RIDE OR DIE

With my departure date just 13 days away, I've started making a list of study abroad resolutions. It's easy to tell yourself that you want to "try everything!" but even with careful planning and timely budgeting, it's impossible to actually do every single trip, outing and activity. Instead of taking the catch all approach, I'm trying to rework the motto in a way that will motivate me to take advantage of every feasible opportunity but that will also challenge me to do new things I wouldn't have otherwise considered. So far I've come up with two resolutions: 'if you're in doubt, just say yes' and 'when in Denmark, do as Danes do.'

When a friend from Georgetown who is also studying through DIS suggested signing up for the Bornholm bike trip, I was a little hesitant. It's not that I can't ride a bike; it's just never been my favorite way to get around. The last time I was on a bike was during my senior year of high school. All of the environmental science classes went to downtown Denver for an all-day field trip to learn about the city's sustainable initiatives. One of the activities included a short tour of the biking paths via Denver B-Cycle--the brand new bike sharing program. The bikes were relatively easy to ride but they were equip with heavy front baskets that made sharp turns tricky and a steady grip necessary to keep yourself going straight.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but I sort of tilted too far to the left, sort of hit a trail post and sort of fell off the bike seat. I managed to stay up right and catch myself before I fell over completely but in the process I slammed the hard edge of the bike seat in to my inner thigh. No one believed that I was in pain until we got to a friends car and I was able to pull up my shorts to reveal a bloody bruise the size of a softball. My mom was concerned about my future ability to give her grandchildren after seeing the war wound; thankfully it was a superficial--but still painful--injury.

(image from here)

I've already broken both wrist and feet in my lifetime and I have this weird superstition that if I break one of them a second time, I'll start the cycle all over again. But then I thought of my resolutions. I was doubting whether I should go or not and according to my rules, I should just say yes. The Danes love to bike (over 30% of Danes bike to work everyday) so I'm morally obligated to follow suite. After flipping through the pictures from previous trips, I'm so glad I signed up. There are hiking trails to explore (I am a Coloradan at heart), glass blowing shops to visit and fresh local fish to sample. I doubt I'll be Tour de France ready anytime soon, but I have a feeling I may be a cyclist-convert on the rise.