11 July 2004
Bike Pals!
My pal Ert recently got a new apartment near mine—and a bicycle! Finally I have a pal who will bike around with me! I'm fairly certain we were adorable today, pedalling down Church Street together in the Sunday summer sunshine, in skirts and bare legs, with bulbous dork-helmets on our dainty heads.
When I'm riding by myself (which is almost always), I don't notice how hard I push myself to keep up with the traffic. I also take lots of risks, having spent six years getting used to the potential for gruesome injury or death. I always arrive at my destination sweaty, flushed, and breathless. I think it's because I was taught never to inconvenience anyone, so I'm reluctant to be the slowpoke who makes everyone wait for her granny ass. I overtake lots of other bikers, though I'm just as often overtaken myself, by stronger riders with faster bikes. The messengers, of course, smoke me every time.
Biking with other people is always a more leisurely ride, particularly with less experienced riders whom I don't want to terrify. Instead of gunning for a high-adrenalin workout, I can simply let the pedals turn lazily while my friend and I enjoy a chat. When Ert and I arrived at the movie theater at the foot of Market Street, I hadn't even broken a sweat. It could be like that every day if I didn't have such a fire under my ass to pedal harder.