Please Help Me Bicycle! :)
For all my troubles and worries right now, I thought I would try and find a positive thing to think of and ask you all about. It's just in whimsy stage right now for me, but I was thinking of trying to improve at bicycling. My SO just loves it and we had great fun when we went on a tandem bicycle together. I don't think I will ever be avid like he is, but I would like to improve (the one time we took separate bicycles together, he adjusted his smallest street bicycle for me. I was so wobbly and nervous since I am used to the thick wheels of mountain bikes and ended up going a short ways to the grocery store with him, where I turned too sharply and went into a tree! Meanwhile, he was zipping around ahead of me, wondering why I was so nervous, and I really felt like I was holding him back. :S).
I'm an advocate for having and maintaining separate interests, but I think that bicycling could translate into an activity that we could do together more in-person and tell each other about when we are at a distance. The problem is that though I learned to bicycle along with all the other children, when we moved out west there were big hills, my bicycle became slightly too small, none of my friends or family seemed interested in going with me, and I didn't (and don't) have the money to maintain it or get a really pricey bike. Plus, I haven't seriously bicycled since I was a preteen--that's a long time. Sure, you don't forget, but it can still be awkward and downright dangerous to get back into it!
Okay, I do have a tiny confession and I swear this isn't anywhere near my main motivation, but I also am fairly certain that infamous girl (the one who was his best friend and who he had unrequited feelings for in the past and it seems to have really affected how he is in relationships, that one?) loved to bicycle and bicycle with him. I don't want to try and be her, but I do think I am at a disadvantage in his esteem sometimes when I demonstrated such disastrous bicycling skills.
So, I was first looking to see if anyone here has any tips for practising on the bicycle (kind of embarrassing that I am not better at it, but unlike swimming, there aren't really any adult novice bicycling classes). Where I live, it is really hilly. My neighbourhood is relatively quiet for practising fairly safely around cars, but if I wanted to get up to the bike trails, I would have to somehow get along the highway which has logging trucks and high speeds (i.e., that is a very, very distant thought). Also, tips or links to websites for simple and cheap DIY maintenance and repair would be great (I can see if the seat can be raised on my old bike and otherwise see if I could tinker with my Mom's street bicycle, since she can't use it because of vertigo). If I like it enough, I may start saving up for a used bicycle that is a bit better than what I have.
I'm an advocate for having and maintaining separate interests, but I think that bicycling could translate into an activity that we could do together more in-person and tell each other about when we are at a distance. The problem is that though I learned to bicycle along with all the other children, when we moved out west there were big hills, my bicycle became slightly too small, none of my friends or family seemed interested in going with me, and I didn't (and don't) have the money to maintain it or get a really pricey bike. Plus, I haven't seriously bicycled since I was a preteen--that's a long time. Sure, you don't forget, but it can still be awkward and downright dangerous to get back into it!
Okay, I do have a tiny confession and I swear this isn't anywhere near my main motivation, but I also am fairly certain that infamous girl (the one who was his best friend and who he had unrequited feelings for in the past and it seems to have really affected how he is in relationships, that one?) loved to bicycle and bicycle with him. I don't want to try and be her, but I do think I am at a disadvantage in his esteem sometimes when I demonstrated such disastrous bicycling skills.
So, I was first looking to see if anyone here has any tips for practising on the bicycle (kind of embarrassing that I am not better at it, but unlike swimming, there aren't really any adult novice bicycling classes). Where I live, it is really hilly. My neighbourhood is relatively quiet for practising fairly safely around cars, but if I wanted to get up to the bike trails, I would have to somehow get along the highway which has logging trucks and high speeds (i.e., that is a very, very distant thought). Also, tips or links to websites for simple and cheap DIY maintenance and repair would be great (I can see if the seat can be raised on my old bike and otherwise see if I could tinker with my Mom's street bicycle, since she can't use it because of vertigo). If I like it enough, I may start saving up for a used bicycle that is a bit better than what I have.
Tea and hugs make the world go round - don't ever discount the little things in life. 
Smiling away to oneself brings an obscene amount of joy when only you know the reason why your smiling. Pick something secret to smile about and let it light up your face all day long! 
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