{"id":8120,"date":"2012-04-12T15:06:51","date_gmt":"2012-04-12T13:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breigh.com\/wordpress\/?p=8120"},"modified":"2012-04-12T15:25:26","modified_gmt":"2012-04-12T13:25:26","slug":"lessons-in-biking-after-all-these-years-im-still-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadutch.nl\/blog\/archives\/8120","title":{"rendered":"Lessons in Biking: After All These Years, I’m Still Learning!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a new bike! WAHOO!<\/p>\n

Remember Sheldon the Wonder Fiets<\/a>?\u00a0 Well, I sold him in the fall.\u00a0 He served me well during the time I was using him but I just was not at all happy with him overall.\u00a0 I felt like I was riding around on a coke can that was about to crumble beneath me.\u00a0 Maybe it was because it was actually a rather cheap young girls bike, maybe it was because I was over 250 lbs at the time.\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 Either way I just wasn\u2019t comfortable. I hate the way it rattled, clanged and felt rickety and weak, I didn\u2019t like that I couldn\u2019t put the handlebars any higher or pull them closer to me so I could sit up straighter.\u00a0 There was a lot I didn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

So I decided in the fall that I would sell Sheldon and look for a new bike in the spring.<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s spring! Not that you’d know by the current weather…<\/p>\n

I had been looking on Marktplaats<\/a> for a few weeks and visited a few of the second hand shops here in town, but nothing struck my fancy. I knew exactly what I was looking for.\u00a0 Something that is a good, well known brand, had a nice saddle, fully adjustable handlebars and affordable<\/em>.\u00a0 I also looked online at a few shops, one of which was a bike shop near Kinderdijk<\/a> where we bought a 2nd hand bike for Xander a few years ago.\u00a0\u00a0 When I saw the ad I just had a gut feeling.\u00a0 I continued to look on Marktplaats but time and time again I kept going back to that one ad and showing it to Xander.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday morning I asked him to take me out there to look at it because I was scared it would be gone before I would get a chance to look at it.\u00a0 A few hours later I was home with my new bike!<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve named her Sally and she\u2019s a Giant Explorer 21 speed slice of awesomeness on wheels!\u00a0 It\u2019s exactly what I was looking for and I am so happy with it.\u00a0 When I rode it for the first time it really brought to light just <\/em>what a crappy ride my old bike was, the difference is incredible.\u00a0 It’s 2nd hand but in great shape, we really got a great deal for what we paid for it.<\/p>\n

We stopped on the way home and picked up some bags for on the back of the bike to make it easier when I take it for groceries or need to transport small items. I realized after seeing this photo that I seem to have a new favorite color for spring 2012, as I bought the same color in both my new walking shoes and the bicycle bags.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been quite busy and the weather has been sort of rotten lately so I haven\u2019t gotten a chance to get out on it until today, and I learned a few quick lessons.<\/p>\n