2 posts tagged “bicycling”

Well, I'm in the market for a new bike.

My bike has always been pretty stiff, it has always been a bit difficult to steer, and the brakes have always been real bad, but now the whole thing is practically unrideable. I don't know what the deal is, but turning the pedals takes serious effort even on level ground, and climbing any sort of significant incline is pretty much physically impossible.
This problem seemed to spring up after I got it to Pasadena, but I'd thought it was just that the wheels were low. So today I took it over to the bike shop (I had to walk it the whole 3.5 miles because by then the back tire was completely flat) and got the tires all fixed up. But then I went to ride it home and, shit o lord, it wasn't the slightest bit easier to move the thing. I still had to fight it like crazy and I actually just about fell over trying to ride through an intersection. It was like pedaling through tar. I dismounted and walked it home again.

The guys at the shop told me that unless I'm working on developing freakishly huge Incredible Hulk-esque leg muscles, I ought to have the whole braking system replaced. They let me ride around a few new city/beach-cruiser-ish bikes and I was Blown Away by how much easier to ride they were than mine. Pedaling, steering, riding in a straight line. All 1000000000x easier. And the brakes! I could actually stop when I wanted to! Amazing! I had no clue how stiff my bike really was until I got on one of those. And here I'd been thinking I was just pathetically out of shape or something. It's like a whole new world has opened up before my eyes.

So, I need a new bike. I am sad about it. My bike has served me well this past year. I rode it around all last Summer and loved it like a child. Thomas gave it to me. I like that bike.

But it just isn't doing its job anymore. And after almost wiping out in the middle of an intersection and being bashed in the shins repeatedly by its pedals during our 7-mile walk today, I've lost most of the affection I once had for it. It is time for it to go.

hello, hello.

Today was a nice day.

I really like riding my bike. I wish that there were prettier areas in which to bicycle around here, and I wish that people here were more bicycle-friendly (I ride on the sidewalks because half of the time there is no bike lane and there is no way I would trust the people around here to respect me and my space if I were to ride in the street [I don't think most people around here even know that bike-riding in the street is allowed]), but it still makes me very happy. 

I paid my $27 parking ticket. I got a parking ticket for leaving my car on the street in front of Thomas's house on street-sweeping day a couple of mornings ago. I was very sad about it. Why do I feel so guilty about things that do not even phase other people? I didn't even realize that I'd gotten a ticket until the next day, after my dad found it under my windshield wiper and brought it to my attention. I sure am oblivious. How will I ever live on my own. I will be expected to take care of myself. ha.

My parents are cruising to Canada at the moment. I honestly do not see the appeal of cruises. I mean I can see how they would appeal to them. But to me they sound pretty awful. Oh well. I am holding down the fort over here for the next week, anyway. yep.

blegh I am so ready to be done with school. AVC, I mean. I think my favorite class this semester is math? It is the only course I am taking where my mind is actually engaged for the entirity of the class. And solving math problems is fun like how solving newspaper games (crossword, word search, jumble, sudoku) is fun. Once you have the formula down, it's just occupying and zen-like. fun. This is the last math class I will probably ever take and I am almost sad about it.

If anyone knows a way to prepare beans (any type of beans) in a way so as to make them not disgusting, I'd like to hear about it. I had a bad canned-bean experience and my faith in the goodness of beans has been shaken. My criteria for a Good Bean: NOT MUSHY. For some reason I'd had it in my mind that beans would be sort of firm and crisp... I was imagining something like what you would get if you rolled up a piece of lettuce extremely tightly into a small, hard-ish shape. What I got was a mouth full of mush and I was sorely disappointed. But I have not lost all hope for beans! I am trying to broaden my food horizons here, and I am willing to give them another go. If anyone who reads this knows how I might achieve my condensed-lettuce ideal bean consistency, please let me know.