Lately, it seems like Anna and I have bi-weekly Bike Saturday. Two weeks ago was a lovely Saturday involving bike shops and sunny rides.
Well...this Saturday was equally lovely. Ok, maybe not equally, but pretty close.
Once again, we headed over to Homewood Cycles for a Bike class. This time was level 2, bike tune-ups. Once again, it was awesome! The entire Bici crew came and we learned all sorts of stuff, including how to change a chain...which we practiced on Mick Jagger, as his chain was stretched and needed replacing. :) Nothing like a few hours at the Bike shop to make you excited about riding. I was reminded AGAIN of how much I love my bike shop. Walked out with a new chain and new gloves, not to mention knowledge and warm fuzzies (man, I am so cheesy!).
On to Primavera Coffee for a Bici meeting. With Prom behind us and our Community Interest meeting coming, it is time to get serious. Which we did, over delicious coffee. Starting a Non-Profit is hard work, ya'll. 2.5 hours later, we had accomplished so much and were feeling good. Overwhelmed (maybe that was just me?), but good. Are you coming to the meeting Thursday? Because you should be. go put it on your calendar now. I'll wait...
...Ok, now back to my story:
After the meeting, I decided to bike over to another local coffee shop to pick up something from a friend and indulge in my 4th cup of coffee. It was a nice ride, one that I had never done before. After spending an hour chit chatting and visiting, it was now 4:30 and the sun was waning. Time to try my new route home, the one I was hoping would allow me to get to work without having to drive part of the way. (Again, thanks to Homewood cycles for the route advice). I pulled on my gloves, slapped on my helmet and set off.
20 minutes later I was home, feeling triumphant!! (Then I collapsed and didn't leave the house again for the night...)
Sunday I got up late, really late. Decided to try the new work route round trip, since I had to go into the office for a few hours. I did it! Got over the mountain and all the way to Irondale. Took 45 minutes, which adds quite a bit of time to the morning commute, but well worth it. I. am. awesome. Only had to rest once along the way! Worked and rode home. Mapped it later and it is 18 miles round trip, which is not a bad workout if I do it 3-4 times per week.
I parked my car Friday after work and did not get back into it until 10:30 last night to pick a friend up from the airport. This, despite a busy weekend of dinners, concerts, bike classes, work and coffee shops. It felt like a turning point in my 'car-lite' life. All in all, a great weekend.
Was your weekend lovely, internets?
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Good weekend...if you didn't mind pedaling downhill into a headwind :<(
ReplyDeleteNot nearly as productive as yours though ;>)
Aaron
Twas, though mine was car-lite because I was sleeping on my couch after an eye exam. :) Sounds like I missed y'all at Primavera Saturday--I went there after my eye exam recovery!
ReplyDeleteIt rained hard all weekend. My vintage Raleigh has rod brakes which can be quite troublesome in wet weather, so I didn't take her out... My other bike, my 1970's motobecane is still a work in progress so I had her de-assembled. I think I need a new front derailleur. Anyway, I did some sewing and watched the Oscars.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear more about your Bike Classes!
Sounds like a great weekend! Mine was lovely too, and covered at our blog. :) Looking forward to hearing more about bike classes and your new route to work. I need to take some -- putting together that Peugeot last night took me way longer than it should have and I managed to break something (minor, fixable something, but still). Sigh.
ReplyDelete~Trisha
I am in total envy of the way you spend your weekends, I'd love to get hands on experience of bicycle maintenance etc., and be taught at the same time. Not forgetting of course the time spent in a coffee shop, with like-minded people. You have alot to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteRP-I NEED to be sewing more. Want to come here and give me a quick class? My machine is woefully inactive.
ReplyDeleteTrish-I read and am so Jealous of your weekend. SNOW! I miss snow...
Welsh-thank you, thank you. For reminding me to be thankful. I can often get so caught up in how unfriendly Birmingham is to cyclists, without remembering that I have a great community of cyclists and that it is growing. Bike Saturdays are a real blessing indeed.
I'm so happy you have a new route that does not need to start with a car. I remember in that news story, I was so mad that the roads by your house were not safe enough to ride on (as so many roads in the South are, with no shoulders and high speed limits). Lovely weekend!
ReplyDelete-Dottie
Have bikes just gotten way more complicated since I was a kid? I've been on some fairly long rides as a kid (around 20 miles), and I don't remember bike maintenance being such a big issue. (Which isn't to say that we didn't do it because we did.) Maybe its just the difference between a Honda and an imported BMW.
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