easier than "running"

these days i work close to home: 5.4 miles away.  i was really happy to find this out because now i could finally get a bike to ride to and from work because i am an earth lover.  i have my very own bike mentor, jack, who i think is a hippy.  he gives me all sorts of tips about bikes and riding and he also gave me some seizure-inducing lights to attach to my bike, which i just now realized i haven't named yet.  maybe i'll call him alabama.  inspired by the movie on tv i'm watching right now: the help.  which takes place in mississippi but that doesn't sound as nice as alabama.  also, jack gave me kombucha once. and face cream.

anyway, i bought a used frankenstein bike named alabama. 

i was so excited to ride alabama to work every day.  i had visions of saving  the earth all by myself and enjoying the ducks along the trail and getting fit just by commuting and never having to set foot in golds gym again and being able to eat pizza every day.  i briefly considered getting rid of atticus, but that's stupid.  alabama isn't decked out enough to carry my giant jars of pepperoncini from costco.  and i am NOT riding him on the freeway to get to my parents' house.  i don't even dare turn left yet.

the first day was chilly so i wore a jacket.  but i discovered that the temperature on your hands when riding is about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the air.  my hands hurt so badly, i was near tears before i even got to the trail.  and i had to pedal really fast so i wasn't late which made me sweat like crazy which is really unpleasant anytime, but just so terrible when you're also freezing.  i showed up at work a mess (and 15 minutes late).  my shirt was wet.  my hair was matted down.  my nose was running.  i was red from cold.  it was miserable.  plus also i had to get up earlier to get to work on time.

i HATE being sweaty all day at work.  even after it dries i'm kind of clammy cold...and stinky.  and my hair is like a mop (even more moppier than usual).  but i really feel strongly about the earth so i'm going to continue.  right now i can only talk myself into riding about once a week because i have to mentally prepare myself to sit in my own filth all day. 

this saturday shelley and i are riding our bikes from one end of the trail to the other-45 miles.  we are naively enthusiastic about this because we don't have any real idea what 45 miles is like on a tiny bike seat.  we're both real excited about the picnic we have planned, but probably the whole thing is going to be awful.  so if you see us along the road, holding our behinds, we'd love a ride home.  at the very least, please don't hit us.