Let it Ride

Ah, how I love riding my bicycle, it’s my favorite form of exercise ~ pedaling, gliding along, free, the wind in my hair…

I’ve strayed quite a bit from riding it regularly though since moving back to the city.  Mostly because it’s not as relaxing to ride it amidst all the crazy traffic, but also because my knees have gotten so bad that they’re really pained afterward.  Not to mention I’ve been busy with other things and just haven’t made it a part of my regular routine.  But that’s all about to change…

I hope.

I did some riding last summer looking for a route on the city streets with less traffic where I could ride comfortably, and I did find some quiet side streets, but the scenery wasn’t all that great.  Where I really want to ride is by the water.  The Mississippi River is only 4 blocks from my house, but there is a busy street that runs along it, so even though it’s by the water, it’s anything but relaxing with all the traffic.  There’s a bike path on the other side of the river, but I’d have to go up a monstrous hill over a bridge that would kill my knees, and walking my bike up over it would be worse, as walking hurts my knees even more.  So I’d most likely need to put the bike rack on the back of my truck, throw my bike up on that, and then drive over it.  Bothers.  If I have to use my bike rack (which is a hassle all in itself) and drive someplace, I’d rather drive a bit farther and ride my bike around the Lake of the Isles.  It’s round, so there’s no backtracking (I hate backtracking, just ask my sister), it’s flat, so there’s no knee killing hills, there’s a designated bike path, so there’s no traffic to contend with (except to drive there), and it’s a lovely area.  I used to take my daughter there in her stroller when she was a baby and walk the dogs around it every day.  Ah, such precious memories.  ❤

But ideally, I’d really rather set out on my bike directly from the house, and not use the gas to drive somewhere to ride, so I’m going to keep looking for a bike path to hook up with that runs along the river ~ or maybe find a bridge to cross with less steep of a hill.  I’ve also been thinking more about riding my bike to run short errands instead of driving as well, and I bought a little basket to attach to my handle bars to use for carrying things picked up on small errands.  Of course, there I’d definitely have to contend with traffic in coming and going, but I wouldn’t be out riding for pleasure at those times anyways, so I’d just deal with it.

What is hard to deal with though is my painful knees.  I had to bring my bike into the bike shop last week to have my back tire fixed, and I got to talking to one of the guys there about my knees, he suggested a different style of bike that might be easier on them ~  Fuji’s Barnebey 7 LS.  It’s not the most attractive looking bike, but I took one for a test ride and it rode like a dream, and didn’t pain my knees at all.  But whoa was it ever expensive ~ over $400!  I don’t know about you, but I don’t have $400 just laying around to spend on a bicycle, and it would be difficult to justify, especially when I already have a bike.   But I really want to incorporate riding my bike more often into my life, and with these knees… I need one more suitable.  So I am contemplating trying to rearrange my funds a bit to see if I could come up with the money.  My birthday is only a month away, so maybe I could hint around to a few family members to help.  😉

Regardless, I’m going to keep trying to get out there on my bike, even if I have to overly pace myself as to not injure my knees.

“Try, try, try.  Let it ride.”  ♫

 

I snapped this photo of my bike in front of a cool mural that’s painted on the side of a building down the street from our house while out riding with my daughter the other day…

Looks like a nice flat riding surface with no traffic.  If only there was a lake or a river painted next to it…  😉

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿