The tale of how we got four figures of store credit at a former neighbor’s bicycle shop is that when our health insurance offered Health Extras points, they accepted them, and continued to do so for years.

That’s enough for a new bicycle, which was my husband’s goal. A new bike, he figured, like the one his dad has. Then his dad decided that bike didn’t suit him so much, and gave it to my spouse. So now we had four figures of store credit burning a hole in our pocket but we are also kind of cautious with these things, recognizing the fortune of abundance but fearful of wasting it. The bike shop also doesn’t always have a lot of inventory on hand because that’s a post-pandemic reality of retail. They will order lots of stuff for you, but I didn’t want to commit to a bike I never tried. The issue was usually that my size wasn’t in stock. The other tiny Buffalonians would get to them before I did. So I waited.

This is Black Beauty. She’s been my steady steed for around 13 years. She’s a thirty-something year-old Specialized Rockhopper with two different width wheels. I paid $80 to a grad student for her. I road her the last couple of winters and the wear is showing on the frame. Her ride is getting rough. I bike to work and everywhere else that I can. Her brake cable snapped as I was trying to come to a stop on Abbott Road, sending the breaks themselves into the spokes.

I drove my 2012 Ford Fusion to aforementioned bicycle shop after work one day to get a replacement cable. With all that store credit, it feels free. As is the standard procedure, I pulled my car door handle to open the car door. The handle snapped. Great. Fixing one type of transportation, and another breaks. I rolled down the windows and opened the door from the outside. I’d need to fix this too, eventually.

I walk into the bike shop and noticed the Giant version of a Liv bicycle I’d been eyeing was in stock. Feeling more impulsive than usual, I asked them what size it was. They told me it was a small.

….Oh.

A test ride later and more impulsiveness, being aware I had to fit this into a tight timeframe where I was also picking up my kids from school, and I had a new bike and some trim on order. A week later, and she was mine.

If you buy a new bike from this bicycle shop, you get a free fitting. I scheduled it for a month out. I rode it probably close to 200 miles in that time.

The concern that I had been too impulsive haunted me, at the same time as I was having a lot of fun. I had not had a new bicycle since my grandmother bought me my first bike, a hot magenta Huffy. She went back to work as a nurse in her forties and loved to spoil her grandkids. Every bicycle after I outgrew that one was acquired second-hand and required some satisficing. Never perfect, but good enough. I try to get most non-consumables second hand- it’s more environmentally friendly and often cheaper. But to buy something new haunted me with the sense that I should have bought something perfect, and this was just Very Good.

This bicycle felt huge to me. I was higher in the traffic but also felt a bit unwieldly. I was faster, clocking higher numbers on school zone cameras than I was used to (more of those started with 2s instead of just 1s). But. My reach was long and the seat was bruising my thighs. Should I have waited for the Liv? I’m enjoying this. The reason I got the bike was the moment on the test ride where I realized I was having a lot of fun.

I show up for the fitting and my former neighbor is there. I really like seeing him because he entertains my curiosity about the bike business, he’s a lovely person, and very good at what he does. I have never had a bike fitting before – I’d been looking forward to this for the novelty and the sense that it could take one of my favorite activities and make it more fun. I also have a list of things that aren’t working to address.

He takes some measurements and explains some changes. My seat is too high because my legs are too extended. He asked if I was doing that on purpose, and I was honest: no. That’s literally how I’ve ridden my whole life, but it wasn’t deliberate. I decided to be open to a version of better that I hadn’t preconceived. He said I was using only 30% of my potential. I’m reaching too far. He gets a shorter stem for my handlebars – that’s actually quite comfortable. He moves the seat forward. My thigh are clearing it now. He adjusts where the brakes are. As I’m on the trainer, it is more comfortable. And we’re done.

I put my panniers back on the bicycle and thank him for his time, really excited to ride home. Another clerk holds the door for me as I roll out.

I get on the bike and start riding.

It feels really short.

I feel like I’m riding a circus bike, the way my legs aren’t extending as far as I’m used to. I’m not sure I like it. I feel different muscles at work, and I’m not sure I like it. I’m trying to be open, and all changes require adjustment. I ride to a pedestrian path because it’s pretty even though the rest of the route is closed. But the ride itself? I’m not sure I like it.

I navigate traffic, trying to power through. It’s rush hour, and I’m heading through the downtown core. There’s a dude who is in the bike lane ahead of me, biking, and I’m going faster. When the traffic is right, I pass him.

Then I notice he’s riding an E-Bike.

I look down at my gears and discover that I’ve been on the highest gear without realizing it, without really feeling the strain I did when I go fast. I did not realize how fast I’m going because my reference point had been cars and traffic, not bikes or buildings. My former neighbor was right: my form wasn’t facilitating an efficient ride. I will need to get used to this, but it is faster. My joints don’t hurt. The bike itself had been fine, it just needed to be fine tuned for me.

There is this lesson that keeps coming up in my life. It isn’t just what you are doing that matters, but how you are doing it does too. I sometimes have a focus of “just get it done” but how I’m doing it makes a difference. The hows determine the result of the whats; be careful.