I Rode My Bicycle Past Your Window Last Night

Last night, I bought my very first brand new bicycle.

After my shopping excursion and ride on Sunday, I was more convinced than ever that I should take the leap and buy a bike. I had found a few I really liked, but the price was just a tad high, and I could get virtually the same thing for less. Everyone was out of the lesser model but told me to check back in a few days, so yesterday, I made some calls and made an upsetting discovery.

Apparently, the reason everyone was out of the model I wanted was that a new 2009 model will be coming out in the next few months, and when they're gone, they're gone. (Why no one bothered to tell me that on Sunday, I'm not sure, but that's neither here nor there right now.) One store I called had a men's model of the bike I wanted, but no one had a women's in the right size. Another place told me I was welcome to place an order for the 2009 model; it will be coming out in a month or two, he said, and after that, it will be a five-to-six week wait. Well, by then, summer will be practically over. I decided to go back to the shop where I'd tried the more expensive bikes and simply buy one of those.

I was sharing my findings with my husband, and he asked why I didn't just buy the men's bike. "Don't most women buy men's bicycles anyway?" he asked. I brushed him off, partly because I didn't see any reason it would be true, and partly because I was already on the way to a different place. But out of curiosity, when I arrived at the bike shop, I asked the guy who was helping me.

Turns out my husband was right. Women do prefer men's bikes, the bike shop guy said, because the only difference is that the top bar goes straight across, and because it forms more of a triangle with the other pieces, it is more stable and makes for a better ride. And it just so happened that they, too, had the less expensive bicycle in a men's.

I took it. And I'm so glad I did. As soon as I got home from the shop, I took a short spin around my neighborhood, and I really enjoyed myself. It's much more comfortable than my husband's bike (probably because this one has been adjusted just for me), and it was a really smooth ride.

Unfortunately, there's rain in the weather forecast for the next several days, so I'm not sure how much time I will be spending with my new bike (who, by the way, has yet to be named). But just in case, I'm printing out maps of all the bike trails in my area so that as soon as it's dry, I can hit the ground pedaling.