Riding a Bike: It’s not just a metaphor

“Most people think the will to survive is the strongest instinct in human beings, but it isn’t. The strongest instinct is to keep things familiar.”
Virginia Satir

Such a beauty, it made the cover!

I took my mountain bike out for a spin recently. It had been a *cough, cough* while. The bike was a little out of tune, and so was I.

For the last year or so, I’ve only been riding my road bike, a sleek lightweight beauty. With it’s skinny tires, it’s designed for straight flat roads.

On the other hand, my mountain bike is just plain burly. It weighs twice as much, has fat knobby tires and front and rear shocks. It’s designed to cushion the ride and grip the trail. Getting back on the mountain bike was a bit of a shock. It’s a very different feel.

A different kind of beauty.

I had to reacquaint myself with the shifters, the disc brakes, a different hand and body position.

It just felt weird. And uncomfortable. Part of me wanted to hang it back up and get down my road bike. But, I hung in there, which gave me the opportunity to remember when I first got my road bike.

There’s always a first time

Somehow I’d forgotten about how much I hated it at first.

Well, that’s not exactly true. I loved the bike, I was just freaked out riding it. It felt insubstantial. It had skinny little tires, weighed hardly anything, you had to lean over so far! And yikes, could it go fast!

Ha. I realized I’ve been here before, just on the other side. It was all about what I’d gotten used to, not the good or bad I’d made it out to be.