A couple buddies invited me to go mountain-biking with them this afternoon. They let me borrow a helmet and bike and we headed up to the State Park to ride a trail or two. Only one small problem with this... I hadn't been on a bicycle in probably 20 years.
Turns out it's true that you never forget how to ride a bicycle. What they don't mention is that it takes a bit of practice to remember how to do things like steer, stop or not fall over.
I bravely hopped on the bike, tooled around the parking lot for about a minute, then we headed out towards a trail. I figured I could learn how shift gears and work pedals with straps on them as I went.
Hit a tree about 30 seconds in, but after that I did okay. I crashed a few more times, but nothing serious and no injuries beyond a few bruises and scratches. I had more trouble just getting moving and trying to keep my feet from getting tangled up in the pedals than anything else.
After riding a trail up and down, one friend went home and the other took me touring around the park on paved and gravel roads so I could get more practice in just riding. All in all I had a really fun time, and I've started looking at prices for a beginner's mountain bike (like I need more hobbies...).