My new ride

What made me think that at 45 years old and weighing 175 pounds that I could just hop on a bike and ride it!! It was exhilerating though let me tell you. Even when I was flying down the hill and thought for sure I was going to crash and die at the bottom. I totally forgot how much speed you pick up when you go down. I obviously survived though. My daughter bought this bike before she found out she was pregnant. She had the idea that she would start riding it to work and back to save gas money. She quickly gave up on that idea. It's been sitting up in her back hallway for a year now so I bought it off of her. I walked it down to the gas station (1/2 a block up the street) to air up the tires. I hopped on and headed back down my street which heads straight for our city parks. Yep you guessed it, it goes downhill. I'll admit my adrenaline kicked up thinking for sure I was going to crash and have scrapes all over me. I could hear my Mother's words just then. "I told you that you should have a helmet on!" I told Mom yesterday that if I crashed that bad that I'm simply too old to have my big butt on a bike and would give it up. I'm sorry for those of you that believe in wearing bicycle helmets...I'm NOT wearing one. Anyhow, my "maiden ride" was a success. Unless you count the fact that out all 15 gears I couldn't find one that would allow my out of shape body to ride it back up that hill I rode it down and ended up walking the bike back to the top. It's been so long since I've even been on a bike let alone remembering how to change gears. I feel great though. It's amazing what a short workout that really was. If I can continue riding each morning and a little farther each day, I just might get back in shape. I know I'll feel better anyway. I beleive that for awhile I need to stick to flat streets until I get a good feel for these gears. What on earth made her think she needed 15 gears in the first place? I used to own a 5 speed and a 10 speed when I was younger and never used all the gears....now I have 15!!