I Need Training Wheels

I am engulfed in fear. When did I stop yearning for thrill? Or was I never a risk taker? Was I always satisfied with what I had or the nature of how I’ve always done things?

I’ve been playing the guitar since high school. I learned how to sing and play at the same time but when I strum B minor, F sharp or the likes of it, I never made an extra effort to make it sound right. I just sang louder on that note or simply tried a new song.

My present goal is to complete a triathlon race. I inserted an Xterra/Tagaman postcard on my windshield as a reminder of what I wanted to achieve. I wrote “I’m doing it! 2009 here we come!” I started to read the Triathlon bible, trained with Coach Mike for the swim, did a couple of runs last week and found some girlfriends who were willing to ride with me. I was ready to fly like a BUMBLEBEE or at least I thought I did.

Today, I was ready to get my new used bike. We went down to Romy’s bike shop and found this beautiful light weight green Gary Fisher. They told me to try it out but when I got on, I knew I wasn’t gonna reach the seat. Apparently the seat had to be high enough to stretch your legs. I got off and tipped the bike while my foot somehow got stuck on the frame. That did it. There was no way I was getting on that bike. Brad gave me words of encouragement and somehow convinced me to try again, plus there was a boy watching from the side. So I did, and I rode it… and the 30 seconds i was moving felt AMAZIZING until I had to stop and tip over (which felt more like falling over) . Now there was definitely no way I was getting on a bike that soon. We asked the owner if we could test the bike for a couple of days but someone else was coming over to check it out. A good sales pitch, but I wasn’t ready to buy something I wasn’t sure of, so I left the shop with feelings of regret and a childish pout. Although, there was still a bit of hope, Leila was selling her mountain bike. There was no air on the tires (easy fix) but she told us to take it and bring it back if it wasn’t what we wanted. Great deal! The minute Brad tested the bike on the rode, I felt like I was ready to try it out, plus the seat was reachable. To my dismay, as soon as I took it to a safe place to ride, the tire went “psssss….” talk about luck.

So now it is with a heavy heart that I assume it will take me a lifetime to find the right bike and another lifetime before I learn how to ride it right. Maybe some training wheels would help?

Fun Fact: Bumblebees are not capable of flight. Fortunately, no one told the bumblebee.The silly insects go right on believing that flight is normal for them despite what the best minds in the scientific world know as fact.

- The Triathlete's Training Bible