How I Knew I Was Getting Really Old

???????????????When Did I Know That I Was Really Getting Old?

"Don't Cry for me Unguentina!"

Today, I was online looking for a 20” foldable 3-wheel adult tricycle with a basket.

I’ve always loved to ride bicycles; I rode around our little town all the time when I was a child.

As an adult, my husband and I have even taken vacations – just to ride bicycles for exercise and for fun.

One of our favorite places to ride is on the Shining Sea Pathway from Falmouth to Woods Hole on Cape Cod. We’ve traveled to that area numerous times throughout our marriage. Our Trip: We rent a townhouse; each day, we get up; rent bicycles (either in Falmouth or on Martha’s Vineyard); and bike for most of the day.

When riding from Falmouth to Woods Hole, I usually stop in Woods Hole lunch at the restaurant “Pie in the Sky.” My husband usually doubles back by another route to Falmouth.

He passes our favorite lighthouse, Nobska, poised high above the ocean, and comes back to meet me in Woods Hole. We then ride back to Falmouth together.

We sometimes drive to a nearby market; get food for a light dinner; and share a picnic by the lighthouse overlooking the ocean. Sometimes, we get ice cream for dessert. We then go back to the townhouse and go to bed. We get up the next morning and do it all over again.

On one of the days of our trip, we try to catch a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. We rent bikes at Oak Bluff and bicycle to Edgartown, along the road by the ocean -where the movie, “Jaws,” was filmed. We always go to the same restaurant in Edgartown; order bowls of clam chowder; and share a chicken Caesar salad. We walk around Edgartown, admiring the homes and hydrangeas, ?add in the ice cream; and bike back to Oak Bluff to catch the last ferry back to Falmouth.

Another place we have biked was in Onalaska, Wisconsin, near the satellite campus of Univ. of Wisconsin at La Crosse. ?We bicycle along the river separating Wisconsin from Minnesota. Sometimes we go north to Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

When bicycling south, we stop for lunch in La Crosse; walk around the town and. the campus; get ice cream at a nearby parlor; and then bicycle back to our hotel in Onalaska. We always eat dinner in the same BBQ restaurant there.

We’ve even ridden bicycles in France. On a trip there, we rented bicycles in Rouen and bicycled to the little town of Arromanches-les-Bains by the ocean. This was a particularly difficult ride as the bicycles were not in very good shape and the entire route was on the side of the road with cars whizzing past.

?On this same trip to France, we rented bicycles at a nearby campground and biked part of the Loire River past wine cellars carved into the sides of the mountains to the Castle in Amboise.

In addition to several other places, we’ve also biked in our area of the metro east of O’Fallon, IL and St. Louis. We’ve biked along a portion of the Katy Trail in Missouri and in the trails of Forest Park in St. Louis.

Now, why would I mention that these adventures make me feel old? Well, I’ve taken quite a few spills off my bicycle on several of these trips. Usually, my falls would occur as I mounted or dismounted from the bicycle; my feet could not touch the ground.

Then, it occurred to me that I should get a smaller bicycle. I didn’t even realize that there were 20”/24”/26” bicycles to accommodate persons of various heights. Here I was, 5’2” always riding a 26” wheel bicycle; of course, at that height, I could easily take a spill getting on and off the bicycle.

So, circling back to the beginning of this post, I have now decided, just to make sure that I don’t fall off anymore, I’m going to purchase a 20” foldable 3-wheel adult tricycle with a basket.

And, of course, I’ll still wear a helmet, and a little bell would also be nice. And, of course, I’ll have ice cream as a reward!