Cruising the cruiser

"Mar, you need to keep up." I said that approximately 2,716 times over the weekend. Poor little Margaret followed me all over Grand Junction this weekend as we rode our bikes everywhere. I think she might be getting her a new bike for her birthday next month, as the one Santa brought her two Christmases ago is getting a wee bit small — even after we raised the seat her knees still some too close to her chin. Plus since I've become addicted to my bike, I think she needs some gears so she doesn't have to listen to me nagging her to keep up every 30 second. Even with my haranguing, she seems to be enjoying my bike obsession. Getting her to throw on some clothes Sunday morning so we could bike to the grocery store was a lot easier than getting her dressed to drive to the store. And let me tell you, Bill and I were very careful about what we were buying. It all had to fit in the basket on the front of my bike and in Bill's backpack — Bill had to carry the 5 lbs. of sugar, I have a hard enough time riding without an overloaded front end. See by nature I'm pretty clumsy. I trip over my own feet and am always knocking over my drinks with my long, pendulous arms. I'm no better on my bike. On the way home from Margaret's piano recital Sunday (she rocked her two songs), Bill was showing off and riding with no hands. I tried it and almost took out Margaret and side-swiped a parked car. I won't be trying any more fancy tricks. Stop, start, ride, turn, that's about as fancy as I get. But I love riding my bike anyway. And we have a pretty bike friendly town. I know there are still those that will argue the bikes shouldn't be allowed to ride the windy, narrow Monument road, but you'll never see me and my cruiser there — that just seems too scary for a klutz like me. I don't ride because I want to be healthier or because gas is so expensive (although those are definite perks), I ride because it's so much fun. So if you see a dorky girl smiling while riding a red cruiser, that's me ... if you honk, I might just ring my bell.