Cruising On a Saturday Night

 

Well actually, we were cruising on a Sunday  morning, but the old person Saturday night, is early Sunday morning.

The Santa Barbara beach bike-path, which meanders a long the deep blue waters of the Pacific, was a like an old  friend that  we hadn’t visited in a long time.

Luckily, Number One’s conference was held at the Hilton.  When you spend enough nights in hotels, there are certain perks that you get.  The Hilton provides free Beach Cruising bikes.   We love to bike, so this was a great opportunity to have some fun and anything free makes Number One happy.

I rode a hot pink  cruiser with wide handle bars and  an extra wide seat, (so comfortable) and to my chagrin it also had the old fashioned pedal brakes. It has been years and years and years since I  rode a gear-less and hand brake-less bicycle.  When I was younger,  I loved my banana seat and the super high “ape hanger” handle bars.    I raced up and down Blake Road for hours.  I thought I was the greatest bicyclist.  Of  course, there were no sidewalks, no cars and no pedestrians!

Not only was it a blast to the past, but I also had a blast of fear as my cruiser pitched and lurched towards a parked jaguar.  I was reaching frantically for the hand brakes, but there were none.  I didn’t stop to think there might be pedal brakes, I just slammed my foot on the ground—using the Fred Flintstone braking system.  Fred was lucky, he didn’t have to  balance his car and brake at the same time.

Before I was willing to venture onto the street and then the narrow bike path, I had to practice in the parking lot.  (No, I didn’t practice near the  expensive cars.  )

I finally—-sort of —got the braking system figured out.  You may never forget how to ride a bike, but you certainly do forget the braking  system.   It does NOT come naturally after using the modern new-fangled brakes.

Somehow I managed to cross the street and hobble onto the bike path.  I am sure you have had an experience when a steering wheel on a car has to too much play and a simple turn sends it careening hard to the right or to the left.  It was the same with this bike.  I was hanging on for dear life while bringing my hands closer to the front fulcrum, hoping that moving upward would give me more control.  NOPE!

We biked for only three miles, but I think I put fifty thousand miles  on the soles of my shoes.  My shoes  braked better than  the bike.   The out of control front wheel barely missed a few pedestrians.  Thank God I had a lot of tread on my shoes.

Next time I am either bringing my 21-speed Trek bicycle with hydraulic brakes, or I will have to learn to love the view of the parking lot.

If anyone has a cruiser that I could practice on, I would appreciate it. I hope you have good insurance.

 

 

Posted in Retirement.

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