Not Your Average Everyday Run of the Mill Tuesday Biking

(Note this was written many months ago before my non biking injury but I wanted to post it anyway)

I did what I often do on a Tuesday; I went on an urban assault. What’s an urban assault you may ask? It’s a bike ride on your mountain bike in an urban setting. I guess it’s a way to justify having a $2,000 mountain bike that hardly sees any off-road time, but at least it sees a lot of stairs and parking garages.

As part of my effort to redefine myself and make new memories as a newly single person I decided to ride with a different urban group. I’ve rode with my urban group for around 8 years now and I just wanted to check out something new. My bike group does a lot of miles at a good speed and just does a few tricks along the way. The ‘alternative’ urban group is a bit younger, does a lot less miles but a lot more way cool tricks. So it was a nice change of pace. And amazingly fun watching wheelies, endos, bunny hops, manuals and big air. As you can see I learned a few new terms along the way too.

The big news of the night is I learned how to wheelie! I’ve wanted to learn this for many years but never tried since I have clip in pedals and can’t part from my bike easily. The clips are great for riding fast but not so much for wheelies which may require a quick dismount. Before the ride I switched to regular pedals and with less than 2 minutes of instruction I was wheeling!!! My wheelies only last for a few seconds so I still have a lot of progress to make but it was a great start and I was really proud of myself. It may seem stupid since not many 40-something women have ‘learning to wheelie’ on their must do list. But it works for me.

It was a fun night and a nice change of pace. I plan to ride with the ‘alternative’ urban group on occasion but I think I will mostly stick to my group. Speaking of which I couldn’t wait to show off my new mad skill so I biked past my group’s dinner spot on one wheel saying ‘what’s up bitches’. My wheelie only lasted long enough for ‘what’s’ but my friends were still impressed and happy for me. It was a great end to a great night!

Cat ‘Unicycle’ Cathy