This is one sure sign of Middle Age, with the Capital M and Capital A: going for a colonoscopy.
I last had one ten years ago, just nine months(!) after my gender reaffirmation surgery. The procedure hasn't changed much (at least from what I can recall): They knock you out for a few minutes and look for polyps
The good doctor didn't find any. A week and a half ago, during our preliminary appointment, he told me I'd need a ride home, as the anesthetic would take a few hours to wear off.
But he said nothing about getting there: a few blocks from the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. That's about 7 kilometers from my apartment. Despite the MTA's assurances, I still don't want to take the subway or a bus. So, I did something that, in all of my years of living in New York, I had never before done.
No, I didn't visit the Statue of Liberty. Rather, I rode a Citibike.
The irony of that is that in addition to living in New York, I've visited several cities with bike share programs. In those places, however, I rented bikes from shops and when I'm at home, I ride my own bikes. Also, I repaired and assembled Citibikes a few weeks after the program started. But I'd never ridden my handiwork, if you will.
The bike was about what I'd expected: very comfortable but not very fast or maneuverable. That, of course, is how they're built: to take the pounding of day-to-day use on city streets.
In all, it wasn't bad. The hard part, for me, was buying the pass and unlocking the bike, which I did via a Lyft app. I don't think the problem was the system, as lots of other people seem to use it easily. Rather, I am a bit of a techno-ditz: Any time I use a new app or program, it's as if I'm re-inventing the wheel (pun intended). Also, when I arrived, some of the docks at the nearest station weren't working properly (or was I not using them properly)? I had to try a few before I heard the "click" and the green light flashed.
Although I don't expect to be a regular Citibike user, understand why it's popular, and I wouldn't dissuade anyone who doesn't have his or own bike (or a safe place to park it) from using those blue two-wheelers.
(Another bit of good news came out of today's procedure--or, more precisely, the screening: My weight is the lowest it's been since I took my bike tour of the French and Italian Alps in 2001. I guess I shouldn't be surprised: For the past few months, I've cycled or walked just about everywhere I've gone, and one unanticipated, but welcome, side-effect of not going into the college is that I'm eating healthier food.)
