Adventures on road bikes

My birthday is August 28, and for a present, a very good friend of mine fixed up an old Peugot he had at his house. The bike is glorious; silver with light and dark blue logos, very chic at the time it burst onto the biking scene.

The bike has toe cages on the pedals, which helps prevent the foot from falling off when cycling at higher speeds, and amazing tires that have treated the bike and the road well.









And so, my adventures with Polly the Peugot began.

At first, Polly and I just rode around the neighborhood, getting to know each other, how she handled hills and her very touchy shifters which are very different from today's standards.

This wasn't to long before school started, and so I figured what better way to save money on gas then to ride the bike to school whenever possible.

Once school got into gear by September 2, and the first week of classes was through and done, i figured out the days that would be easiest to ride my bike to school. I have a few night classes, and so I knew that a parking permit was an inescapable fate. A twenty something girl riding her bike home along the river at 9:00 at night doesn't exactly spell out s-a-f-e-t-y. At least the gas money saved would make up for the cost of the permit.

So, my second or third day riding to school along the American River parkway (during the day) I was speeding home from my last class. Shortly after I got onto the trail a friend of mine yelled my name after I whizzed by her. I stopped and turned very abruptly to return the hello.

In trying to dismount the bike for balance, I tried to put my foot which was lodged inside of the toe cage on the pedal on the ground. Thinking that my foot will just slide off the pedal.

It became apparent very quickly that my foot was still very firmly within the confines of the toe cage. I quickly tried to recover, but London bridge was already falling down.

I took what would have been to huge staggering steps while still committed to the plastic prison around my foot, and finally with all my wit and grace decided it'd be a good idea to take my foot out rather than off of the pedal and all it's "racing" accessories.

I stumbled, but thankfully didn't eat gravel for an early dinner.

So, I picked myself up with valor and decided to saddle back up, give myself a few chuckles and ride off into the soon to be sunset.
I laughed and turned to my friend to say, "Don't be that girl..."




And it became very clear that I had become "that girl", the sober one, of the road bike world for a brief lapse of time.