Meet my yellow bike! I have yet to discover a good name for her, and yes, the bike is a she. The obvious yellow color plus the flower design helps to decipher that one. I’ve thought of some names, Daisy (wait that one is being used ..ha!), or even Robin, because I feel like I’m flying through the city on her, but I’m still thinking of a good one. So this bike has become quite the convenient way to travel around my city. Plus I love the calmness that riding brings, where I usually reflect on God and other things. Often times I pray when I ride when there are not a lot of people riding alongside of me. Many of the locals also have bikes of their own, some even come with their own power (the electric bike), and others are your usual motor bikes (similar to the one ridden in Dumb and Dumber). I can’t quite describe what it is like to maneuver your way through a crowded city, nonetheless a crowded bike lane, and being comfortable with a local whizzing past you while blowing his little bell right as he passes. This either will alarm you, if you are not from this area, and so therefore turn your head the moment he rides quickly by and you try and swerve quickly out of his way, or you will become just like them and ignore all warnings, hoping that he will get the hint that you will not be moving out of his way. There is also another response to these incidents, which I like to take credit for creating this one, and that is to also blow your little bell as loud as he does, stating that you are also on the bike path making your way as quickly as he is. My husband has not quite figured out why I have created this response, but it allows me to participate in the loud bell ringing with confidence and fun! I enjoy my little bell! One day my bell wasn’t working and I was very upset. Someone had either pushed over my parked bike, clamping the top of my bell tight so that it would not ring, or they hammered it shut being annoyed of my bell commotions. Of course the logical reason was that it accidently had been pushed over. The noise of a clamped bell is horrible and weak and no one can hear you coming! Eventually I got it to work again by prying the lid loose and soon beautiful bell noises came dancing out!
After having purchased my little yellow bike, a friend of mine, from the sunshine state of Florida who had also purchased her bike the same day, decided that we should venture back to our homes riding them, and hopefully find our way. Well, this event took place about two weeks after we first arrived here and neither she nor I really knew the city well. I’m actually still working on figuring this city out still. Anyways, back to my fun story, she and I got LOST and what should have only taken about a twenty minute ride on our bikes, took about two and a half hours. (we were trying to detour around some road construction) I was very thankful for the new language I had learned already at the time, because I remembered how to say and listen for “right turn, left turn, that street.” I still was not familiar with the names of the streets, so we would go down a street and then ask another local for more directions back to our side of the city. It was pretty hilarious asking locals with my little language how to get back home. Apparently we were going in the wrong direction and got a few laughs. I called my husband about twice, he didn’t know where we were, but eventually he found us on a bike that he had borrowed. I never laughed so hard in my life from getting lost! Laughing is probably better than panicking, so after stopping traffic once (that’s a whole other story), asking several locals for directions, not really understanding most of what they told me, learning that my friend had a map all along (it didn’t matter cause we still couldn’t really understand it yet), and trying to reassure my friend that I could get us home, I was thrilled to see my husband when he found us. I had no idea that he went out looking for us, but once we took sight of him we were greatly relieved! Fortunately, I haven’t gotten lost again thus far, but I have ridden my bike in pouring down rain with an umbrella in one hand keeping my head dry. The rest of me, including the back pack that I was wearing, was pretty much getting soaked. That was a really fun adventure, and probably also hilarious to watch! So... most of the locals who have to ride their bikes in the rain wear this huge pancho that even covers their legs! I truly thought that would be a wonderful thing to buy after my rainfall experience. I biked a long way and made it to the Starbucks where my husband was receiving tutoring lessons. He laughed at me and couldn’t believe that I had ridden in the rain on my bike. I told him that it didn’t look like it was going to stop raining for a while, and I was right, it didn’t stop raining all night long. After talking with him for a bit, I left him to his tutorial time and continued on my way, in the rain pancho-less and enjoying every minute of my ride home! Of course I will try not to make that a habit of mine to ride in the rain, but it was exciting and fun! I mean, how many times would we get stuck in the rain in the States on our bikes? Unless that was our usual mode of transportation of course! I love this job!!
