June 2nd. in June Writing Challenge

Ahhhh, it feels so good to flex these writing muscles again. Writing is a lot like riding a bike. However, in my opinion, riding a bike is not that easy. There was a time, probably like 6-7 YEARS ago when I rented a beach cruiser with a friend and we took off down the path by the Santa Monica pier. Maybe the bike was too big for me, maybe I was just severely out of practice, but I felt super uncomfortable navigating the path and the masses of people, most of whom were oblivious to the physics of 'objects in motion.'

So we were crusing along, and suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, a young child ran onto the bike path and STOPPED, right in front of me. My reactions were quick-ish, and I literally jumped off my bike rather than try and brake in time to avoid hitting him, but I wasn't fast ENOUGH, and I ran into the kid. I think the best way to describe my reaction would be 'HORRIFIED.' The parents were understanding-ish, but I think we were all like OMG. The kid was fine, maybe I knocked him over and he scraped his knee or something benign like that, but it didn't matter because I swore off bikes for a pretty good chunk of time after that.

But then we went and had a kid, and Aaron had this small town fantasy of driving around with a kid on the back of his bike and me pedaling my bike by his side, so eventually I gave in and got myself a super sweet Trek. They measured me and the bike at the bike shop to make sure it was a perfect fit, and we added some stuff on it so I could potentially add the baby/toddler seat to the back if I should ever decide I wanted to (not likely). Since then, we've taken our bikes all around our sweet little neighborhood - to the park, to the cafes, etc. and just felt awesome getting around town without adding to our carbon footprint.

Not long ago, we returned to the scene of the crime with our bikes and our kid, and navigated an even MORE CROWDED Venice boardwalk scene. I was a ball of nerves the entire time, partially because I didn't want to maim any innocent beach-goers, but also because my son was strapped to the back of a bike in front of me, and who knows what could happen to him if someone jumped out on the path in front of Aaron, ya know? But all was fine, and now I've overcome my irrational adulthood fear of bikes.

So here we are, June 2nd 2014. Back on my bike and back in front of the computer writing my brainstuffs for anyone who has a few moments to read them.

And she declared, 'this is good.'