Two out of three "Top Gear" presenters like bikes

Captain Slow, aka James May, endorses bicycling while lamenting the miserable attitudes of fellow cyclists he encounters.

And there is, of course, the infamous race across London by The Stig via public transportation, Hammond via bicycle, May via car, and Clarkson via boat.

This is probably my second favorite race/trek episode right after the drive across Botswana. OLIVER!

Still here

Nothing particularly bikey is happening at the moment. I may go riding with a friend in the park near the Junction of the W&OD and the Custis trails on Saturday. According to Google maps there are a number of intersecting trails in that area and it's someplace that I haven't ridden through dozens of times. Plus, there are trees. That will be good if the day is hot and sunny. (If. Heh.)

My bike club is riding from the Herndon depot to the Vienna depot and back tonight. I wanted to participate, but not badly enough to risk heat exhaustion. I may brag to my friends that my thin southern blood helps me deal with the oppressive heat and humidity. However my southern brain knows that the best way to deal with the aforementioned heat and humidity is by laying low and not moving much.

Just because I talk slow don't mean I'm stupid.

(Yes, I know that's grammatically incorrect.)

Egad, I cannot wait for autumn. I am definitely a cool/cold weather rider.

In other news, I'm in the market for a new bike rack. I traded in the gas-guzzling Highlander for a gas-sipping Turbo Beetle. Well, it'd be gas-sipping if I weren't driving like a Formula 1 racer. It'll be a sipper on the next tank of gas. Anyway, there's no tow hitch, nor will there be, on the new car but I still want to haul bicycles. The Saris Bones 2-Bike is en route and will, hopefully, do the trick. There's a pretty significant spoiler on my trunk but I think the arch will fit over it. If not, the carrier will definitely fit on Scott's car and that'll be our bike-hauling vehicle.

Bikes and cars

I saw fellow bike commuter at the Smith Switch/Waxpool/Farmwell intersection. Last summer there was a gent in a recumbant I passed a couple of times along Smith Switch, but this is the first commuter I've seen off the trail. Yay!

I need to ask the Women's Cycling Forum for a recommendation of a sports bra with enough padding in the cups so that my body doesn't announce to the world when I'm chilled. It's a fact of life, sure, but it's a fact of life that mortifies me beyond belief. I wear regular bras on casual and group rides, but I don't like sweating so much in them and ruining them for regular use. I suppose I could designate a couple of them as bike bras, but there's got to be a sports bra out there SOMEWHERE that will do what I want it to do. (Sorry about the TMI, guys.)

In non-bikey news, I'm going to test drive a Jeep Patriot this weekend. I've whined and whined about how much I dislike my Highlander and how much I miss Jeepfink. Well, I checked out Kelly Blue Book and checked the payoff amount for the Highlander and discovered that I am well above water: the truck is worth way more than what I owe. The payments, though, are putting a serious cramp on my life. A Patriot with the options I want will cost significantly less than what I purchased the Highlander for AND will have lower monthly payments even if I accelerate the loan as 36 or 48 months.

On the other hand, I feel like one of those d-bags who buys a new car every other year. However, I got my first car (it was used) in high school and sold it six years later. My brand spankin' new Jeep was a faithful steed for thirteen years. My two year anniversary with the Highlander comes up next month which means I could still end up with a total of five years of car payments. That is seriously tempting. I have promised Scott that I will not purchase a Jeep this weekend and ONLY test drive. Next weekend is fair game, though.

Back to semi-bikey news: the Jeep dealership that I've picked for the test drive is just off the W&OD in Leesburg. If I get do get a Jeep and if I like the dealership, that means I could bike to and from there when the vehicle needs maintenance. Heh.