You Never Forget How To Ride A Bike, But You Might Get A Bit Rusty…

Since we managed to walk around most of Montpellier and see the majority of the sites yesterday, we decided to try renting bikes today to ride out to the Mediterranean Sea, which Jean-Luc (editor’s note: Picard!?) said is only about 45 minutes away by bike.

We set off after breakfast and found a bike rental place by the Aqueduct that was listed in the tourist brochure Anne gave us.  With a piece of photo ID you can rent a bike for 1 euro for four hours, or 2 euro for a full day.  We decided to go for four hours, but once we got signed up and headed off, I started thinking I might not even make it for one hour!

It’s been over twelve years since I’ve ridden a bike, and I never realized how hazardous it can be!  You have to watch out for cars and pedestrians, and frankly, the pedestrians are a lot more scary!!  I rode behind a lady talking on her cell phone for like a block and I couldn’t get past her because she kept swaying from side to side like a skier going down a mountain so I finally had to hop off my bike and just walk past her because one of two things was bound to happen – she would walk into me, or I would just fall off my bike because I couldn’t stay balanced while riding along so slowly!(editor’s note: in this case, no speed does kill!)

When we got to the Place de la Comedie and I had to hop off my bike and walk through the crowds of people, it became certain I wasn’t going to make it to the sea.  Not only was there a fear of hitting someone or something, the bike itself was rather hard to steer and just didn’t fit me very well (it felt like I had to really stretch my hands to reach the brakes and even with the seat lowered all the way it seemed too high for my height).  We ended up biking around the River Lez in Montpellier, not too far from the city center.  It’s not exactly the Mediterranean Sea, but it’s a nice new suburb area of Montpellier and the paths were mostly pedestrian free!

I managed to make it through the day without hitting anyone or falling off the bike, but I think I’ll stick to walking from now on!  At least that way I can concentrate on seeing the sights without worrying about running someone over!