Bargaining chip

This is my brain.

Id: I want cookies!

Ego: We don't need cookies.

Id: I WANT COOKIES!

Ego: All right. We can have a cookie if we ride our bike to get it from the grocery store.

Super-ego: You don't need a cookie. You need to do crunches, squats, and eat some celery.

Id: COOKIES!

Ego: Look, I said we could have a cookie if we take the bike instead of the car. Not only will we get a teensy bit of exercise en route, we could also ride around the neighborhood and look at the new Christmas lights that have been put up since the last night ride.

Id: COOKIES AND LIGHTS!

Ego: There. It's settled. Saddle up, body.

Super-ego: I think we should ride to Leesburg and back for that d@mn cookie. It's only twenty miles...

COOKIES! (Not from Leesburg, but I did get in nearly ten miles riding through neighborhoods.)

I'm trendy?

Oh, PUBLIC Bikes... you silly minxes!

Source.

You loved what I did to my Ariel so much that you copied it -- after a fashion -- onto your cute little C7. Bless your hearts. ~MWAH~

Cheer!

Beatrix the C8 is now decked out with her holiday cheer. To be honest, the basket has been cheery for a week and a half, but without a handlebar there was nowhere to hang that basket.

~record scratch~

Kitty photobomb! Margie is the pair of yellow eyes floating next to Oreo.

Without a handlebar??

Yes, Dear Reader, I swapped out the flat-ish stock handlebar for a Velo Orange Tourist Handlebar which now gives me the full upright posture that I've wanted from the C8. The whole operation was a lot easier than I thought it would be aside from initially ordering the wrong handlebar (anybody need a slightly scratched Velo Orange Postino Handlebar that I can't return because my brake handles left marks?) and non-artistically cutting down the right hand faux cork grip so that it would fit with the shifter knob thingy.

Cheer! (And VW photobomb.)

In the process, I swapped out the humongous bell for the slightly more diminutive one that came with the bike and adjusted the position of my rear view mirror.

I can sit almost bolt upright, but I can also lean forward to tackle the hills in my neighborhood and the approach to the 20-hate bridge. The saddle needs a little bit of adjustment backwards and then this will be the exact bike that I wanted when I started shopping for a city bike. At least until I come up with something else to muck around with.


With the new handlebar, Beatrix feels like such an elegant ride, and she's already gotten compliments on the basket decor. The holly garlands have been in my tub of Christmas greenery forever and the lights are two battery-operated strings I purchased at Target last year. Cheer!

Admission is the first step

The main reason behind my not commuting recently is that I developed a fear about riding home in the dark. More specifically, I was terrified of riding the unlit 1.25 miles from the campus to the trail. My headlight is more than adequate for seeing the road ahead and my taillight is also powerful and (hopefully) attention-grabbing. Plus, I have multiple weights of reflective outerwear. However, I've had so many close swipes in daylight from jackhole drivers in that distance that the thought of riding in the dark on those streets made me panicky.

It's skeery out there.

The weather yesterday was so beautiful that I HAD to take advantage of it. And you know what? The ride home was actually more relaxing than the ride in. I felt so calm and happy when I got home that I cajoled the Hubs to come out and ride around with me to look at Christmas lights. We cruised up and down neighborhood streets and my love for riding at this time of year was renewed.

I light up the night.

I'm baaa-aaaack

It's been almost a month since I was last on my bike. Shameful. Shameful, I tell you! But that doesn't mean I haven't been tweaking my bikes. Oh no...

So, remember when I used to fret about being taken "seriously" because I'd personalized my bike? Allow me to condescendingly pat my past self on the head and mutter, "There, there..."

It's pretty and silly.

Check out that pattern matching.

The stars are this year's holiday cheer.

I love that the (inch wide) tape is translucent enough that the manufacturer's stickers still show through. This project took the better part of six hours; although, I'd taped the seat stay and chain stay before the Backroads Century in September. During that ride, Max, one of my favorite Spokes-people, passed me and complimented my "unusual" bike before we recognized each other. He laughed and said that he thought it looked like an Ariel, but he'd never seen one with that paint job. Heh. I told him the red polka dots were to help me learn to love hills. Maybe now that the whole bike is polka dotted, I'll actually get there.