On Getting Old

So recently Ben rediscovered unicycling. Back in college Ben's unicycle was his primary mode of transportation on campus, which seems weird when you think about it, but it worked for him. Anyway, aside from a few random times, his old unicycle sat largely unused and forgotten in our basement for the last eight years. Then sometime this summer while he was out on a run he saw a unicyclist, and his fond memories kicked in and he went home and dusted off the unicycle. Ben's jogging career essentially ended the day he took it out for a ride on the greenway. He bought a new tire and did probably fifty miles on it when he was introduced to an online unicyclist forum and saw a photo of a mountain unicycle, or muni. Shortly thereafter Ben had his very own muni (which incidentally is about as tall as Henry). Then he thought it would be fun for me to learn to ride, producing another old unicycle from the basement, one he'd completely forgotten the existence of.

After we dusted off the cobwebs and I tried it out, we figured out it was about two inches too big for me even with the seat at its lowest setting, so I took it on a visit to my parents and my dad sawed the requisite inches off the frame. I've only had it out twice for practice, but on the second go I actually managed to stay on for a full rotation of the pedals, which I thought was awesome. Practice is slow going and infrequent, mostly because this isn't something I have any intention of trying without adult supervision.

With that being said, Ben and I went out for a bike trip on the American Tobacco Trail last Saturday. Since it was my first serious ride in nearly a decade, Ben decided we better pick an easy trail. This particular trail was created from what used to be a straight, level stretch of railroad tracks, running from New Hill to Durham. I took my old bike (upon which I had not sat in about eight years) and Ben took his muni. Ben's outfitted with helmet, gloves, and hydration backpack. Rules say bikers must wear helmets, but having grown up riding my bike through the woods and leaping off to see how far it'd roll before it crashed, I was tempted to let it slide this time. But Ben figured Henry's helmet would fit me and it did. So yes, I looked a complete dork in a child's helmet on my 24 inch mountain bike getting my butt handed to me on a flat trail trying to keep pace with a unicycle. Seriously, I did look dorky, but we did do over ten miles, and that's pretty good for my sedentary self.

And the next day after church I sat on the couch and iced my left knee.

I'm old.