It is NOT “just like riding a bike”

On Saturday I went to visit my family that I stayed with last time I was here. I actually remember what bus to take and where to get off, so I was pretty proud of myself. Most of their family was home so I got to sit around and talk with everyone about how my trip was going so far and one of the things I mentioned was that I wanted to rent a bike so that I could bike around.

We had about 30 minutes before dinner so the girls offered to let me borrow a bike and ride around with them for a little but so that I could learn the biking rules for Denmark. Turning left is really complicated and I just didn’t want to learn my lessons in the middle of traffic.

For starters, Danish people are tall; therefore, their bikes are tall. But even beyond this, their bikes are a very vintage style so in comparison to their tall bodies the bikes are also tall. I am not tall. In addition to these challenges, I haven’t ridden a bike in at least a decade. It was probably the most embarrassing thing of my life. I didn’t know that I don’t exactly know how to ride a bike apparently. Because the bikes are tall, you have to stand on the pedal to get up onto the seat. I have to stand on the pedal on my toes to get up on the seat. They also have a special way of stopping at a stoplight where they keep one foot on and casually stand on the curb. Danes look very tall and graceful when they do this. I do not.

Usually I do a pretty good job of looking Danish, or at least blending in as long as I am not with a ton of Americans. Even though I have dark hair and am short, I dress well enough and probably look less like a tourist than some. When I ride a bike, I could do nothing to make it more obvious that I AM NOT DANISH. I didn’t exactly fall onto the ground, but I definitely fell off my bike and had to awkwardly hop to catch myself. There is no shame greater than falling of your bike only to have an adorable blonde toddler swoop past you on a bike that is taller than yours.

Obviously beyond learning to actually follow the rules I have to challenges to overcome when it comes to biking in Denmark, but I want to get a bike that is the right size for me and get better at it so that I can actually bike for transportation. Especially in the city, the bike lanes can get very crowded and these people are not going to put up with someone who needs 10 extra seconds to make it back onto their bike at every light. All I picture is the tour de France, where the guy in the middle of the peloton falls down and then the whole group goes down on top of him. I would be that person.