my sweet ride

That's me in the middle.  My hair is in Princess Leia buns and my pink Huffy was named "Sweet Thunder"

When I was a kid, I loved riding my bike. My sisters and I used to ride all over our neighborhood. We were absolutely fearless and handled our bikes with ease and grace. But, somehow whenever I rode a bike as an adult I always felt awkward, clumsy, as if I might fall at any moment, or worse yet, get hit by a car.

I sold my most recent grown up bike at my last garage sale.  I just didn't enjoy riding a 12 speed mountain bike.   

This year for Christmas, Ray told me he wanted to buy me a bike but wanted to make sure I was there to pick it out.   So today, Ray, Grace, and I went bike shopping.  I had decided I wanted a cruiser.  Something with fat tires and a huge seat.   

We found a great retro looking cruiser, but I was a little bothered by the fact that it was maroon and had stickers that said "good vibrations" on both sides.  So we kept looking.  After a few more stops, we stumbled upon the beauty in the picture above. 

I loved the retro styling, the smooth tires, and the seat big enough for a Buick.  The fact that it came in orange was an excellent bonus,  

and this bike handles like a dream.  After riding my new bike up and down my street a few times, I figured out why I was such a terrible adult bike rider.  All of my grown up bikes had tons of gears to worry about shifting, bumpy tires, and brakes on the handle bars.  But when I was a kid, I had always ridden a bike with just one speed, and stopping was as simple as pushing my pedals backwards.   

And that, my friends, is exactly what this baby does.  One speed.  Pedals backwards to stop.  That makes all the difference.  Bike riding is fun again.

Ray, the kids, and I rode our bikes together this afternoon and I had a great time.  It was, well it was just like riding a bike.  I hadn't forgotten how, I just didn't have the right bike.