Like my New Bike? or Good News, Nothing is Broken!

Today I had the overwhelming feeling that I needed to buy a bike. I've been thinking about for a while but today something just told me I had to to it NOW! I love those promptings because they make absolutely no sense but you know you have to listen to the Spirit and do what it says for whatever reason.

I am not a first generation over-protective parent so when I begged for a bike my dad bought me a beautiful red one and then never let me ride it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I kept hitting the tree at the bottom of my street, but I never learned to ride. My kids all have bikes but just like my dad I don't really like them to ride them outside of the church parking lot, after all, it is sacred ground, not much can happen there, right? So today I called my friend Jenna and said, "Want to teach me to ride a bike?" She laughed and said, "why not, we could use a good chuckle". I borrowed her helmet and her bike and she walked me to the parking lot of the church where she gave me the basic run down such as "brakes are good" and "it's a new helmet so don't break it". Only one person stopped to make a sarcastic comment on a grown woman learning to ride. I was amazing. I screamed when a rock would jump out of nowhere and into my path and I panicked when the bike seemed to turn without me telling it to but after a while it was pretty evident that with practice I could actually be a good bike rider. So Jenna and her husband Paul escorted me to the bike store, not Walmart but an actual bike store with people who know all about the importance of gears and spokes and shocks and other things that I'm only vaguely aware of. I amused the staff with my ramblings but finally settled on a perfect bike for me (and my wallet). I can't believe how much some people will spend on transportation with only two wheels.

I have only almost died once today while riding. When I came home I was so excited to show my husband my new found skill that jumped on at the top of our very steep driveway only to realize that I had no idea where the pedals were and I was headed to pile of tumbleweed in the empty lot at an extremely quick pace. A scream or two later I quickly recovered and found myself in control and riding down the street toward the park. After lots of practice I decided to take the kids for a ride. Jacob and Kaitlyn had their scooters and Bailey was on her bike (Zach felt it would be better not to join us) and we headed across the street to the church parking lot. There is a very steep driveway at the entrance, I know this because in Feb. we slid all the way from the top to the bottom(300 yards or so)in our van where we came to rest in a large bank of snow and we had to be dug out by the Elder's Quorum of another ward. This hill is great. I was going so fast that for the first time I understood why a dog sticks their head out of the window when they're in the car. Of course everything is all fun and games until someone crashes, burns and ends up with road rash so bad that it takes an hour to pick the pieces of asphalt out of their legs.

It wasn't me though, I don't get any of the glory. It was Bailey who thought she was as cool as I am and that she could go at speeds equal to a cheetah. She lost control and rolled several times landing in a heap of blood at the base of the hill. She kept screaming "nothing is broken, nothing is broken" and I ran at record speed to check her out. Kaitlyn ran home to have her daddy bring the car and we have spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between being sympathetic and making fun of her. She will survive and may even ride her bike again! And I have learned at the grand old age of 33 to finally ride a bike. (Don't tell my dad).