Truth.

Well, I would feel dishonest if I didn't share about my little fall last night.

If we are really trying to portray what life is like riding around on bikes, we should probably talk about both the ups and (literally) downs of this lifestyle. It's only fair. But there will be no pictures of my bruised limbs, rest assured.

We were riding just a few blocks down the street last night for dinner at a neighbor's house. If there is anything we have riden numerous times, it is this path to our friend's house. I'm sure I could practically ride there with my eyes closed- though clearly, with last night evidence, I should not be doing that.

I'll blame the recent cold weather and numeous freezes and refreezes as well as the relative lack of light along this particular block. I'm not really sure what exactly happened, though I remember identifying the pothole on my left. Then I looked straight in front of me and saw something large and black on the street. My last thought before I hit the object was "That mostly looks like a rock."

It actually was a 5 inch piece of asphalt that must have come from the pothole. I hit it straight on and my bike kind of teetered side to side before I fell straight over, hitting my right knee and then my left elbow, and narrowly avoiding scraping up my face. I also ended up with a large bruise on my right leg and I think that's where my handle bar must have hit.

Mom- don't worry, I'll never do that again.

Just a little bruised up today but otherwise pretty functional. I was a bit sore riding in to work today and we took it just a little bit slower.

We'll be getting a brighter light for our bikes today so next time I will be able to identify the rock a bit sooner and spare myself some bruises.

I know there are safety risks when bike riding, but there are also inherent risks with any mode of transportation. When I drive to work, I have to cross fours lanes on a highway within about seven seconds to make it to my exit. I merge four different times on three highways within about four minutes to go to work, while I'm passed by cars going 65 mph. Danger is everywhere, you know. Just be careful out there.

I think we might be crazy....

As the days get closer that we will start living without a car for a month, I am just baffled about how I agreed to this idea. I feel that it was pretty out of character for me to agree with this crazy idea. Usually, my husband has to presuade and prod and convince me to do anything out of the ordinary, but somehow I just agreed to this idea without much prodding. Must not have been thinking clearly. I don't think I had been drinking any alcohol that day.

I don't think I'd been too worried about this crazy idea if the weatherman would stop warning me of the dangers of frostbite. Luck would have it that the Arctic front moves into Oklahoma on the day we are supposed to start biking everywhere. My hands and feet typically stay about 25 degrees below my body temperature anyway, so I'm not sure what it going to happen when I expose them to wind chills of -10 while on a bike. (my husband sometimes thinks my feet feel like a corpse). What if my hands fall off?

Aside from the extreme temperature problem, I have quite a few other concerns. Here they are in no particular order:

- When I arrive to work in the morning on my bike, is my hair going to be all smushed down? Am I going to have helmet hair? Is my makeup going to be all smudged from my facemask?

- I'm not quite sure where my bike is going to go while I'm at work. My office is probably not the best idea, seeing as this is a professional medical practice and all.

- Is it going to be dark on the ride home? or on the ride in? Granted it is only about 4 miles but who likes riding in the dark?

- Am I going to be all sweaty from my many layers by the time I get to work? How professional it that?

- We are riding 7 miles to church on Sunday morning. Will I smell by the time I get there?

- Cars. Please don't hit me.


That's enough. I'm getting more nervous.

Kristin