Living Active: Fitness Fear Friday - Is that a gat in my basket?

Since Jenny won by popular demand, I feel it absolutely necessary to dedicate this month's first fitness fear to her.

Who's afraid of riding bicycles?

Do you remember when you first learnt to ride? Were you terrified?

My dad taught me to ride a bicycle. Isn't that always the case though? Either I got my memory of learning to ride from an after school special or it really was like the picturesque father-daughter bonding experience depicted in those cheesy Lifetime For Women programs. The memory is faint but it's there. He took my training wheels off and said he was going to hold the back of the seat and run along side me as I peddled as hard as my little legs would allow. I remember being worried that he was going to let go and I'd fall over or crash into something and die a miserable and agonizing death. He basically just said in quite possibly a gentler way "suck it up princess". So I did. There may have been tears involved, I really don't remember.

Dad held the back of my bicycle seat and I started peddling. I started off kind of slow but he told me to peddle faster so I could balance better. I did. He was running beside me just like he said he would. We were going the speed of light, I was sure of it. My braids were bouncing off my back, my lower lip was adequately secured by the firm grip of my jaw, nose crinkled in kid concentration, I was peddling my little heart out. After a couple minutes, I looked over and he wasn't there anymore. Somewhere in that brief 2 minutes that felt like a lifetime, he let go and I was riding all by myself. I was doing it. I was riding a bike on two wheels all by myself. WoooooHooooo! Freeeeeeedom! There may be have been a crash in there when I realized that he wasn't holding on anymore and panicked but to be honest, I just don't remember. I prefer the victorious celebration I have concocted in my imagination better anyway.

I'm no longer afraid of learning to ride a bicycle, so that's good. But if I'm perfectly honest, which seems to be the trend lately, I am afraid of riding alone.

I'm afraid of riding on a bike trail somewhere in the woods or away from the public and being attacked by a raping murdering freak. Very unlikely, I know. But still possible. There have been plenty of women runners who have been attacked on some of the same trails I'm riding on. It's just a what-if in my brain that I can't make go away. Is that fear just a necessary warning that I should be listening to? Or is it a fear that is unfounded and therefore needs to be challenged?

Time for my favorite game. The What-If Game!

What if - Jenny and I were on a bike trail somewhere alone and some creepy looking weirdo jumped out of the bushes in front of us?
A #1 - I'd stop as quickly as possible, turn around and ride as fast and as hard as I could the other direction. I'd get away. Yay!
A #2 - I'd lock eyes with the creepy weirdo and barrel right into him full speed ahead. Take that you FREAK!

What if - There were more than one creepy looking weirdo who jumped out of the bushes in front of us?
A #1 - I'd stop as quickly as possible, turn around and ride as fast and as hard as I could the other direction. I'd get away. Yay!

What if - There were more than one creepy looking weirdo who jumped out of the bushes in front of us and when I did the swift about-face, there were even more creepy looking weirdos? A trap?
A #1 - Oh crap!

See here's the thing. Jenny and I look harmless. I'm 5 feet of fury but definitely don't look the part. Jenny is cute and sweet. She's not scary either. We look like a great target for some creepy weirdo lurking in the bushes.

Ah! HA!

What if - Jenny and I have a little surprise tucked away in her sweet little wicker basket? Glock 9mm MOFOs!

Perhaps that's too brash?

Can you picture it? We're riding along...happy as can be. Ching ching (that's the bell I still need to get), wave, "hi", smile, peddle, sniff the breeze, deep cleansing breath. Then all of a sudden, a band of creepy looking weirdos jump out of the bushes up ahead. Jenny and I look at each other, "ru-oh". Thinking we're about to outsmart the band of creepy looking weirdos, we hit the breaks and turn around with a quickness. But alas, there are more creepy looking weirdos that are closing in behind us.

What to do? What to do?

Quick! The red fists of fury!