Cruising, Again!

I’m sure my adorable little pink Cruiser (RIP) would be jealous if she knew, but I’m riding another bike now. It’s called a Biodex Semi Recumbent Cycle. Biodex is not nearly as cool a word as Cruiser, is it? Turns out my new bike is at the physical therapy place I hang out two afternoons a week.

Still and all, I’m happy, as physical therapy is vastly preferable to brain surgery, and it’s the route I’m taking right at the moment. The idea is that the vibrating may very well be caused by a too-curvy lower back, some tight back muscles, and some kind of trauma. The trauma was maybe riding the bike in general. Or, riding with too much determination. Or, loading the bike on the car rack. Or, the fall I took that first day.

At any rate, Kathryn, my own personal physical therapist, works on those knotted-up muscles in my lower back and then hands me over to Ava or Tom for a variety of exercises. Including riding a stationary bike. The first time Kathryn led me to the bike, I blanched. “But a bike caused all this trouble,” I protested. Kathryn firmly but kindly pointed out that it’s a different kind of bike. For one thing, it’s stationary. For another, there’s no resistance. And there’s no school yard, no street, no balancing, no effort getting off and on. No promise of cruising along the bike path near the beautiful Monterey Bay, either. And alas, it’s beige not pink.

My goal five months ago was so different. To master the bike and start to Cruise at 65. Right now, however, I’ll be content with another kind of cruising – just being a normal 65 year old woman who isn’t vibrating and doesn’t need surgery. And with any kind of luck, pretty soon all this will just be a distant memory of a hard time I hope never to repeat!

The distant memory will also carry with it the steadfast kindness of my family and friends. Notes, cards, prayers, love letters, phone calls, visits. Hats and chocolates. Ideas for ways to approach the problem. Patience with my frustration. As it turns out – and isn’t this the way of life - a lot of unexpected and lovely things in a hard time.