Riding Outside
In my spinning class there is a graceful, athletic woman about my age. She’s pretty tough —clearly a gal who works out a heck of a lot. This chick powers through spinning classes throwing off sweat, putting herself into it. She looks like a ballerina; thin and elegant, with dark hair knotted at the nape of her neck. She’s become my acquaintance. After class the other day, we were talking about exercise. She said, “What else do you do to work out?” I said, “I ride my bike. I go to the X-Gym, but mostly I ride my bike.” And she said, “Outside?? You ride your bike outside??” And I said, “Um, sure!” She doesn’t ride outside yet. She’s like an indoor cat no one has let out. So my new friend has started looking for a bike. She’s trying to figure out where to ride it; how to get started. At first, I thought, now that’s silly. How hard is it to ride your bike outside? And then I realized, for a forty-something year old woman who’s probably on her own, who has never done this before, it can’t be that easy. It’s a little complicated. You have to get a bike. You have to get some bike shoes and cleats and work all of that out. How to change a tire. How to take care of your bike. How to program your bike computer. What to do for gloves, helmet, seat, shorts. It goes on. None of it is that hard, but when you’re getting started, I bet it’s formidable. And I applaud her. Today, I’m having a similar experience. I have two bikes. I’ve been riding forever; I’ve had some patient friends who got me up and running and have helped me over the years, so I basically have a handle on it. But generally speaking, I still work this shit out on my own. Now I want a rain bike. I emailed an old friend from Rochester, Dan, and asked him what to get, and if he knows of anything. He said, well, maybe, sure. What size bike are you looking for? And part of me thought, oh God, here we go. I don’t remember what size my bikes are. I don’t even remember how to measure a bike. I went to YouTube, tried to figure it out, sent him some measurements that I hope are accurate and I’m getting started. So really, to ride outside, it’s not entirely simple. Which, I’m sure, is why I see fewer women out there on the road, and why I cheer inside whenever I do.
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on wheels..the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood”
—Susan B Anthony
