Skills I didn’t realize I didn’t have.

So I have this bike. See the pretty bike.

You know how people say that riding a bike is a skill you never lose? I wonder if those people ever went seven or eight years without riding a bike, then tried to hop on one.

Yeah, that was a little scary, particularly on skinny little road bike tires.

The bike’s a little big for me; benefits of being short and stubby, I suppose. I also don’t have a name for it. “Sexy Bike (TM)” is already taken by Mae’s… well, sexy bike.

I took it on campus early this morning (before anyone would be awake on a Saturday to see me) and rode around in the parking lots until I got the hang of riding again (the test was to be able to [however quickly] wipe sweat out of my eye while still moving). Gear shifting is a little different than the bikes I’m used to, as I have to move my hand off the bar to shift, which is also a fun exercise in balance.

The goal is to be able to ride to/from school on days I don’t need my car for transporting people or pizza. Driving a single mile to school just seems utterly ridiculous, and the Old Man said something about such short distances not being good for the car.

So I should probably acquire a helmet and a lock of some sort, as well as figure out where the bike racks are on campus.