I learned how to swim in the fall of 2008; it seems a
bit odd to say that I learned how to accomplish such a goal at the late age of
20. I wasn’t afraid of drowning; I just didn’t want to be the oldest one in a
class learning how to swim. I felt the same way when I learned how to ride a
bike this past summer. It was an interesting and exciting experience as well; I
took a class at Bike NYC which help people of all ages learn to bike ride.
I
always prolonged learning how to ride a bike not for the fear of falling but
being someone in their mid-20’s finally getting the courage to bike ride as a
beginning. The class was great at helping adults get comfortable with the
process. I’m glad I wasn’t the oldest person in the adult beginner bike riding
class. They began with teaching us the ABC’s of riding a bike: A- air on the
wheels, B- make sure the brakes are working and C- chain on the bike. Even
though I’m a beginner it’s definitely important to know what to check for
before mounting on a bike.
The next step was learning how to balance on a bike while riding without pedals. Meaning we used our feet to move forward and then place our feet near the bike to keep our balance while the bike is moving. At first it sounded a bit odd because most movies I’ve seen show kids learning how to ride a bike was with pedals on while also getting pushed slightly by an adult. As adults we tend to over think while kids are more open minded. We had to push off the bike and last about five to 10 seconds without needing to kick off the ground again. Once riders felt comfortable enough balancing on a bike we were able to advance to receiving pedals and slowly work our way into becoming real bike riders.
It took a couple of laps around the gym before I felt comfortable enough riding in stride. It was a great feeling, many years in the making, finally getting that monkey off my back. I spent the past couple of years saying I was going to learn this task but kept backing away from it. When I was four years old I had a bike but my mom was concerned I would get injured or worse since I was a reckless child. I think it’s understandable for any parent to be concerned about something like that; since I didn’t see biking as a necessity I didn’t bother picking it up. Ironically enough I fell during my first class but that was mostly because I was super excited that I started speeding and tried making a turn too late. It was a great lesson to learn and many people tend to learn early in their childhood.
My
goal is to get fully comfortable riding a bike and shoot to race in a triathlon
next year. I don’t see myself running a full marathon for the main fact that
I’m concerned with the health of my knees. I had runners knee back in 2011 and
the most miles I’ve ran since that year is three miles. I enjoy the challenge
of trying to do three different kinds of cardio one after another. I haven’t’
fully trained running wise but I have ran 11 miles before but that took months
of building up. I am used to swimming one mile but not being followed by biking
and running afterwards. Once I feel comfortable as a biker I would like to
start training for a triathlon. My main goal is to finish the race
itself and then work on improving that time.
The next fear to get over is ice-skating. I feel that I can balance myself pretty well but I still feel uncomfortable skating. I feel I can pick up skating once I have a couple of classes; hope that doesn’t sound cocky but I learn quicker from practicing some kind of sport. Falling is normal while learning how to skate but falling on ice seems more painful than on the ground from riding a bike. A friend could have taught me both but having someone I don’t know and has teaching experience makes my drive to learn a lot more helpful. Ice skating and skiing are the goals for the winter and maybe next summer I will include roller-blading and skateboarding, maybe even buying a Razr scooter. It’s helpful that New York City has many classes to learn these sports; I feel that I missed out on some fun as a child. It’s better to learn these now that I’m still somewhat young and eventually use biking as another way to assist my health.
