I have had two bikes in my life--three, if you count the one I bought at an East Lansing Police auction--one that was stolen within a week of my purchase.
The first was a blue Schwinn Bantam. It looked sort of like this one (only blue):
Schwinn Bantam Children's bike
The second was a full-sized bike--a blue Schwinn Collegiate 5-speed. Santa put that under the tree on Christmas, 1967. I spent a lot of time riding it in the basement until the snow melted that spring. They look like this (but blue, again):
Schwinn Women's 5 Speed Collegiate
I've used that bike for many years. It is an excellent bike, and I've received many offers for it over the years. My younger brother had one, too--a little newer; a bright green boy's model. I guess they're still worth some money, so I'll be checking on that one of these days.
I went without a car for about four years, from about 1989 until 1993, so my means of transportation were by bus or bike most of the time. I had always been an avid bicyclist, but in those days, I rode something like 25 miles per day (I didn't have an odometer on the bike, but I'm pretty sure I'm accurate with this.
Years later, and I can report it has been awhile since I have used that bike. It sits--still in good condition--neglected in my garage, along with a few other bikes that either belonged to John or came with the house. Actually, there's about three bikes in the basement I need to haul up and check out one of these days.
About 13 years ago, I had started thinking about saving up for a new bike. The recumbents were starting to become popular, though wildly expensive. And then for awhile, I didn't think about getting one until a few months before John fell ill. I was actually looking at bikes around the time he got sick, and gave it up then, thinking I had to have a car with me so I could get to him at a moment's notice.
Now, here am I, and John's been gone for about seven months, now. And my health isn't that great. I have trouble with osteoarthritis--more than since my first diagnosis of it over 20 years ago. Particularly troublesome are my hands, now--which makes violin-playing very difficult--and for some reason, my left knee. I know a lot of it has to do with my weight.
And part of getting healthier is a scheduled food detox, which I'll begin this coming weekend. This will last for a month and will get me at a much healthier place. It's a doctor-guided one. The last time I did this, in 2011, I was feeling the best, physically, that I'd felt in a long time. I want to get to that place again.
The other part is getting back on a bike. And it'll help my pocketbook, too, as the gas prices are quite high these days.
But there was a new problem since the last time I so diligently went on rides: my propensity to get vertigo from the Meniere's--by the way, the BPPV I spoke of earlier seems to have resolved itself, thank God! However, I can still get vertigo, and riding a bike when an attack happens could be a dangerous thing.
I was online talking to a couple of friends of mine who are avid bicyclists. Both recommended a recumbent (and by now, they've come down in price a bit) and one suggested a trike (three-wheel) instead of the two. All I could picture was a large tricycle and I thought, oh, no...but then I found out about the TerraTrike.
And a few weeks later, I walked into the local dealer in Lansing's Old Town--Spin--and now am a proud owner of a TerraTrike Rambler 8-speed. And in the last two weeks, I've gone nearly 30 miles on it. I notice I feel better (tired, but better) when I ride it, the joints seem to feel better...and people say I have a huge grin on my face when I ride.
So...every day that the weather permits, I've gone on a ride. Today was way too hot, so I chose not to. I have registered with the city of Lansing and have my MSU permit on it, and plan on riding it the two miles to work soon. I was just thinking about how pretty the fall leaves will be on my ride to work via the Rivertrail.
We are blessed to have a wonderful network of trails throughout the city--trails that continue to expand as the walking/running/biking community creates a bigger demand for them. And a good share of the roads have a bike lane, now, too. I can hop on the trail within just a few blocks from my house. And as of last night, I guess there's a good possibility that the trail will expand--I think further west, now.
Here'a little bit of information on the Lansing (and East Lansing, etc) River Trail:
Lansing River Trail
I've dreamed for years of a special goal to do the Dalmac, a ride around Labor Day (I think a group left today!) from the Lansing area up to the Mackinac Bridge. Do you think this old lady can do it? I hope so. There are other very cool trails through out the state that were created with initiatives like the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Years ago, I helped edit (as a freelance editing job) some of the early grant work to put some of these to use here in the state. And I hope to ride on some of them.
I recently went on a photography club trip to the Bay City/Frankenmuth/Midland area and saw evidence of this work there. Hoping to ride the trail from Midland to Clare one of these days. I hear there's a nice one to Lake Michigan (South Haven, I think), too. I won't do these alone, of course; I'll find people to go with. So those of you that worry about me...you can stop now.
More about the photography group in another post one of these days--some fun with a bunch of people who--like me--like photography. They all have fancier cameras than I do, but I think I do fine for now with the one I have.
Well, that's about it for this evening. Hoping to talk more about the rides I take (along with the photography along the way, as my camera is usually in my knapsack, too).
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