You're Going To Have To Slow Down, and It's Going To Cost You

As the storms from last week hit the coast, cold weather arrived in Atlanta. I had the experience (not for the first time) of chasing teens with sweaters and jackets and trying, for the love of god, to get them to dress sensibly. The dance between parent and child over sweaters is performative; they know they need a jacket, but they want to tell their parents no. After a day or two of being cold, there’s no more discussion, the jackets will happen anyway. I haven’t decided yet if this is the last year I’ll bother to argue. Maybe they want me to fuss, but I don’t like being in the role of enforcer. They’re old enough to know what they need to keep warm.

Even though I’m the mom, I’m the one who got really caught in the cold on Monday. I’ve written here before about how much I have enjoyed my twice a week eBike rides home from work. After work Monday I walked to a fully charged Lime bike and started my ride home. I had forgotten gloves, but it wasn’t yet so cold that my hands would go numb or anything during the ride. The first third of the way home went as usual, but as I turned from Irwin street on to the Beltline, the bike suddenly went heavy and slow.

The company that I rent eBikes from had decided to put a speed governor on the bike for Beltline travel. Maybe it was just the particular bike I was on, but suddenly it was like I was on the heaviest bike pedaling up hill. I panicked, cold and trying to get home, and pedaled harder, only to encounter more resistance. It’s worth mentioning here that the Beltline is built on an old railroad path, and so is perfectly graded. On an eBike, I’m used to some light pedaling and mostly coasting the mile and a half I ride the thing home, before really pedaling uphill to the house the last few blocks. With the speed governor on the bike engaged, I couldn’t coast on the perfectly level path, but instead was suddenly challenged to lift the weight of the heavy machine for a mile without warning.

I pushed and puffed. I was determined to build up speed to get ahead, but the bike wouldn’t let me. The rules on getting home had changed, and it took me a few minutes longer than usual, resulting in a higher price of rental. As I ended the ride, cold and angry, a couple more dollars fell out of my bank account, and I considered screaming. Instead, I limped inside, texted the family that I was in pain from the bike ride, and curled up under the covers for the next 24 hours. I was the one who had caught a cold during the weather shift, and hurt the muscles in my legs to boot.

So I have to figure out now how to get home after work. Likely I’ll switch to renting the city’s regular old pedal powered bikes, as hopefully they won’t have speed governors on them. I can’t afford to buy my own eBike, or any kind of bike right now. Things just keep getting more difficult and more expensive. It’s 2022, and the world is on fire. Nobody knows anything. We’re all just trying our best.