Ladies Who Ride Part #3

happy friday! today i feature a dear friend of mine, cb, whom i've connected with due to this blog. everytime i meet new friends through the interwebs i realize how happy i am that i started this blog. these friday features are a lot of fun, i get to connect with everyone on a different level, and i get to see other lady bike bloggers connect with each other as well. just to reiterate,  one of my goals in featuring lady riders and bloggers is to create, connect, and expand a community of voices of those who are a part of this big and small movement of bicycling and blogging. i keep saying community because we are so few and all over the interwebs and world but we come as supporters, mentors, inspirations, where many women who ride are inspired by many of these ladies who live their lives loud and share their stories of why they ride. 

Hailing all the way from Hayward, California I give you CB of City Birds Nest!

hi! I'm cb from the citybirds nest and i am so happy to be a part of "why we ride"! i think this is a great idea to get more people inspired to ride their bikes not just for leisure but as a way of life. i first started riding bikes full time when we moved to the nob hill area of san francisco which was about 2005 but here is a back ground story how i started riding!

i always rode a bike. i remember my first bike.  it was actually my brother's bike, but I stole it from him. it was a prize he had won for a clo's milk ad he submitted.  i had also entered the contest, but my prize wasn't nearly as cool. i am not even sure about the make of the bike, but it was white with white tires and was SUPER AWESOME! i remember falling off it for the first time and then getting back on it without a problem, but years later i had a horrible experience that would stunt the growth of my bike riding for years!

Hard to get a good picture but it's the dark discoloration above my ankle bone

i was riding on the back of my friend's banana seat and was having so much fun. we went down a steep neighbor's driveway and, throwing all caution to the wind, i forgot where to put my feet and they ended up getting caught in the rear wheels spoke. if you think that sounds awkward, you bet it was! crying and screaming in the middle of the street, i was rushed to the hospital with a sprained ankle and a really awesome scar which i will adorn for the rest of my days. 

many years later i met the mister, we moved to sf, and he gave me what felt like my very first bike lesson on my beloved maryjane. i was so so scared to get on a bike again...i didn't want to experience any of the pain that i had experienced in the past but we went to the marina where it was flat and perfect to test drive her. i was completely terrified, holding on to my grips as if they some how they would save me. there were, to say the least, a couple of hiccups that day, along with a mere mishap with almost hitting a car and riding away with bruises and scraps. i had conquered by fears and i was oh so proud of myself for getting back on my bike and sad that so many years had passed. as i became more comfortable, and expressed to the mister my likes and dislikes, we made maryjane the perfect bike for me!  

over the years I've grown to become somewhat of a bike nerd, but nowhere near as much as the mister.  however, his love of bikes has definitely rubbed off on me. and how i thank him for that! i have rode my bike ever since and rarely do we use our car, as our bikes are our main way of transportation.  

bike riding has become a  huge part of my life. at first it was a huge hurdle to cross. then it became something the mister liked to do,  so i rode because it was something to do together. then it became a healthy decision to ride a bike, and then finally it became something more.... i love the freedom it gives me. the solitary time it gives me to just think. to know that i don't need to rely on gas to get me somewhere -- just my steady pedaling and beating heart. 

the wind in my hair and the world at my finger tips. bike adventures have become a necessary way of life for me and the mister. to be able to explore the area surrounding us on a bike has become not only an everyday thing, but something we will do for the rest of lives. it means so much to me to get on my bike. when the rainy winters come, i yearn for chilled spring rides, blazing hot summer adventures, and fall's colorful scenery. my bike has become who i am today, and i am so happy that i reconnected with my lifelong friend.

my journey now takes me to help inspire others who, like me, must overcome a hurdle to become who they truly are. through my blog, the citybirds nest i offer bike riding tips, display bike riding adventures with my mister and bike riding outfits in hopes to encourage and inspire others that not only is bike riding a healthy way of living but also a practical way of living too.  as the famous freddy mercury from queen once said, "get on your bikes and ride"!!!!!

all photos courtesy of CB.