Apparently I am not so good at biking riding

It has become abundantly clear to me over the last month that my bike riding skills my be severely below par. Yep that's right. I am admitting I am not so good at something. Here is the story:

About 4 weeks ago I went biking a few days after a snowstorm. I hit some ice and snow and went flying off my bike. You can read about that fall here. Two weeks ago I was going on a long ride with my friend Hannah. We had already gone about 16 miles when Hannah thought something was wrong with her bike. Sure enough her back tire was flat. We managed to repair it (with many a fellow biker flying by asking if we needed help). No more than 3 minutes down the same path after we started again I felt like something was wrong with my bike. Sure enough I know had a flat back tire. We again managed to change my punctured tube and we were on our way.

Fast forward to this past weekend. Hannah and I ventured out on another long ride on Sunday. Hannah...being the responsible biker that she is...bought a new spare tube for her tire in case she needed it. I did not. About 4 miles into the ride, I look down and realize my back tire is flat. I am frustrated because we just started and I know I also don't have a replacement tube. Hannah had her tube but her tires are much smaller than mine. We tried to make it work but the tube was just too small....so Hannah's roommate, Rosalind, came to the rescue and drove me home.

It was such a nice day out though that Hannah, Rosalind and I decided to ride our bikes to the bike shop to get a replacement tube. I have another bike (I know lame). Rosalind dropped me off and I was to meet them at their house which is about 2 miles from my house. I switched out bikes and headed out forgetting one very important aspect about my other bike...it has disc brakes. Basically disc brakes are like brakes in cars and they make you stop very fast...almost immediately....as in if you aren't paying attention and being careful you can go flying off your bike.

I was no more than one block from my house going down a small hill (Side Note: I was only riding with one hand because I was eating an apple and hanging onto it with my other hand..I know..stupid). Anyway, I was going down the small hill and realized I was gaining a little too much speed so I "lightly" touched my front brake (forgetting again I was on a different bike and one with disc brakes as well).

The next thing I know I am flying through the air over the top of my handle bars. I crunch into the ground and realize I am not hurt. I immediately stand up and I am pretty sure my apple was still in my hand. There were quite a few spectators and they all asked if I was okay which I surprisingly was considering the situation. I know my left side hit the ground because my shoulder has been so sore all week long. I am also pretty sure my bike landed between my legs because I have bruises all over my left leg (pictures to come soon). My arm was the only thing that got scraped up and that was barely scraped at all...just bruises.

Apparently, I am not so good at riding bikes. I am learning though and hopefully I can go more than a month without falling. At least I am learning that crashing your bike is not as painful as it seems.

The Best Birthday

I would have to say this weekend may have been my best birthday ever mostly due to situations outside my control colliding on the same day...mainly Michigan State University Basketball.

Yep that's right...MSU gave me the best birthday present in the world by winning on Saturday night. I went to a bar in downtown Philadelphia to watch the game. The MSU Alumni club was also there which was awesome because it is the first time I have watched an MSU game with mostly MSU fans in a long time. Every time there was an awesome play or some good shooting the place went wild especially when Dorrel Summers had the awesome dunk over the UCONN player. I was in heaven.

I am going back tonight to hopefully watch the completion of my birthday present...a National Championship.

All in all the whole weekend was great from having dinner with my community and going bowling to my running students singing me happy birthday to watching the game on Saturday night with tons of MSU fans to finally enjoying a beautiful day on Sunday and going on a bike ride (in which I fell off my bike again but that is another story for another blog post).

Intense

This is an intense anti-domestic violence ad I recently saw....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/apr/02/womens-aid-keira-knightley-ad

I have never really liked Keira Knightley but I am glad she is behind causes like this...watch at your own discretion.

Yep That's Right

If you would like some good reading material, check out this site:

http://www.lasallianvolunteers.org/lvofthemonth/default.asp

Yep, that's right..I am LV of the Month for April. Now being LV of the Month does not mean I accomplished something amazing or deserve recognition. In my opinion it is more about advertising all the different things LVs do and how our experiences have changed us over the course of our time as an LV...so in turn new folks will be attracted to the LV program. While that might be the case, I know many LVs hope to attain this coveted spot.

I am not a big fan of the pictures they used...I am a little vain (Dad you better not make a comment about that) and don't think I look all that great but oh well.

Enjoy the article...