After about 4 or 5 years of only riding my unicycle, I broke my knee last September.

Months of healing and physical therapy and changing seasons later and I am finally exercising again.  But because I am still out of balance strength-wise, I am riding my bicycle this year.  We will see about the unicycle after I get back into balance.

Yes, I can still ride my bicycle.  But there are really some subtle things that you do forget in several years when not riding.  Here's a sampling.

My first rides were on the streets in my neighborhood. Later, on the first day I tried commuting to work on the bike path, I found myself hogging the middle of the path. I was really not confident enough in fine details of steering to ride near the right edge of the path. It has taken a few days of riding the paths to get better about not hogging the middle.

The bike path also challenged me with twisty curves.  Another confidence issue arose with me leaning as far as necessary to make those twisty curves.

Finally, the first couple of rides I invariably shifted the wrong way. Spin! Or else Bog Down! Shifting got better quickly and today on my fourth day of commuting I didn't mis-shift once.

Manuevering confidence is slower to return, but that is moderated by the fact that as my confidence increases, so does my speed, which depresses my confidence.

I'm in a race, strength versus emotional healing. Who will win? I just hope that it isn't gravity who wins. But doesn't gravity always win in the end?