It’s not true you know: you do forget how to ride a bike.
I grew up riding bikes. It started when I was very little, in London. I recall learning how to ride up and down the hallway of our house.
I don’t think it was actually a very large house, but as a young kid I thought it was a long hallway.
We moved to Christchurch, New Zealand when I was 8 years old. It’s flat in Christchurch, so for the next decade I went to school or out to play on my bike. Rain or shine, easterlies, southerlies or gusty nor’westers I’d be biking to where I needed to go.
Then came a period of travel by motorbike or car, but in around 1981 I was travelling by train in Europe and came upon the notion of cycling in the UK. I bought a 10-speed touring bike in London and spent several weeks riding north. I landed up in Edinburgh where I stayed for the next 6 months, again cycling everywhere, even one day to Glasgow and back.
Since then I’ve hardly cycled at all. I’ve lived in Wellington for 20 years now, where the hills are a definite deterrent.
Finally though I’m returning to cycling. Last year I bought an electric bike that can help get me up the hills, but I really only started riding in earnest this month. It’s my goal for the first 3 months of this year to ride at least 30 minutes per day at least 3 days per week.
What I’m finding is that there’s a huge amount to (re)learn about riding a bike. I need to work on skills such as balance so I don’t swerve all over the road when I look behind me, and riding on loose surfaces, or downhill.
Changing gear seems to be a problem. My touring bike was a 10-speed; this one has 21 speeds. I have to learn which lever does what: high or low, left or right. More than once I’ve changed into completely the wrong gear. And I’m learning how to make positive gear changes, smoothly, rather than a near-change where the chain doesn’t quite move to the new cog and things clunk around.
I’m relearning how to relax. My terrified ‘death-grip’ is finally loosening, gradually, and my stiff posture is easing. Roads are very scary places when you have no metal case around you, especially in Wellington with its narrow, winding, steep hill roads and sometimes unfriendly drivers.
Physically, I’m way out of shape for cycling. I’ve been walking dogs for years and can sometimes stride out up and down hills, but cycling uses an entirely different set of muscles. My quads are waking up again, slowly.
This is my first electric bike. I’m also learning how to apply the motor to maximise battery life and enjoy a smooth ride. It takes a while to learn how to twist the throttle on the left handlebar grip — it’s just a narrow ‘band’ at the end of the grip, not the whole grip as on a motorbike.
The first few times I rode the battery went flat very quickly. I suspect it was a combination of it being a fresh unconditioned battery, my using inappropriate gears, and my just squeezing too great a speed out of it. After decades as a car driver I’ve forgotten that bikes are generally much slower in general travel.
There’s been a lot lot to learn and re-learn and I have much yet to remember. Already though my confidence is increasing and my body is recalling those old patterns. As I relax I’m remembering how much I used to enjoy cycling.
Those days I was biking through England the first hour would be hard graft. Then, at some point while biking, with miles behind me since the last overnight stop, I’d ‘come to’ from whatever daydream I was in and remember I was actually cycling.
Here’s hoping I can find that ‘zone’ again.
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