A year and a half ago, I rode my bike for the first time since the fall.

I fell.

Yes, again. No, not on my head, nor from 4m above concrete.

But, I fell.

Instantly recalling the old adage from my youth, if you fall off the horse, get back on. So, I promptly picked myself back up and rode it again.

But I drew the line at the motorcycle. I most certainly didn’t have the physical coordination or psychological confidence to take the risk. I decided that I’d leave the Wee Star parked — safely garaged — and on her own wheels for however long was needed to return to riding.

Fast-forward 18 months to today:

• 63F, clear, and windless.
• I ran 8km as the sun rose.
• Had an appliance repair I had to tend to.
• I took care of the batteries in the one outlier smoke detector in the house.

Then thought there was something else — something more — that I needed to tend to before the weather quickly turns rather cold…

A safety-check on the Wee Star, started it up, and donned my helmet to give it another go.

Yes, U-turns were a bit shaky. I need to spend some time practicing them far more and get back to the 3.5m diameter idle U-turns. It was a rather quick spin around the neighborhood. A bit of quick-stop practice. And she still remained on her tires and quite unblemished. I’m rather happy about that.

I’m extraordinarily pleased that I had opted to garage the Wee Star until confidence had returned.

Sometimes, getting back on the horse will take some time.

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Also, I still refuse to let the Wee Star show up at a home on a trailer. She’ll be ridden there under her own power.