It's been about eight years since I have been on a bike, but as the old saying goes, everything is 'just like riding a bike', once you get back on, it is smooth sailing, unless of course you are me and getting on that bike after eight years leads to peddling a bit too enthusiastically, pressing the brakes hard and quick, sliding off the seat and the bike with my large over the shoulder bag flopping about...

I may have said this before, but I do believe that the world can easily be divided up into two groups of people, yes, dog people and then cat people, and another division: walkers and bikers. I happen to be happily a part of the former, a walker. I will walk anywhere and with joy, get me on a bike though and every muscle in my body tenses up, which is what happened during my Bicing baptism.

I was to take the Bicing bike on the easiest route possible in the city, the path going from Paralel down to Barceloneta. After my first slide and fall off the bike, I laughed it off, telling my fellow biker that I REALLY am coordinated and have a sense of balance and this was all a fluke. I got back on, went down a little hill taking me out of the depths of Poble Sec and leading me to the main road and my goal: the bike route. Once again I slid off, as I braked before the busy Av. Paralel.

I used to scoff at the people wobbling around on their Bicing bikes and go off on tangents proclaiming that there should be some sort of biking test to make sure the people on the bikes knew what they were doing, but it isn't THEM, the problem is the BIKES. They are pretty shaky, surely due to excessive use, but, isn't that why ClearChannel and the City Council -the responsible parties for the project- have those vans that go around every so often to check things out? Another problem with the Bicing bikes, MOST are not made for the short-limbed -meaning me- I had to stretch real far to even keep hold of the handlebars, which was not too comfy.

All in all, Bicing, in my book was an uncomfortable, stressful disaster, a D- in American grading standards (the card worked perfectly, so I will take that into consideration) I literally felt like the rickety bike was pulling away from me and squealed several times thinking I would take out pedestrians......guess I will just stick to pounding the pavement with my feet.

Anyone else have a Bicing disaster story or  a tale of triumph?