First Bike Ride

Well, I rode a bike today for the first time in years.  More importantly, it was the first time that I ever rode a bike with these shoes that clip into the pedals.  It was horrible.  First, it is impossible to get your shoes hooked into the special little pedals.  Second, even if you do get your shoes hooked in, then you have to worry about getting them unhooked so that you don't kill yourself when you stop.  I fell once, but it didn't hurt too much.  I kept practicing clipping my feet in and out, but I never figured out the secret, especially for my left foot.  It seemed like sheer luck whenever my foot would click with the pedal.  As such, I never even went on the bike trail.  First, I practiced on grass near me, right by an intersection where a million cars lined up at every red light, none of whom had anything other to do while waiting for the green light than to watch me look like a 5-year-old, trying to ride a bike, but with expensive looking equipment.  I won't even get into the shifting gears issues, as I have no idea how that works. 

This whole biking thing (is that even the correct terminology, or am I supposed to call it "cycling"?) is really a pain.  It makes this whole thing so gear centric.  The aspect of running that I most enjoyed was how easy it was just to put on shoes and just run.  Biking, however, requires pumping tires, putting on all kinds of unnatural paraphernalia, and tons of money.  For instance, when I bought this equipment, I told the clerk at the store that I could "only" spend $500 on a bike.  He looked astonished.  There was only one used bike in the store for $500, so he had no time for me at all.  I had to keep pressing him on what else I needed.  I even had to go back into the store when I realized he hadn't even told me to buy a tire pump.  I had to ask for a helmet.  I also had to ask for the shoes, which - even though I am a complete beginner - somehow entailed me having to go to an entirely different store because the original one was out of the "special" shoes that I needed.

Anyways, I hope to get comfortable enough on this bike over the next couple weeks that I can join a group.  This stuff is too complicated for me to figure out...drafting rules, flat tires, yada yada yada.  I had hoped to be able to bike to work each day, but it seems really dangerous.