Saturday, June 14, 2008
Yep, Still There
So, I made good on my virtuous fantasy of getting up bright and early on a Saturday morning and biking over to Trader Joe's and the Union Square Green Market.
It was mobbed with people feeling virtuous.
I found out that 14th Street is bad for riding bikes; too full of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as evidenced by rousing rounds of "Watch it, bitch!" Next time I'll chain it on 13th or 15th and walk.
Also, I've found that there are many more small hills than I'd thought between my home and Union Square, and that there are many stupid people who open their car door on the passenger side without watching to see if there's a bike coming.
Also many, many people with faster bikes than the one I have go whizzing by me, and they have the singular characteristic of not being middle-aged women with bad knees. So I have to remember not to be so competitive all the time and that I'm doing this for my health. It's having an effect on my muscles already: The one in my rear end is killing me from going over so many potholes.
I did have room in the basket for a decent-sized bag of groceries that would have been pretty heavy to have carried the same distance, so I'm happy about that. I brought the bike back home and chained it in the backyard and gave it a pat on the head. Then I went for my haircut. I had my hair cut short and my eyebrows waxed. I should be more aerodynamic now.
On the way home the skies opened and it thundered like God. I felt bad for my bike out there in the rain, but it has the neighbors' bikes for company and they're singing old bike folk songs now.
It was mobbed with people feeling virtuous.
I found out that 14th Street is bad for riding bikes; too full of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as evidenced by rousing rounds of "Watch it, bitch!" Next time I'll chain it on 13th or 15th and walk.
Also, I've found that there are many more small hills than I'd thought between my home and Union Square, and that there are many stupid people who open their car door on the passenger side without watching to see if there's a bike coming.
Also many, many people with faster bikes than the one I have go whizzing by me, and they have the singular characteristic of not being middle-aged women with bad knees. So I have to remember not to be so competitive all the time and that I'm doing this for my health. It's having an effect on my muscles already: The one in my rear end is killing me from going over so many potholes.
I did have room in the basket for a decent-sized bag of groceries that would have been pretty heavy to have carried the same distance, so I'm happy about that. I brought the bike back home and chained it in the backyard and gave it a pat on the head. Then I went for my haircut. I had my hair cut short and my eyebrows waxed. I should be more aerodynamic now.
On the way home the skies opened and it thundered like God. I felt bad for my bike out there in the rain, but it has the neighbors' bikes for company and they're singing old bike folk songs now.
