"It's just like riding a bike..."

Isn't that the saying? That even if you haven't done it for a while, you don't forget? Well, maybe you never forget how to ride a bike, but that doesn't mean that you can do it successfully all the time! During the past two weeks my biking skills have taken a turn for the worse. I've fallen off...twice. Here are the stories; feel free to laugh! As you will see from below your laughs cannot damage my pride anymore than it already is! :)

Story #1:
All bikes in China have a basket attached to the front of the bike, kind of like the Wicked Witch of the West. (Side note...until I got used to seeing this I was constantly humming the song that accompanies the Witch as she rides...you know the one...) Anyways, in Story #1 my basket was my downfall. Most people will pack their baskets to the brim with bags, purchases, etc. as they are biking around the city and I am no different. When the basket is full, it causes the front part of the bike to twist to the side because of the weight and sometimes the bike falls completely over if the kickstand is not strong enough. Now that you have the background information, you will be able to picture this story more vividly! I was leaving a friend's house one night and was biking through her campus when I decided I needed something out of the bag that was in my basket. (Please note that I have accomplished this task several times, even answering the phone while on my bike!) This night, though, I must have had too much in my basket because the front of the bike twisted while my hand was stuck in the bag! There was nothing I could do except brace myself for the inevitable fall... Sure enough, my bike twisted and lurched to the side and I went up and over the top of the bike, landing on my palms and knees. The basket broke off my bike and everything inside of it went flying! Although I was physically bumped and bruised, my pride was hurt more than anything! In China, you're never alone and since I was on a college campus there were even more people around! I'm sure it was very entertaining for the people around - a foreigner goes flying head-first off of her bike, yet no one is around as the cause of the accident. It would have been better if someone hit me!!! Hahahaha... Just as I was starting to recover from that first accident we come to...

Story #2
Still fresh in my mind and with the bruises not yet fully developed, I am reflecting on the predicament I found myself in yesterday. Just as there is a basket on the front of the bikes here, there is a small rack on the back part of the bike that one person can sit on while the other person pedals. I was visiting a friend (you know who you are!) and she wanted me to go with her to pick up some dinner. Since I had not biked to her place, she said I could just ride on the back of her bike. So, off we went - but we didn't make it too far! It is a little bit difficult to control the bike when someone is sitting on the back so my friend was trying to gather momentum to ride smoothly. We were leaving a section of her apartment complex that was blocked off by guard rail post-type things and as she went through them she did not think about the fact that my legs were to the side of the bike and were not able to clear the posts. My legs made contact with the post and I was thrown off balance, desperately trying to stay on the bike! Just as I was thinking,"I'm getting balanced, I'm not going to fall!" she hit the speed bump that was beyond the posts. That was enough to send me flying. 3 of our other friends happened to be behind us and they said all they could see was a flailing of limbs as I bounced from my bum onto my knees and elbows...ouch.

I guess if I'm going to fall off of a bike in China, I have picked two of the safest ways to do it - no other bikes or cars have been involved! For now, I'll be mending my bruised body...and ego!