The biggest change has been that I have since moved to the DC metro area, which explains in part the blog's new name. The second biggest change (somewhat related to the first) is that I walked into a deal I couldn't refuse on a folding bike, so now I have a second bike, which I use for multi-modal commuting. This also explains in part the new name.
However, the biggest impetus for the new name is that I've had a year under my belt of riding around, and I've loved every mile of it. In that year, I've done so much more than I ever envisioned when I first got my bike, and I've learned a lot too. It's funny to look back now at my profile picture, which D took the first weekend I got my bike: my arms are completely locked, and I'm clearly tense, even though I was enjoying myself. When I got my second bike, D took a picture of me riding around that as well, and my position is so much more normal and relaxed! I like to think I picked up on the riding pretty quickly, though much of that was with D's help.
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| Another summer, another bike |
Really, I owe my love of riding now to D, who had the patience to teach me the basics (seriously, I bought a decent used bike when I was in college and couldn't figure out the gearing well enough to ride up a moderate slope) and instilled in me the confidence to ride. But I like to think I had some influence on him too: before I got my bike, D only had a road bike and a mountain bike, and although he had raised the stem of his road bike to un-roadie heights, he was still going around in clipless pedals. Now he has a folding bike (he's the reason why I got mine--those are our bikes in the header), he rides in normal shoes, and has exchanged the padded shorts for cargo shorts. Our first ride together was through dirt trails in the woods, but we've since discovered a love for leisurely night rides through winding streets, or exploratory rides in tree-lined neighborhoods where D races down hills and I power up them.
Which brings me to the blog description. In all the days I've ridden it's never been about racing or getting exercise. Neither an upright bike nor a folding bike is really conducive to those modes of riding. I also ride for more than recreation, even though rambling about with D is one of my favorite things to do. But the non-recreational ways in which I ride a bike--to pick up groceries, to get to the office, etc.--aren't really about being environmentally conscious (although that's a nice side benefit) or saving gas money (minimal can be directly attributed to the bike) or cutting time (it's the opposite, in fact). Riding a bike is just fun. It makes going to work a pleasure. It takes the edge off an oppressively hot summer day. I will park my car further from my apartment, not because it's less likely to be dinged or because the parallel parking spots are more generous (though that's another fringe benefit), but because I like having the excuse of riding my bike the couple of blocks home. Riding a bike is so much fun that I can overcome my internet reticence and wax effusively about it to an audience of one (hi D!), because I just can't help myself. That's how much I've grown to love it in this past year, and as I continue to ride, I hope to write as well.
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