I'll be the Idiot on the Bike

Guys always say that girls on bike are automatically more cute and appealing. For a lot of guys I know it's one of the bigger immediate turn ons out there. Well, America, you haven't seen me on my bike.

Last week I bought my first bike since Little Pink Bike (RIP). Those of you who knew Little Pink Bike know that it was actually a children's bike I bought at the Salvation Army in Troy (again, RIP) and rode passionately around campus. Most often at night, listening to inspiring music on my discman, most often once everyone was asleep. Little Pink Bike was sent to the college graveyard one summer (thanks, Bill) and I never thought of replacing it.

Well, last Friday thanks to Sena's prompting and fancy footwork I took a big kid step forward, and bought a grown up bicycle. It looks good. It feels good. It IS good. The day I bought it I also rode it to work. That meant I went through Bushwick, Williamsburg, and over the bridge into the East Village. Really not that far, all told.

But for me, surrounded by friends who have become avid bike people in both Seattle and New York, that ride marked the first time I have ridden a bicycle in any city, ever. And though I had to push it part way over the hill on the bridge, I successfully rode it all the way home without stopping in the morning after the bar closed.

It was a huge deal for me. Bikes in cities terrify me. Vehicles terrify me. I can't say as though I feel comfortable enough ridding through the crowded streets of Brooklyn by myself yet, but at least I know it's possible. It's exciting to know that maybe I can grow into someone who is capable of traveling on two hot wheels.

As of yet, I can barely ride the thing. This is where my original point comes back in. There is nothing attractive about me on a bike. My eyes are wild with caution and delicate fear, my face is red and sweaty (red cabbage head), I put the breaks on all the time (& they squeak REALLY loudly), and I wobble all over the place when I slow down. It's like a baby deer that doesn't know how to walk yet. Fawns are majestic and beautiful, but wobbly knock-kneed baby deer are just funny.

Therefore, it is embarrassing to ride around in areas populated by hip people on bikes. Because I manage to make girls on bikes an anti-fetish.

Regardless of this, I am sucking up my pride (and unwavering fear of getting smashed by a car) and riding into work again today. Hopefully this time I won't have to stop. Even if I do, and even if anyone laughs at me, it is rewarding to know I am doing something that is not only fun, but also efficient, healthy, and eco-friendly. And getting over my fear of something that has poked at me for the past seven years.

So there. I officially ride a bicycle.