I'm half crazy..."
"half crazy" is probably an underestimate of myself!!!
on my 31st birthday (2000), i left work, got in my van, and went shopping for my birthday present from me to me:b third store was a charm:D there she was all shiny, black, and new...
daisy, daisy, my bicycle built for two!!!
looking back, who knows??? i guess it was an early mid-life crisis or something. i purchased her, and the guys at the cyclery somehow got the rather large bicycle into my van:O i do remember driving across the bridge home with her front tire next to me wedged between the front seats. it was so unsafe; i was SO excited:D
when i said in my previous post that i have ridden my tanDAMN 5 times and hurt myself 5 times, i think i exaggerated...
that i recall, i HAVE only ridden her 5 times, but i only really hurt myself 2 of those times... the other three trips were just near misses, lol!!!
FIRST TRIP:
i made it home safely with my bike in tow. i quickly changed clothes, helmetted up, lugged the monster bike (it was at this point that i realized how heavy my new mode of transportation was:S), and hopped on for my first ride...
uh-oh (1st near miss), i wasn't quite tall enough to ride in the front safely. but, i was so excited i jumped on anyway, and off i went to find someone taller than me to drive.
SECOND TRIP (actually second leg of 1st trip):
six blocks later, i rode up to d's curb, used the curb to exit the bike;b, and ran in to get her. she was excited, too!!! she jumped on the front, i jumped on the back, and off we went around the block. this was my second 'near miss' as the back handle-bars nor the seat had been tightened in place. oops!!! i was hanging on for dear life, laughing, and, yes, screaming as we went over all the rooted cracks in the sidewalk at d's top speed:O
THIRD TRIP:
my trip home that day, my 31st b-day, was basically uneventful. THANK YOU, GOD, i lived to see that day come and go!!! other than the fact that i needed a curb on which to stop. i really should have tried that bike on before leaving the shop with it, no???
FOURTH TRIP:
a week or so after (against my better judgment), katherine talked me into taking her for a ride on the aforementioned vehicular device. i waited until early evening so that the traffic would be light. i told her we would ride to d's, and she could play with will and sam while d and i took the bike for a ride (btw, john had tightened the back handle-bars and seat).
(i dig that husband of mine<333)
we got on and headed that way. guess what, we got a couple of blocks away, and i realized that katherine couldn't reach the pedals correctly. even though i told her just to rest her feet on the middle bar, half way there, she decided to just let her feet dangle and hit the back pedals as they rolled around... needless to say when i agreed to let her ride... "RIDE" she did!!!
so, we finally made it to d's, curt was out edging the sidewalk, kat and i made a big U on the side street (tooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooowly)... i didn't quite get over to the curb with enough speed. so, instead of getting off the bike the normal way, we fell over into the grass between the street and the sidewalk.
THANK, GOD, THERE WAS GRASS BETWEEN THE STREET AND THE SIDEWALK!!!
hence, the first injury... i being the safety conscious mother i am, ha... purposefully took the brunt of the fall. katherine ran to the house without ever missing a beat. i was crying; i was laughing so hard!!! curt didn't know whether to get me a band aid or laugh with me... so, he just laughed.
d and i didn't go riding that night;(
the only riding i did that night was hauling butts home to the "click", "click", "click"... of my precious 6 year-old's shoes hitting the rear pedals...
FIFTH AND FINAL TRIP TO DATE:
d talked me into riding the tanDAMN over to her house so that we could ride it downtown to the 'W. C. HANDY BLUES FESTIVAL'". the trip to her house was fine. she got on the front, and we headed to the festival. even that short ride was blissfully uneventful.
we got off the bike and mingled. everybody was digging my bike. i live in a small town where everybody knows your name... (just a little bigger than the cheers bar); i was so proud of my shiny, new tandem:D
ever heard, "pride cometh before the fall..."??? or something like that..
well, after a little "blues", a lemon shake-up (ky for "lemonade"), and home-town gossip, we decided to head home hence the second injury. d got on; and, instead of "1, 2, 3... PEDAL!!!", she started waving bye and took off with me running behind her instead of riding.
no, i was not chasing the dana on the "other-may ucker-fay" (pardon my pig latin, please); i was straddling her rear bar and running with her pedals beating me in the backs of my calves.
omGOSH!!! we were the scene!!! w.c. handy, WHO???
i swear i thought i was going to wet myself!!! no, REALLY!!!
as quickly as possible, we two d's... GOT THE HELL OUTTA DODGE (ky for "left rather quickly")!!!
the tandamn has been in my basement since... she still looks like brand-new. in ten years from now??? she'll probably still look like brand-new:D but with dry-rotted tires!!!
whewee... love and blessings,
dani
11 comments:
Ok, can you hear me laughing?! I can just SEE it--especially the part with y'all at the blues festival! I feel your pain, sister. TOTALLY something I would've done!
christina, it was a sight to behold!!! bahahahahaaa...
You and Dana.......crack me up!
I think you should get her out again...the bike that is and try to find another sucker to ride with you.
It would be so much fun and you would have more stories to share.
Thanks for that post Dani, I couldn't stop laughing and could picture you on the back of the tandem, screaming and holding on for dear life - I am bad enough on a normal run of the mill bike - and cannot even imagine a tandem - I would definitly be a disaster (hehe)X
shannon, we are the modern-day lucy and ethel!!! i'm not up for the tandem, quite yet. my brother was over last night and asked me if i wanted to take her to "big daddy's" (the outdoor restaurant on the river)... NOT!!!
tabitha, i was literally holding on for dear life as dana drives like a bat out of hell, lol!!! and, she didn't stop until we got back to her house:S thinking back i guess that trek on was all we could do because neither of us had tools to tighten up the bars and the seat... heheheeee...
How is Bid Daddy's doing? I hate to see establishments come and go as often as they did in Henderson. Is Mi Cocina's still there? What about the cafe...hmm Willies?
big daddy's is just now reopening for the season. mi cocina closed, but the owner and a few others are going to reopen it with a spanish name, featuring authentic mexican food, but with american food in the mix. i'm not sure about willies' (sp?)... i haven't been by there in a while but know the business wasn't doing well...
l,
d
Alright...you have GOT to bring that bike down here! We could ride it to the beach. Maybe would could manage not to get hit crossing highway A1A!! That bike weighs a million pounds too! What a work out!!!!! HA!!!!
not in this lifetime, d:D
l,
d
Boy did this post make me laugh. The imagery of it all, it was just oh so easy to imagine.
If only that bike could talk, imagine what it would have to say. The poor old thing is probably dying for you to take it out for another spin. I know we would all get another good belly laugh out of it!!
Love your sense of humour Dani. It always makes for such an entertaining story when you can laugh at yourself and look on the bright side.
if that monster could talk, it could probably tell another one of my misadventures that i've forgotten. she's probably just glad she's safely at home and not mangled in a junkyard somewhere, lol!!!
d xx
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