Tag Archives: Biking

I Needed an Attitude Adjustment so I got a NEW BIKE!!!

Posted in Home Life, Me Me Me! by

I’ve gotten in a little bit of a rut around exercise (see my recent posts on roller derby, any of them) so I decided to start biking to work again (which may just help me with endurance and my 27-in-5 goals).  I pulled my mountain bike out of the shed, dusted it off and tested the brakes when – SNAPPO! – one of the brake cables gave out.  One of the brake lines went slack and I couldn’t see how to fix it, so I said “eff this…I’m getting a new bike”!  Actually, I’d been wanting a new bike for a while because my mountain bike wasn’t great for biking to work – it’s pretty heavy, and just slow and cumbersome.  So after some advice and browsing, I came home from The Bike Gallery with this beauty, a brand new Trek Allant!

NewBike

It’s a super sweet ride just perfect for the trendy bike commuter – fenders, large squishy seat for my bum, and angled grips to keep my hands from falling asleep.  I sit all upright, like Mary Poppins, or more accurately, the Wicked Witch of the West.  I breezed to work this morning and barely broke a sweat!  Of course, the best part about a new bike is pimping it out with awesome accessories, like my new bike bell:

NewBikeBell

And just to share all the bicycling fun, here’s an ear-worm for you.  Maybe you’ll be inspired to get your bike out, too!  (Okay, so this is the official music video and there *might* be (or, more accurately, is) some nudity in it, but seriously, it isn’t any worse/better than the World Naked Bike Ride, held in Portland every year.  Enjoy!)

Related Post:  Bikin’ It!

Bikin’ It!

Posted in Home Life, Me Me Me! by

The weather is finally nice here in the Pacific Northwest, so I figure that I have at least another month or two of a suitable climate for biking to work. Yes, I’m kind of a fair-weather biker. But my bike it totally pimped out now and is great for commuting!

  • Note the rad fenders that prevent skunk stripes on my back (for when it rains, and when I have to bike in it, which will probably not happen very often)!
  • Observe the cushy seat that provides more padding for my bum!
  • Marvel at the bike rack that Chris just installed so that I don’t have to ride around with my backpack on, rendering my hands tingly and my back achy (and I also don’t resemble a turtle so much)!

And I’m all safety geared up too, with lights (when I need them), a reflective BRIGHT neon yellow jacket, and aerodynamic helmet (although, this does little for diminishing my turtle-like appearance).

It’s only 4.3 miles to work if I follow a route with bike lanes, so I figured I should probably try to bike more. So far this summer I’ve biked to work 7 days (biking 60.2 miles), which has saved the environment 48 lbs of carbon dioxide, 1309 gms of carbon monoxide, and 2 gallons of gasoline. Some people in my office bike 60 miles per day, so I know I can do better – how ’bout I update you at the end of the summer and let you know how it’s going?

In the meantime, read this: On Biking – Why Can’t the US Learn Lessons from Europe?