Never before have I been afraid of falling asleep on a bike. However, Christmas eve day 2019, I experienced my first recumbent adventure. Lower to the ground, Lazyboy-like lean, and steering as sensitive as a speed boat, the ride was a completely new cycling experience for me.
I was in good hands though. I’ve recently reconnected with my high school basketball coach Beth Young. Beth is a devout recumbent cyclist- especially after surviving stage four breast cancer in the last five years. Her older bike is lime green and rides like a bright funky hipster. Her newer recumbent, aka the Banana, is yellow, expensive and sporty. This bike is the Lance Armstrong, Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe of cycling. A lean mean fancy competing machine.
Beth rides her Banana everyday around White Rock Lake. This ten-mile loop takes her past the cultural bath house (where she and her wife got married), enormous Dallas mansions with sloping yards and sprawling southern oaks, and a squadron of white pelicans. During my annual rides around White Rock, I’ve also spotted seagulls, grebes, great blue herons, and cormorants. Any chance I get to bike this loop I take it. Since high school, I’ve loved the wildness, riches, and flare always part of cruising around Dallas’s most urban, elegant, beautiful body of water.
No matter how familiar, on a recumbent the view was different than on my beloved, upright Bianchi hybrid. Five years ago my southern lover at the time, Elizabeth, bought the bike for $25 dollars. She was a virgin to the sport yet always quick to spend all the money in her pocket on her hottest, newest hobbies. In just 5 months she’d purchased 3 bikes. The Bianchi came from a friend who was moving and wanted to offload her material possessions. I made the red bike my own by riding it all over north Dallas. I also forked out $100 on desperately needed tune up, $80 for fine second-hand Italian leather saddle, $5 on bare bones black water bottle cage, and $15 dollars for cable bike lock. Old red gifted ride turned $200 dollar Texas cycling investment.
I love this bike especially for the freedom it’s given me. Snowbirding has become my winter sport of choice over the last half decade and this Bianchi compliments my style. Often carless, I come to Dallas to escape barren unbikeable frigid monochromatic Minnesota winter. I visit my mom, get a solid dose of queer, fancy as fuck, outrageously fun, big city southern culture, and write for weeks at a time. Plus ride ride ride ride ride.
I loved cruising around the lake with Beth. We blabbed about birds, lesbians, families, romance, books, basketball, race and food like we hadn’t seen each other for 25 years (we hadn’t! So much to catch up on). However, even though the day was the highlight of my holiday trip, I’ve got to be honest. I think I’m still attracted to upright bicycles. I mean Banana or Lime Hipster were super cute and flirty and fun, but the recumbent bicycles made me itch to have a bike back between my legs. When I’m on an upright, I’m leaning into the wind, day, road, rhythm of a full body, five senses experience. Upright cycling allows me to go anywhere- I’ve climbed both east and west coasts of this country on my other Bianchi- a silver road/racing bike. I’ve cried over mountain passes and coasted at 50mph around steep city curves. I want to be up and engaging the world.
Biking is one of a few perfect expressions of self for me and has been for 35 years. After the recumbent ride, I realize my bicycle preferences are a metaphor for many parts of my life. I’m currently asking “what next?” questions, as I always do this cold time of year. I see now I want to ride upright in all aspects of my life- romance, writing, work, adventure, sex, art, activism, spiritual practice. There were times on the recumbent I literally couldn’t see past the handlebars (I admit, this was quite fun, who needs to be in control every moment of the day?!) and making a sharp turn or finding myself face to face with another rider wouldn’t have been pretty. While new and fabulous to share these bikes with Beth, I didn’t have much agency. It was purely a gay leisure ride.
Maybe it’s where I’m at 42- ripe and ready to make some fantastic, exciting, satisfying, sexy things happen. Beth is relaxing into every aspect of an amazing life- being cancer free, happily married, and recently retired. I have new roads to ride, challenges to tackle, skills to sharpen, and vast acres of knowledge to consume. Who knows If I’ll ever Lazyboy it on wheels again? I’m clear though, I’m eager for more rides around White Rock with Beth soon. If she’s gay for recumbents, fine by me.