To Ride or Walk?

As stated earlier, riding a bike is a way of life here. JR and I finally pumped up the tires in Karen's bike so that I could join in the biking tradition. I have not been on a bike in at least 4 years, but it came back very easily (Thank God that I don't need training wheels :)).

So, yesterday I decided to ride the bike to the Jumbo for some groceries. The Jumbo is only about a 10 min walk, so you can imagine that it is a very short bike ride. I was fine getting out of the neighborhood and onto the path, but the drama started when I had to merge on a real street. I immediately felt the presence of a car and tensed up. Bikers ride in the street here, and have the right of way over cars. You would just die if you saw how bikers turn right in front of cars! It scares me everytime I'm out!

Anyway, I needed to make a left turn and cross the street, but I did not want to turn in front of a car, even if it was my right. It would just be my luck to get hit by a car. I did this jerk move on the bike (bike went left, then back right, then left again), did my left turning signal, and went for it. As soon as I cleared the car, it went zooming past me..and I was safe :)

However, I think I'm going to stick with walking for now on..

Rows and rows of bikes at the train station in Bruges