how to ride a bicycle

For those of you who may be curious about what I do when I’m not writing, researching, blogging, or catering to my cats–

I’ve just finished reading my new book, The Temple, and I was amazed to find not a single typo in it. I’m a whiz when it comes to spotting errors after the book is published and it’s too late to do anything about them. Once the train leaves the station, I can really see it! But the proofreading staff at Storehouse Press is just about the best in all the world.

I’ve been riding my bike just about every day since I got it a few weeks ago, and this morning I was able to execute my first turn… no-handed. When I was a kid, it took me months and months to master the art of riding without using my hands. The mastery of that esoteric art has come back to me in just about no time.

Well, back to work.

Okay–we went to Wal-Mart this morning and picked up my brand-new bike. And I pedaled it home. (Forty-eight degrees outside, by the way–I am so glad it wasn’t warmer!)

Big deal, it was a two-mile trip, just a few little hills to contend with–but it’s been some 50 years since I rode a bike regularly, and now my old legs are feeling it. These legs still function well for basketball, but pedaling a bike lifts muscles out of retirement that have been snoozing for half a century. There was also some slight difficulty in maintaining my balance when I let go with one hand to signal turns.

But it is true–you don’t forget how to ride a bicycle.

And along the way I solved two homicides.