09/07/2021

Leo and Anna-Liisa

We live on an acreage. Just 30 kms south of Calgary, and my husband and I have always loved going for bike rides along the straight prairie roads. But during the last few years, my bike-riding days seemed to have come to a halt and I had to stop. I have servere osteoarthritis, and have had both knees replaced, and unfortunately the traditional saddle-type bike seat hurts a lot in my bottom, and this would make me occasionally lift myself up from the seat, putting pressure on my knees, which became too painful.

I was given a new type of bike seat to try, and was a bit hesitant at first, but thought that I cannot be afraid of trying something new because my life can get boring within the limits I was caught in. Life is about taking chances and trying new things. Surprisingly the one thing I thought I couldn’t do any longer became suddenly possible. I found the Wing seat very, very comfortable. Once I got used to the seat rotating a bit, even turning around on the road became much, much easier. Yes-it took a while to get used to it, but if I didn’t try, make some errors, how would I learn? So I chose to learn to use this new style of seat, learn to ride with it, and it really became comfortable to go out again, and feel the wind in my hair. I realized that for me to learn to use this seat, I had to use it, thus realizing that learning does not end even in my 70’s, and biking along the country road across the prairies helped me forget my arthritis, and leave stress behind.