Recently, I decided to go biking again after eight years of not riding a bike. I never had a specific story for why I never went biking after sixth grade. There was no reason, but I do regret the fun I missed out on. Therefore, when I went back to campus, I decided to go rent a bike from school.
When it comes to biking, it would be a really smart idea to look at what kind of bike it is before you go and rent it. Clearly, I did the exact opposite. I chose my bike for the color. In retrospect, I should have chosen a bike that I had more familiarity with because this one is out of my comfort zone. The brakes not being on the handles was just one of the few things that threw me off when I started riding this bike.
Overall, I was not expecting too much from myself. It was an unfamiliar bike, and even with muscle memory, it had been eight years of not biking. I was in pretty bad shape. Also, I am just clumsy in general, so that does not help anyone. It is interesting to go back to a place of unfamiliarity. I can remember when I first started riding my bike and how it was something I ended up figuring out to do by myself with a lot of trial and error.
I am definitely really scared when I am riding. At the same time, I am embarrassed that I am unable to keep my balance. Usually, there is someone nearby as I am messing up. For instance, I had a friend come to monitor me when I first got on. I felt a little shameful for sounding like a child who was just starting to ride their bike. It was super kind of my friend to help stabilize me as I was starting, but it was hard to see myself tumble off the sidewalk over and over again. To make matters worse, when I thought that I would be okay, I went biking by myself later on and fell right onto a plant in front of a building. (I still need to check in on the plant because I seem to have a bad track record with them). Three people suddenly rushed up to me, asking if I was okay. It was the first time I fell off a bike. Even when I was first learning, I never worried about falling off. After conversing about it with the people who witnessed my fall, I started acknowledging to myself that it is alright to have these accidents.
I am learning that it is okay to mess up in the beginning. I have to give myself credit for still trying after eight years when I could have given up. I have many people tell me that either they have not ridden a bike in years either, or they have never learned. That is totally fine too! You do not need to compare yourself to others as well. We all start off in different places in our lives, and we learn at different speeds. My reason for riding a bike is to do it for fun. I do not have to be perfect because I am just here to enjoy my time.
In order to learn, sometimes it takes making mistakes, which I know is something people hate doing. I dislike the failures too. However, it is the failures that can motivate you to try harder next time if you do not give up. As they say, if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.