquor'.
It was some fantastic Sunday.
And today I'm enjoying my Monday off to get a chance to post about it. :)
Carlos fixed the brakes, lowered the seat for me, and oiled up my chains, making it safe and comfortable for me to ride. Yesterday I went for a bike ride with Carlos, which was the first time I've been on a bike in several years. I honestly can't say how long it'd been since I rode one.
He currently doesn't own a car and rides his bike most places he can, so I had a great companion for my re-introduction to bike riding.
And of course the adage is true, one doesn't forget HOW to ride a bike. But it is possible to sort of forget what's like, how it feels, and what to expect.
I also don't think I'd ever really been taught how to use gears in the past. Not that there's a correct way to ride w/ them (preference is preference), but just knowing what conditions they're meant for does help a lot.
It was wonderfully awesome! But also a bit unfamiliar to me.
I stated, mostly kidding, that I just knew I was gonna get hit or ran over by a car. Humorous fatalism to poke fun at my lack of experience. But of course, nothing bad happened at all and I had a great time.
We rode from his apartment on Rural and the 60 to Kiwanis Park, and then around the hills and paths of the park. We planned to ride for much longer, but while we were resting in the shade of a tree I got a txt msg about a free day party up at South Mountain.
We decided we'd go to the day party (djs, free food, lots of people dancing and hanging out, at the Large Ramada - which overlooks most of the city) and take our bikes there.
The party was beautiful, except for the dust storm that was infiltrating The Valley (and actually that was beautiful too - but it's easy to forget that when your face and eyes are being sand-blasted, heh). I think we were high enough up on South Mountain to avoid the brunt of it, but we still ended up feeling dirty and gritty after only a short period of time.
The music, however, was fantastic. DJs played about 45 min sets and while were there it switched from Trance, to Hard DnB, to Breaks, and then to Electro. I enjoyed all the music and danced to much of it. I drank wine from plastic screw-top bottles (no glass allowed) and also mingled among my friends.
Just before sunset Carlos and I climbed up the mountain to a peak about 100 feet above the ramada, to check out the view. The sunset was obscured by the clouds and dust in the air, but the scene was still lovely albeit chilly and windy:
After climbing back down the mountain (a bit precarious for me since I was a bit tipsy), we headed to Carlos's to shower off the dust, and then to theklute's for 'Adult Swim and Liquor'.
It was some fantastic Sunday.
And today I'm enjoying my Monday off to get a chance to post about it. :)