A Bike That Works

My ride for the next few weeks!

It was an incredibly boring Saturday, and the worst part was being stuck at the house surrounded by a hundred little jobs that I'd been putting off all summer, but not being able to do anything that required two fully functional arms.  In the morning I went out and trimmed some of the most overgrown of the hedges and bushes around the house.  Of course nothing above shoulder height got trimmed, but at least it kept me busy for a little while.  By mid-afternoon I'd watched about enough Hallmark movies on TV and eaten most everything in the house that didn't require cooking and I started wondering if I might have a bike that would work for my current situation.  There was no way I could reach forward enough to get my right hand onto the handlebar of any of my usual bikes, and even if I could, I probably wouldn't want to.  There was also the issue of starting and stopping.  Getting on and off of a regular bike didn't look like it was going to work very well, and I certainly wasn't willing to risk a fall.  So I turned my attention to the little folding bike I've had for a few years.  It usually gets pushed into service around Mardi Gras and JazzFest when we have a bunch of people who want to get somewhere where parking is impossible. The nice thing about it is that it's easy to adjust the the handlebar and seat height over a very wide range.  So I raised the handlebar up nice and high, pushed the seat down enough so I could touch the ground with getting off the saddle, put it in a low gear and gave it a try.  It worked!  I could sit upright and ride with one hand on the bar (two if really necessary) and start and stop without getting off the saddle.  Granted, I wasn't going to be going any faster than brisk walking speed, but that's OK under the circumstances.

A cool front came through last night and this morning, although it was till cloudy, it was cool, dry and breezy, so naturally my thought turned to coffee.  It was time to give the folding bike a trial run to the coffee shop.  It was nice to be back on a bike, even though I doubt I cracked 10 mph, and after getting back home I had to kick myself for forgetting to log the ride to Strava!  Oh well, maybe next time.