in november 2020, during the midst of the 2nd wave of the covid pandemic in germany, ulrich re-taught me how to ride a bicycle.
when i used to tell people that i never properly learned how to ride a bike, i would give a somewhat contrived explanation about how i had once taken a bad fall as a kid, after which my parents never made me try again out of pity. but the truth is i don’t actually remember why i never finished learning. i have a few fleeting memories of my dad giving me after-school lessons during the second grade, and i am pretty sure i fell at least once, though i am not sure if the damage was any worse than a scraped knee. besides that, i vaguely recall my anguish over how difficult it was to get on and off the bike which, as a hand-me-down from my older sister of nine years, was borderline too tall for me. the technique which my dad taught me involved holding one foot steady on the left pedal while rapidly hopping with the other foot until the bicycle reached a certain momentum, then raising the hopping foot over the opposite side of the bike and taking a seat while the bike was still in motion. in my memory this hop-on, hop-off process was a wobbly, panic-inducing nightmare.
in 2020, ulrich’s approach to getting on and off a bike shocked me with its simplicity: he adjusted my seat to the lowest possible height so that my feet could touch the ground while i was sitting. all i had to do to stop the bike was brake and then set my feet down on the ground, and all i had to do to start moving again was begin pedaling from a seated position. i had no idea it could be this easy!
today, ulrich and i rented bikes and rode around downtown for the first time in 2023. i don’t think i will ever feel perfectly at ease on a bicycle - i am still hyper-conscious of what it feels like to pedal, or of losing control for a split second whenever i turn or weave between objects - and no matter how slow i go, i still feel like i am going just a hair too fast. but despite the shadow of discomfort, riding a bike still feels like the perfect way to move through the city: faster than a brisk walk, the breeze whipping smells from the street into my nostrils, pores and hair. ulrich usually looks a bit grumpy folded over his bike because of the effect of riding on his back and knees, but he breaks into a smile as soon as he sees the goofy grin spread across my face, the same face of a golden retriever with its face hanging out the passenger side window, tongue plastered against its cheek.
Aw i Love this and it reminds me of the pic of you riding that you sent a while back. Juan taught me how to ride when I was about 39 - it feels like total kid freedom doesn’t it?!
Congrats on re-learning! While reading this, I realized that I learned the one-foot hopping method to get around in college but I can't remember at all if it was self-learned or if someone taught me!