Have bike, will report

I’m not the sort of person to say no to a challenge, particularly if it offers me the chance to compete with a City Hall worker.

I like to win, especially against City Hall.

So when city Zoning Officer Steven Strichman challenged me to use only a bicycle to get around for a week, I accepted at once.

So what if I haven’t ridden a bike in 15 years? You never forget, right?

On Monday, I climbed on a friend’s bike in the rain and wobbled into traffic for the first time in my life.

Cars are really big. Trucks are even bigger. My bike was very, very small.

As a kid, I avoided cars by riding on the sidewalk on the rare occasion that I ventured into the city. And I grew up in suburban Glenville — so mostly I rode around cul-de-sacs.

I had definitely never entered the driving lane, signaled and turned left during a break in the oncoming traffic.

For the first two days of real adult biking, it was unnerving. In fact, on Day 1, I walked my bike across intersections. But after I forced myself to act like a vehicle, it was surprisingly easy.

I didn’t have to fight for space. Drivers edged over to give me room and patiently let me turn even when I wavered and kicked the pedals a few times to get started.

On Thursday, I was racing through the city at 15 miles an hour, confidently whipping around turns and acting as though the gigantic gas-guzzlers next to me were not at all likely to drive through me.

By Day 5, I even signaled without also waving my hand frantically to avoid falling off my bike. This was good, since I imagine the drivers who saw my earlier attempts were a little afraid I might collapse in front of them.

I didn’t hit a single fixed object (though I nearly crashed into a few) and nothing hit me. I locked my bike up thoroughly with two different chains, but I always put it in a well-traveled, well-lit spot and it was never bothered.

Well, someone did steal my water bottle, but in their defense, it was the only thing not locked down.

I lost the water bottle at the end of my final triumph: I rode all the way up Route 146 to MochaLisa’s at Clifton Park Center, 9 miles in 50 minutes. Don’t do the math — just revel in my glory. I made it without dying even once.

That road was actually the only time I hit pavement bad enough that I nearly fell. Finally I know why bikers sometimes ride well into the lane, getting into my way as a driver. They’re doing that because the edge of the pavement is crumbling into fist-sized pieces of doom.

I hit one of those pieces going 12 miles an hour, and my bike went out of control. I weaved back and forth, somehow staying out of traffic, for a good minute and a half before I was finally able to bring the bike to a stop. A good Samaritan driving behind me actually honked her horn to tell me that she was slowing down so I could pull into the driving lane if I had to, to regain control — but I was too busy trying not to pitch over the handlebars to aim the bike toward better pavement.

I went a bit slower for the rest of the trip and veered into the driving lane as needed. And although I’d intended to ride back in the dark, I decided to call for a ride instead of hoping my headlight would warn me of the pavement cracks in time.

Schenectady was far easier, even at night. The streets are well-lit and I rode mostly on the main roads, which have been recently paved. The only road I skipped was Erie Boulevard, because there’s a lovely bike path that runs parallel to the semi-highway.

I’d expected to feel as though I was still in the middle of the city, but the entire trail was shielded by a thick copse of trees. A few feet in, crickets drowned out the sound of traffic. I surprised a woodchuck that was sleeping on the trail — and later saw another one casually lumber across the path in front of me.

The bike path now loops through the city, down to the Rotterdam Square mall and up to Niskayuna and points beyond. By the fifth day, I was enjoying the path so much that I missed my turn and rode 1.5 miles too far.

It was my last trip of the challenge, so I laid the bike down and sat on the grass to enjoy the moment.

Suddenly the nearby landscaping crew ran up to me. They thought I had crashed, and they wanted to help. Did I need a ride somewhere?

When my car breaks down, generally people don’t even slow down as they pass me. But if I’m on a bike, people come running.

All this and $0 a gallon for pedal power? I could get used to this.

This weekend, I’m going bike shopping.

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