When I was about eight or nine years old, my parents bought me a three wheel, three speed bicycle… A grandma’s bike. I was thrilled with it! Because of my disability, I couldn’t ride a two wheel bike. And I was embarrassed riding around with training wheels year after year because I didn’t have the balance to ride without them. So this bike… This was a grown-up bike! And it was wonderful. For the next 7 years or so, it was my freedom. I loved it. I rode it all summer long… Until I got my drivers license.

I kept that bike with me for years and years…. never taking the time to ride it… But then, about 15 years ago, I did try riding it. I realized I didn’t have the strength to do it anymore. It is disappointing. I had to resign myself to the fact that my bike riding days were over.

But then last year, a friend of mine told me about e-bikes with pedal assist. She encouraged me to investigate whether or not I could do this type of biking because the battery supports and helps so that pedaling isn’t as hard, even going up hill.

So this Spring we went to Emery’s—a bike shop that specializes in adapting bikes for people with disabilities. I was excited and terrified. The owner, Brent, was truly talented. He was a cross between a bike master mechanic, Olympic cyclist and occupational therapist. He was able to create a bike that was safe for me to ride! I bought a three wheel recumbent with pedal assist. My husband did too…although his has more speeds and no adaptations.

We picked them up on the 4th of July. Brent met with us again so that he could show us how to use them. Let me tell you… There was a bit of screaming on my part… At first, I was seriously terrified. When the pedal assist kicked in, the bike jerked ahead a little. It scared the crap out of me (hence the screaming). It felt like the bike had a mind of its own! I was sure that I had made a horribly expensive mistake! I wanted to give the bike back right then and there and say forget it. The only thing that kept me from doing that was embarrassment.

Once we had both learned the basics, Brent wanted us to go for a ride around the block with him coaching us. Again… I was terrified. It was so initially overwhelming. I was trying to hold onto the handlebars, maintain my balance, keep my feet on the pedals, watch where I was going, and just not fall off… But I did it. I made it around the block, and lived to tell the tale! So we took them home. And I was still terrified.

Thankfully, my husband has the patience of Job. We started out by going for short rides just in our neighborhood. There’s almost no traffic in our neighborhood. Once I felt comfortable on our streets, we crossed a busy street and went into the next neighborhood… Where there was still little to no traffic. Within a week we were exploring farther and farther out… And then, one day when we were headed back home… We were 30 feet from our driveway (thankfully) and my front tire went flat. So dealing with that… Taking it back to the bike shop and getting it worked on probably knocked off a week or so of our bike riding. But we got it fixed and we got back on the road.

Throughout August, September, and October, biking, became our very favorite thing to do. We went out every day that we could. We both have some physical limitations… Vastly different in nature, and challenging in different ways, It lifted our moods, cleared our heads, and generally improved our overall health. My husband has said repeatedly… This was one of the best things that we’ve ever done! And it’s something that we love doing together! We put on about 200 miles!

Why am I telling you all this? Because today was probably our last ride of the year. It’s November. We lucked out today and had 60° and some sunshine. So we went for a ride and it was wonderful. But we probably won’t have many more of these days. Winter weather will be setting in soon and my husband has to get the garage ready for snow blowing season. So the bikes will be put away this week… It makes me sad!

If I ever win the lottery, I’m going to put up a huge pole building and make an indoor biking arena so that people can enjoy biking even in the winter!

I have to look at the bright side. At least we did get one more ride in.

And I would like to use this post as encouragement to anyone out there who is thinking about trying something new… DO IT!!!! You know that old saying… Most of the time in life, it’s not the things you do that you regret. It’s the things you didn’t do that you regret …

I’d love to hear your stories about trying something new, even though it scared you…

— Wishing you tomorrows full of everything that you need, and at least a few things that you want!

I’m glad you’re here💜

This post is part of the November Nanopoblano challenge. A group of us committed to writing a blog post every day for the month of November. Please visit the blogs of my other Nanopoblano cheer pepper friends HERE