Have you learned to ride a bicycle/e-bike?

The journey of a 30-year-old mother learning to ride a bicycle: For many people, the ability to ride a bicycle isn’t considered anything special; they might even think that it’s not something everyone should be able to do, just like eating three meals a day. But for me, knowing how to ride a bicycle is truly amazing. Even now that I can do it, I still find it incredible. Every time I ride a bicycle on the road, I feel extremely excited, as if I’ve been awarded some honor!       I did the math: it took me almost 5 years to learn how to ride a bicycle, and every attempt ended in failure. I spent a long time thinking about whether I should write about this experience, as I didn’t learn to ride until I was 30 – it’s still a bit embarrassing to talk about it. After some internal struggle, I decided to write it down as a memory! My memory really isn’t enough these days. Whenever I tell people that I can’t ride a bicycle, they always look surprised. I guess they must be thinking about how stupid I must be to not even know how to ride a bike. In such situations, I try to come up with awkward explanations, saying that the terrain where I grew up wasn’t suitable for cycling, as there were many uphill sections. It’s not just me; few children my age around me can ride a bike either. In truth, I know full well that these explanations are just attempts to find reasonable excuses for my inability to ride a bike. Deep down, I feel frustrated with myself, blaming my poor balance and wondering why an adult like me can’t even control a bicycle. I worry that in the future, I might be laughed at by those who are younger than me for not knowing how to ride a bike, and that thought makes me feel very depressed.       Actually, I was able to learn how to ride a bicycle this year. I’m really grateful for the existence of shared bicycles. One day in March this year, I had to go out to handle some matters, and since there was no direct bus to my destination, I had to walk for about 30 minutes to get there. Walking the whole way kept me exhausted; it felt as though I was carrying two huge stones with me. It’s no exaggeration to say that I could barely move forward. Fortunately, I saw several blue HelloBikes not far away, so I quickened my pace and went over to them. I checked the seat height, the wheels, and the brake, and also took into account the road conditions – there were few people and even fewer cars around. So I decided to try again. Although I wasn’t very confident that I would be able to ride, I still wanted to give it a shot. I immediately used Alipay to purchase a one-month riding pass, and thus began my first ride in 2018. I rode unsteadily until I reached my destination. The memories from that time are still clear in my mind: at first, I was afraid of riding among traffic, and in emergency situations I became so nervous that I forgot to use the brakes. But now I can control the handlebars smoothly, and I ride more skillfully with each attempt. The fear I used to have while riding on the road is gone now! Every ride now is a pleasure for me! Of course, it was a journey from unsteady riding to riding with great ease; during that time I kept practicing*, including working on overcoming my fear of getting on the road. Biking has given me a deep realization: inner worries and fears can be overcome through consistent, deliberate practice. Just like writing nowadays, I don’t have fancy words or any special techniques or methods, and I have no idea what kind of writer I will become in the future But right now, taking the first step is more important than anything else; what remains is one’s own effort and perseverance, continuous learning, with the hope that in the future there will also be poems and distant dreams of one’s own!

To be honest, I learned it too thirty years ago

It’s true that the scope of activities can be expanded

You can ride one with smaller wheels, like a 26x1 gear; a 28x1 gear is too fast for you, right?

When I was 28, I used to reach under the crossbeam to ride on it