Things People Say To Bikers

I LOVE blogging with pictures. There's something about... not having to write as much? Or perhaps am I just trying to keep up with the Shoefields? A member of that court has inspired me to add a little documentary effect toward my tall tale of the day. So without further ado, I'll introduce my new bike! The Jamis Commuter 3!

The bike came with a beautiful, black metal basket, but alas, it fell off the bike mid transport and left me with a gaping... gap... and an ugly, cheap basket that sigh, will never take its place. I shall replace it! I shall!

But this is not about my projectile wallet. This is about the random bits of conversation that come your way while pedaling in different locations. While scrambling past the front of Bell's Grocery Store last week, a man paused and let me pass, reflecting on the possibility that, "It'd just be my luck to get hit by a bike."

Tonight I took a ride to Lavonia, on behalf of Cookie
(see Exhibit A where subject cat is spewing hatred because wacko owner dared to leave the sofa where she was happy). I wanted to check out Pedi Paws, a new pet store that surely would have eco-responsible cat litter. No clay mined toxic spew for Cookie! Well! I risked my gas, my time for so little. The shop seems to cater to iguana or would be iguana owners. No cat litter at all! So... all I could do was ride the Jamis. People seemed to react as though it was the first bike ever seen anywhere. One man said my flashing bike light looked like a police light. Hope I didn't make him nervous.

Okay so maybe people in Hartwell are funnier than those in Lavonia, but oh, I had fun spinning my wheels tonight. Lavonia has some good, low traffic roads... I will surely return... if that whole gas thing works out, that is.

Wrap Up Of The Summer That... Was or Wasn't?

I've been way too busy to blog this summer. It's been a summer of change! I'm still 5k-ing... although my challenge of late has been how to get to one on time. I've acquired a cat! The 11 year old Cookie as of July 4, 2008. I've taken up chair yoga! And it's redheaded stepsister, the more traditional forms of yoga. I refer you to the accompanying picture of shoes, cat and mat as evidence to support my claims.

Thanks to some biker friends, I now possess an Iphone, so until I drop it and watch it explode into jigsawed pieces, I'll be posting pics of my adventures. The phone makes life so much easier... I really wanted to be a Steve Jobs snob, but alas, I am now in the freak cult. I may change my middle name to Apple... hey, do you think that's what was behind Gwyneth Paltrow's name choice for her firstborn????? I thought she was a fan of her local farmer's market, but possibly it's more due to that freak obsession...

So anyway, I've been doing. This photo below taken in Colbert Ga. I bought a folding bike this summer... the Cayne Rambler and now when I travel, I stop and get some about 30 minutes
of biking in. It comes in handy... when you don't make it to your early riser races. I must be a unaware vampire as I am a-feared of early morning light!. Two weeks ago, I got up at an absurd hour, drove to Athens and drove right into the middle of a 5k being held at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. They had no sign out front advertising their 5k, so I went up this narrow, winding driveway... and here are 150 or so runners ambling toward the starting point and the race director is trying to wave me through... all of those bodies. Somehow I parked and decided I didn't want to run that badly... It's not good when you're the star of bad driving behavior of the 5k. So... I park and before I can escape, a police car blocks me in... then 150 runners run very slowly past me.... just as I was plotting my escape, 150 runners ran even slower past me again. Never has having front row seats to insta replays of my bad decision been so painful. But I had the last laugh! On the way home I took this beautiful ride. Colbert is such a good area for biking. It's flat, there are few cars about and no aggressive dogs... although I did see some adventurers.

Enjoy the view.