Getting to Know My New City, One Wobble at a Time

There's a particular kind of bravery it takes to rent an electric bike in a city you've lived in for approximately five minutes. Starting out on this adventure, I did not have that bravery. But I quickly found some, mostly out of necessity.

I found myself in a park not far from our new place, having one of those moments that catches you off guard, the kind that shows up in the middle of a late‑summer afternoon, when the trees are still holding their deep greens but the sun has already started hinting at gold. And of course, it involved a Lime bike that definitely had more confidence than I did.

The first photo tells you everything you need to know about my confidence going in. Big smile. Sunglasses energy even without the sunglasses. Basket loaded up with my handbag like I was heading to the farmers market instead of about to test the limits of my balance and my nerves.

The second photo tells you everything about what actually happened three seconds later.

That is the face of a woman who has just discovered that "electric" means "faster than you think" and 'glider' oversold the whole experience just a touch. Hands locked on the handlebars, white knuckles doing all the work, hanging on for dear life, somewhere between a laugh and a scream. Which honestly might be the most accurate description of most of my life since Valve #127-023 decided to make things interesting.

I didn't fall. I want that on the record. I did, however, learn that my new city comes with curves, and that Lime bikes have opinions about curves, and that I have opinions about Lime bikes having opinions.

This is what starting over looks like sometimes. Not a grand gesture. Just a woman on a rented bike in a park she'd never been to before, figuring out the throttle, the brakes, and exactly where the sidewalk ends. Second chances don't always look dignified. Sometimes they look like a slightly terrified woman in a pink shirt, wind in her hair, laughing too hard to steady the handlebars.

Ten out of ten. I would wobble again.

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