the one about my beach cruiser

In an effort to save money I have recently started riding my bike or walking…everywhere! Gas prices are outrageous and I refuse to pay that much money to drive to work when it is less than mile away. Besides, I am also working on saving ME! I have been dieting and exercising and that ride to work every day is only going to help me, right?
So anyway, about my bike… A few years ago I scored my bike for a killer deal! It was donated by a local bike shop and then auctioned off for charity. I bid on it and won! I got a $350 bike for about $100. This spring, my bike needed a little work. The tires were bad and it just needed some maintenance. I had left the house one evening and while I was gone my sweet husband fixed it all up for me! He even put a basket on the front! I have been riding it ever since. I love it! Some days it is a little chilly, so I just bundle up and off I go. My cute little Finny loves to ride with me too.
You know me… I can’t have a bike story without some kind of catastrophe. The first day I rode my bike to work, I was wearing long loose leg pants. I never even thought about the dangers of pant legs vs. bike chains…. until the two items met. My quick little bike ride came to a screeching halt. Literally. I had to stop my bike, pull my pant leg out and fix my chain guard. It bent so badly that the pedal wouldn’t even go around. I had to kick it, bend it and manipulate it to get it all back in running order. Remember the basket? Yes, I had it clear full and when the basket is full, the bike will not stand on its kick stand. It makes the front end heavy, then the handle bars turn, and then it falls. So this was tricky for me to make minor bicycle repairs on a busy street with no hands and only one foot on the ground (one was caught up in the chain, remember?) I got everything all fixed and I took off. The first 3 seconds of my ride were good, until my pants got caught again. So all of those things that I just said about fixing my bike??? Yah. I had to do all of that again. I quickly learned that I needed to roll up my pant leg. Crisis averted. I was off and running again. Nearly every day, I pack my lunch and take it to work. Usually leftovers, sometimes a sandwich or something like it. This particular day I had a slice of Papa Murphy’s de-lite crust pizza. (Chicken, bacon and artichoke. Yum!) I had placed my pizza on a small paper plate and covered it with plastic wrap. I was just getting confident after my little pant leg scare when, simultaneously, I hit a small bump and a little gust of wind blew by. Because of the thin crust pizza, there was not much weight on my plate. So guess what happened next? Yah, I lost my pizza.  Once I finally got to work, I was laughing about all of my silly adventures in the last 5 minutes. I had to tell on myself. I called Brett and we had quite a good laugh about the whole thing. The next day got a little easier, and the next even easier. I have got my pants caught in the chain so many times it is ridiculous. I just forget to roll up my pants or put a rubber band around my ankle until I get that sudden jolt. Then I quickly remember.
This is not the only trouble I have had on my bike over the years. When I first got my bike, I was taking it for a little spin around the neighborhood. My old bike was a mountain bike style and it had hand brakes. This bike is a single speed beach cruiser and to brake, you make the foot pedals go backwards. I was having a really hard time getting used to it! We had some major road construction going on so there was a lot of gravel on the road. I am sure you can predict where this is going. Bike? Gravel? Bad combo. Well I was going over to the Galley’s house and was getting ready to stop and park my bike. I still have no idea exactly what happened, but somehow right as I was stopping, I fell. And my bike fell. Right in the gravel. One of Garrison’s friends was walking out of the house right at that minute and he saw everything. I am sure he wanted to laugh so badly!! Can you blame him? I was laughing hysterically! I am right now just thinking about the whole thing. The kid looked at me for the longest time and finally says, “You all right?” I just laughed. I told him I was fine, got up, brushed myself off and went inside. It was hilarious.
I am not very graceful and I know that when I ride my bike I look like a total idiot. And I am ok with that. I really don’t care. Just look at all of the gas money I am saving. And look at how much healthier I am going to be! So when you see me riding down the street on my big orange bike with the huge basket, just wave! Don’t honk though because you might startle me and that could be disastrous.