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Today is Sunday, which is supposed to be my "Recovery Day." But recovery day doesn't mean I sit around on my butt all day -- so I joined a group in www.meetup.com called "Biking for Biggies." It's for overweight people who ride their bicycles in various parts of Houston. They had a meetup in Katy's Cullen Park, so I folded my car's backseat down and put Bertha (that's my Huffy bicycle's name)in my trunk, and off we went.
I got there and met four members who all had high-end bicycles. Bertha was so out of place, but I didn't care. I was going to keep up with them if it meant carrying Bertha on my shoulders and running with her!!! LOL
The trail was so wonderful. It meandered through the park and had people walking, jogging, and cycling, and it seemed to go on and on. I had a hard time with Bertha's chain clicking and clicking all the way through the five-mile ride, but I was able to keep up with the Cannondale and Scott bicyclists. The only thing that really mattered was that I had my hydration pack that kept me from getting thirsty, and I really wanted to keep going, but the group said they were tired and done for after only five miles.
So make that a total of ten miles for me and Bertha. As I stuffed her in my car trunk, I turned to notice that not only did they have high-end bikes, but also high-end bike racks on their vehicles. And here I am, the barrio girl, fitting my cheapo Huffy in my car trunk LOL
As we said our goodbyes, they talked of having their bikes tweaked at the bike shop. Well, shoot. If anyone needed to get their bike tweaked, it should have been me, but I wasn't about to spend money for a bicycle tune-up if it cost more than the $50 I paid for that bike. So I went to Beto's Bike Repair in Aldine, and he adjusted my chain and lubed it, adjusted my tires, and adjusted my brakes... then he charged me $10. That's what you call AWESOME!!!! That's how we do it here in the HOOD, Katy people!!!!
You know what's ironic? They had all these high-end bicycles. One of them, Kendra, had a $900 Scott road bike that she was very proud of. It didn't even have a kick stand. She had to lean it against a tree when she went to potty. OMG. And she said she had to buy pedals too, because that bike didn't come with pedals. OMG again. They talked about prices for bikes and accessories, and one of them said, "Trust me, you never want to go cheap." Ahahaha! Was that meant for me to hear? Because as cheap as Bertha is, she was able to keep up with you, and I was comfortable riding her. How were your huevos after that two-hour bike ride, Mr. "You never want to go cheap"? LOL And by the way, Bertha came with pedals AND a kickstand, AND she came with the tacky pink pleather-coated handle bars!!!
I'm going to go again next Sunday just to test our Bertha and her newly-adjusted, lubricated chain. :) Don't get me wrong, they seem nice enough... just a tad snobby LOL To me, though, it's not the bicycle you're riding; it's HOW FAST and HOW LONG you can pedal, baby. And from the looks of it, most of these guys couldn't go beyond five miles. Bertha and me, we're going to show them how it's done.
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