Hi!
I got a tip from a work colleague to go out biking on Sunday when people are still asleep so that I can practice biking on the bike paths on the street where the big evil cars usually go too. However, since I only learned to ride a bike this year at 30 years old and since I also happen to sleep on Sunday mornings, I just went a little later.
My boyfriend had a German class from 10 am, so I went out all on my own during his lesson. I am emphasizing that I went on my own because he would always just come with me... kind of like a dad who reluctantly goes out with his kid to sit around and watch the kid ride the bike and fall on their face while trying to show him this new trick. Except that I do no tricks. I just try not to fall on my face or run people over.
I have this stupid irrational fear that a neighbor or someone will just stop and talk to me about my bike and ask me why I am not riding to the park near me or why I walk along my bike a lot... Oh God, what if they find out that I am an impostor and have only learned to ride a bike recently? Will I be miscommunicated from the imaginary community I live in? I *must* have a guardian with me to deter any people from trying to talk to me and find the real embarrassing truth about me.
I know this is completely irrational and dumb, so I went out on my own in order to show to my brain that this is stupid. It then proceeded to tell me that if I fell or hurt myself, there wouldn't be anyone to help me... because you know... I don't have a phone with me or even a watch that connects to the phone and I can use. Hell, I can even talk to my phone wherever the hell it is and ask for help if need be.
Anyway, I went to this park from which you can view this walkable rollercoaster called Tiger & Turtle in Duisburg. All around this thing there are paths you can walk or bike on and there are also paths that you can use to go up to it... but I ain't doing that on a bike, at least not until I have the body of one single athlete and not of ten of them.
Biking is not easy when you are overweight, and there might be something wrong with your bike, so I would bike for 5-10 minutes and then relax for another 10-15 mins or just walk around my bike. While it was strenuous and stuff, since this was slightly more exercise than going from my desk to my couch, I really enjoyed it. The weather was really nice and I stopped on a bench when I had this moment of... freedom.
Now I think I understand why people go on bike rides or hikes or whatever. I was sitting on that bench making sure my lungs worked properly by willingly doing some ✨ heavy breathing exercises ✨ when I started just looking around. I saw FIVE seniors on e-bikes riding into my field of vision and another three coming from the opposite direction. I saw birds and rabbits and I started wondering about what I should do next. That is when it hit me. There was no "should" there. I could just walk home if I wanted to. I could ride the bike a little more. I could leave this area entirely and go to some other park or a supermarket's parking lot where there definitely was no one. I could do whatever I wanted! It was just me, the good weather and the bike. The world was mine. Mwhahah!
I love this feeling. I have feelings similar to these when I am on vacation and just chilling in my hotel room before heading out, but this one felt more intense somehow. I suppose, on vacation, I semi force myself sometimes to do things because I won't be there forever, but here... I can come to this place every day or even multiple times a day... so I am free to do whatever I want.
I decided to finish going around the rollercoaster thing with like 1-2 breaks in-between. This one time I was biking on my own, trying to bike slower and relax a bit hoping that that would make it a more pleasant experience, when I noticed someone running behind me. There was this, hmm, let's say 58 year old, man behind me jogging... and I had to make space for him so that he could pass me. Yes, a jogger passed me, even though I was on a bike. And I am out there worrying about running people over... the wind was blowing faster than I was riding that bike...
Anyway, this was really fun. I have other things I wanna post about, but I started writing about this and this post is pretty long already. See you next time!
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