Almost a year ago, I bought my first adult bicycle. Now I'm to the point that I want to ride it more. I even took a couple of informal classes from some volunteers at work (for National Bike Month or something) to try to work up the courage to do an occasional bike commute. Still working on that one, but all in all I'm just trying to drive less and ride more.
With the best of intentions, I decided I would take my bicycle to Indiana with me for my MBA residency. I knew I could ride my bike with Mom at least once. Dan installed my trunk rack and off I went. I'd never driven my bike more than 2-3 miles before, so getting onto the Interstate was a whole other story. My rack was not a great fit with my women's bike and its adapter, so it kept coming loose. SCARY STUFF, people. On my third forced exit off the highway, I called Dan almost in tears trying to figure out how to get either to Indiana or back home in defeat.
YOU GUYS. I removed the front wheel of the bike. I KNOW THIS IS SUPER EASY BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW. I had to Google a YouTube video. You have to unhook the brake thingy and stuff, y'all. But I did it, then attempted to get the bike into the Corolla. No dice. I removed everything I'd packed for the week from the car, put down the back seat, then managed to cram everything back in. WHEW. I felt so accomplished! Then I drove through the worst traffic and construction ever and finally got to Bloomington. (Note: It was Friday the 13th.)
The next day, I rewarded myself with a new trunk rack that works much better (from our local shop, Bikesmiths) and a ride on the B-line with Mom. I knew I needed a new rack to get me back to TN. I'm hoping to have a chance to ride again before I go home. It felt really good despite the terrifying car trip where I thought I'd lose my first real bike. So I suppose that's progress.
