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[VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com>]

Bev,
Learning new things is one of the things that keeps us
young.  If you are at interested in riding a bike at
all, by all means do it.
If it is something you are not particularly interested
in, then put that energy into learning some other new
thing.
Van Dell

--- SISU! <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> I'm 45 years old.  I learned to ride a bike when I
> was 5, so one could
> say that I have had this 'skill' for 40 years, but
> bikes today are very
> different than the bikes I grew up with.  I started
> off, probably like
> most of you, with an average style, 1 speed bike, a
> Columbia IIRC, that
> had coaster brakes.  I rode that bike until my
> pre-teen years when I got
> a Sears 5 speed.  Wow, that was cool.  At 15,
> English racers were all
> the rage and I got a cheapo 10 speed-the first in my
> neighborhood to own
> one, and I thought I was "all-that".  I rode that
> same bike back and
> forth to college classes in Atlanta when I was 21
> and very poor.  For
> the most part, I haven't ridden much since.
> Five years ago, I was diagnosed with severe RA and
> moderate OA.  A year
> later, I was diagnosed with heart valve problems. 
> Between these two
> afflictions, I have been medically relegated to
> either biking or
> swimming for aerobic exercise.  For the past year, I
> have been riding a
> 25 year old exercise bike off and on for cardio.  I
> wanted a new bike,
> but that wasn't in the cards....until now.
> My son left for Hawaii today and has left his 21
> speed mountain bike
> here at the house for me to ride.  The damn thing is
> so complex that I
> feel totally stupid on it.  I've been reading tips
> on Ehow.com to learn
> how to ride the friggin thing.  Whoever thought
> there would be front
> gears and back gears...a suspension system, two sets
> of brakes, etc.
> etc. on a freakin bicycle?!?!?  I am feeling older
> and older and older....
> Yesterday, an occasion arose where I had to borrow
> my son's cell phone
> for a trip.  I felt like a technologically impaired
> moron having to get
> a lesson on how to use a cell phone.  What's worse,
> I had to drive my
> neighbors almost new F350 truck...a honkin' monster
> of a diesel truck
> with all the bells and whistles.  I was totally out
> of my element.
> Power this and Power that..it had seat warmers for
> crying out loud!  I
> was afraid to touch any of the buttons!
> I'm feeling really old and disconnected with modern
> life.  I remember my
> grandmother refusing to use a hand calculator and I
> thought "how silly".
>   I'm not laughing anymore.  Does anyone else feel
> this way or am I just
> alone, isolated and really out of touch with the
> world?
> 
> So okay, aside from my little pity party above, can
> anyone give me any
> advice on riding that bike, or should I just stick
> with the exercise
> bike in the bedroom where it is safe (and boring). 
> I want to get out
> and live, but I feel like I'm half brain dead on
> learning new things.
> 
> Bev, trying to put a little SISU back into my life.
> 
> -- 
> Bevanron in NW Georgia                EarthNSky Farm  34.498N
> 85.076W
> SISU! (Finnish--There is no single word in English
> that encompasses
> all that sisu means, but it combines the following
> ideas: guts, pep,
> determination, stubbornness, perseverance,
> hardiness, stamina, go, do,
> nerve, spunk, pluck, and grit.  It's like "Just Do
> It!" & "Go for It!")
>                               GO NAVY!
> 
> 
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