My New Bicycle*

Last week, while out shopping, I picked up a new bicycle for only $15.00.

It's a fixed-gear model with a lightweight aluminum folding frame, no brakes, unique chain-free drive technology, and cool high-tech solid-state thermoplastic wheels with integrated tubeless tires.  Like my road bikes, it's decked out in a stylish, minimalist silver-and-black 'colorway.'  It's also designed specifically for hauling groceries.


The only problem is, I can't figure out where I'm supposed to sit or, for that matter, how to pedal the thing.

Here's a picture of a similar model:
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wait for it ...

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waaaaaait...
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Bingo!

....Does anyone have any idea how to ride one of these?


P.S. This thing really is brilliant for hauling groceries home on foot.  Mine is deeper than the model pictured, with a folding shelf and a padded grip which will, I predict, eventually be replaced with bar tape because I am super nerdy like that and also because the padded grip is made out of some cheap foam stuff that won't last.

When I told DD I couldn't figure out why I never got around to buying one of these before, he said (without missing a beat), "Because you're not a little old lady.  I mean, it's kind of a Little Old Lady Cart."

And thus I have christened my new toy: "LOLcart."

:::grin:::

PPS -- I ordered my trainer last night (yay!).  It's an inexpensive model from Amazon.  I could have ordered one from the shop, I suppose, but I missed the most recent ordering window and I didn't want to wait.  Yes, I suck.  I am looking forward to installing a bike in the living room, where I can pedal to my heart's content while watching movies on the projector.

...Sometimes I whine about my life, and then I realize I am able to actually do things like ride a bike, indoors, while watching movies on a nifty projector system.  I'm extra-lucky because I originally planned to put my trainer in the basement, but DD said, "You should put it in the living room so you'll use it more."  I'm not making this up!  I should probably never complain about anything again (though undoubtedly I will!).  My life is actually pretty darned awesome.

*Well, technically, it is a bicycle -- it does have two wheels, after all!

Bicycle Explosion

Last week, we bough two DesertBikes, bringing the total number of bikes in our garage up to 6.5 (I figure the tandem counts as 1.5 bikes).

Last night, I returned the beautiful silver Cannondale to its rightful owners, JL and KL.  At the same time, Swift returned home from their place -- with the opening of the new restaurant, KL's been working a bazillion hours a week and hasn't felt up to riding.  I can't say I blame her -- if I was working the hours she's working, on my feet all day, I probably wouldn't ride much, either.  I would simply be too tired.

I'm actually delighted to have Swift home.  As much as I like Turtle the SodaBike, Lord of the Desert, etc., I think Swift is a better grocery-getter, and it'll be nice to have a more comfortable machine around for DD -- one he can take on rides with me and Hg.  Likewise, Swift may wind up going out to BurningMan, since his components and wheelset will eventually going to need replacing anyway.  I'm not too worried about the alkaline dust messing up his frame, since I'm planning on stripping and repainting it at some point in the not-too-distant future, anyway.

At any rate, it now looks more or less like a bike factory blew up in our garage ... or maybe a bike museum, considering the diversity of makes and models in there.

I'm really struggling with the debate over purchasing a 'cross bike.  I now definitely have more than enough money to cover the purchase, but with our still-unplanned wedding looming ever-nearer, I'm having serious pangs of doubt about spending my money on what essentially amounts to yet another essentially unnecessary, purpose-specific bike (especially since, with the return of Swift, I've lost my 'but Denis will be able to ride it' justification -- Denis likes Swift just fine).

For that matter, I'm having serious pangs of doubt about dropping $60 on a racing license and another however much on entry fees.

The alternative is to re-home Swift, thus creating a necessity for a 'DD bike/backup bike/guest bike.'  I may yet do that.  In fact, I might even know someone who would like to have a bike like Swift, so he can keep up with me when I force him to play bicycle death march when he visits on longer rides when he visits and so he can do more long-distance riding at home in Lexington.  Or, for that matter, someone who would like a bike like Swift so he can ride at all (I actually have a non-bike riding friend who is interested in 'cross!!!).  Before doing that, though, I would want to swap out some of Swift's components, and maybe his wheelset, to make sure I'm handing off a bike that's going to be really reliable and ride-able for someone who isn't an experienced wrench and rider.

Of course, at this point, I really have until the middle of October to make up my mind about 'cross season anyway, since AppleCross and the OVCX opener are both out.

I am feeling a billion times better, but still wary of potentially exploding my spleen, which limits my ability to both train and race right now.  I'm back to riding on the road (a bit, anyway -- I think I knocked out a whopping 30 miles last week, if that, and I still get tired faster than is normal for me), but I do want to clear the 4 - 6 weeks from time of diagnosis before I seriously think about riding fast in a big, tight pack on the grass; hefting bikes over obstacles; and otherwise putting myself in situations where I'm more likely to fall and burst some important organ or another.  I still have a bit of tenderness in the spleenal area, so I don't really want to take unnecessary risks (especially since I don't have health insurance).

I really do want to do Bloomingcross and Storm the Greens, and I'd love to do King's Cross again, even though it is now, insanely, in December.  I figure racing on a a monstrous beast of a course like King's in December probably captures the spirit of the mad, bad ol' days of cyclocross...

...as well as anything in this modern day and age possibly could.

PS: Notice that the guys in the leftmost picture are wearing what more or less appear to be ladies' bathing suits.  Back then, it was probably a rule: I am sure that they did this simply to make 'cross even more psychologically demanding, and to ensure that only the toughest racers -- those most secure in their own masculinity -- would dare to approach the course.