Trying Out the Upright Bicycle

Do you remember the first time you rode a bicycle?

I remember when I was about 9 years old. Our mother bought us a small-ish blue bicycle and my brother and I took turns teaching ourselves how to ride it sans training wheels. Ma herself never had a bike as a child and had not learned how to ride.

Somehow I managed to teach myself and was soon careening down a slope (and crashing and scraping my knees). Once I had learned how to ride I’ve never forgotten how, though a near collision with a car while riding my bicycle in college made me wary of the whole two-wheel transportation thing.

I’m pretty sure I could still ride a bicycle. We have one at home but it’s left out in the cold rusting and practically dead. Neither my husband nor I feel like hopping onto one anymore.

But in the gym it’s somehow “easier” to hop onto the cycling machine instead of the treadmill. I guess it has something to do with being able to “nap” while pedaling. If you nod off on the treadmill you’ll likely slip and hit your head somewhere, but on the cycling machine you’ll just slow down to a stop.

I skipped the treadmill tonight and tried out the upright bicycle for half an hour. I could only do Levels 6 to 8 for a total of 7km. Pretty hard on the legs and thighs, this thing. But if working them will help me get rid of cellulite then I’ll try again.