This afternoon, I’m heading to Saratoga Springs with my new bike on my new fancy bike rack.

The only problem with my bike is that I’m having trouble riding it and had a good spill last Thursday.

I need to know what I’m doing, for many reasons including my upcoming heart surgery at the end of the month.

“Let’s do it the mature way,” my therapist suggested last Friday (ouch) but I do see the wisdom of what she said.

I haven’t been on a bike for more than 40 years, and my body has changed quite a bit since my last ride.

There is a fine line between courage and stupidity sometimes, I have been working on this issue for years. I thought I had it beat, but not quite.

My issues are fear, balance, ignorance about how the e-bike works, and a right leg injured some years ago in a fall. It doesn’t always do what I tell it to do.

Tyler, a very healthy staffer at the bike store, has graciously offered to help me figure out the bike and help me to get started, something I should, of course, have done when I bought the bike.

Some people read manuals, some dyslexics can’t.

Tyler seems nice and confident that he can help me. He knows not what he undertakes. I also see I have to build up my leg and calf muscles for this project, I have neglected both.

At the core, this is about learning to take care of my body, I’m not into old talk, but I am beginning to understand that I have to pay more attention to my body as I get older, or it won’t work well for me. Even then, there will be some pain, soreness, stiffness, etc.

I trust Tyler, and he doesn’t seem faxed by me. I caused some minor damage to the bike and some minor damage to my knee. It should be an interesting lesson.

I expect to return in one or more pieces, I’ll share the journey, of course.