Hi Neighbour,
I’m still thinking of balance—but not life balance. I’m thinking of balance on a bicycle.
I began to ride a bike 12 years ago, after many years of driving a car all over Metro Vancouver. Raising kids and taxiing them to and from after-school lessons, usually doing it in the most timely manner, meant that I couldn’t even think of riding a bike. I never even made time to exercise properly.
So when I went to China one summer, I saw how people use bicycles and tricycles and scooters (‘the family car’). I was sold on the idea of riding an electric-assist bicycle. So that’s what I bought, for about $1800. I figured that I couldn’t expect to get fit before starting to ride a bike, and I wanted to ride to work, so I needed to buy something that would make it easy to transition from driving to cycling. When I was in the bike shop, a very large man was also buying an e-bike and it struck me that all kinds and sizes of people ride bikes, and if they’re seniors, over-sized or just unfit, then an e-bike does the trick.
Over the Labour Day weekend I got used to riding my e-bike. I loved it instantly and was very hopeful about my transition. My car insurance would run out in November, so I had a few months to do big shopping runs to Costco, or visit distant people and places by car, if necessary. I developed back-up plans and thought of ‘what-if’ scenarios, so I wouldn’t panic or be stuck walking my bike to get home. BCAA had a ‘bike-assist’ program for members. I bought rain gear and the whole nine yards.
The weight of the e-bike was twice the weight of a ‘regular’ bike, but I had no issue with power or balance when I was riding. However, I had a few incidents where I miscalculated the weight of the e-bike when I was walking or parking it, and it fell over. My childhood experience of riding a bike, up to an age when it wasn’t cool anymore, really helped me. I had a sore foot that affected my ability to walk long distances and balance on tricky terrain. But I could still balance on a bike and ride long distances. You see, balance on a bike involves the rider steering the front wheel to the left or right to correct any loss of balance. It’s very different from balancing on one or two feet.
Balance bikes, also known as a run bikes, are for 2- to 5-year olds. It takes a matter of days for the child to learn to first walk beside the bike and steer it, then to straddle the bike and walk it, then to sit on the seat and walk it, and finally to sit on the seat and S-A-I-L it! That’s balance! “Mom & Dad, take your hands off! I got this!”
Fiona