Ever forced to push your bike?

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Not long ago I was talking with my son about how healthy I was back in my early teen years. This was largely due to the fact that I spent so much time on bmx bikes that I could have been surgically attached and probably wouldn't have noticed. Well, not long after that conversation a bicycle came up for sale on craigslist that caught my eye. I'm still not exactly sure what came over me, but I am now the owner of single speed cruiser bike. It's basically an over-sized bmx bike.

I suppose the thought (if you can call it that) behind this was that riding around on a single speed bike would supply some much needed exercise. Thus far all it's managed to do is haul me to the pub on dart night, lol. The thing is, my neighborhood has a few hills that are really draining on this bike — it iis serving as a harsh reminder of just how out of shape I really am.

Segue to the motorcycling related content...

This got me to thinking about the time the clutch cable broke on my Hawk one day on my way to work. I was only a mile from home and did not want to leave the bike, so I decided to push it back home (over these same hills that I've been struggling with on the bicycle). I remember thinking at the time that I wasn't that far away, how tough could it be? I was exhausted by the time I got home and drenched with sweat. My hawk weighs just a bit over 400 pounds and I'm glad that it did not weigh even a pound more. I couldn't imagine having to push my CB1100 over this same stretch of terrain and certainly not something like a GoldWing or other big touring bike. I'm hoping that I don't have to encounter such an experience again any time soon (or ever for that matter). The bicycle thing is demeaning enough.

So, any of you guys end up being forced to push a bike for any distance?

Nope.

I wouldn't even try, at this point. I'm no spring chicken...57 last month.

Pushing a bike...unless you have help, you're standing off to one side of your center of balance, trying to hold a top-heavy machine up WHILE applying force to the grips to move it forward. A chiropractor (I'm not one) could tell you what you're doing to your back, hips, and natural center of gravity.

And that bike can get away. I never dropped a motorcycle...UNTIL THIS YEAR. I dropped my BMW, twice - once, moving it around the garage. Good fortune had Tubesand, fresh out of my truck, alongside it; and the cylinder jug landed on it and kept it from flopping on top of me. Took me ten minutes to extricate myself from that; and another five to heave the cycle up.

And then, in the act of selling it...driving it to the buyer's home. Stopped, put the sidestand down (I thought) and dismounted. That old BMW followed me and flopped right down on my inseam. Again, nothing broken...the buyer was nonplussed but he did close the deal.

The other time, was with my until-then-brand-new CB. Lost it turning it around; it just leaned over, I couldn't catch it while on it, and down it went, running, at walking speed. Again, I was pinched. Again, I was lucky - nothing broken. And this time, I had Good-Samaritan spectators, who, once they got their wits about, came over to get the cycle off me.

No. I might push my 250-pound TW200 around for a short distance, but not the CB.