Category: biking

If it’s not going to be like Copenhagen, maybe it will be like this:

Lady parade, coming through!

Today is the first bike ride to work! I met up with my bike-and-knitting-friend Kara on Saturday morning for some practice in a neighborhood parking lot.
(Oh hai, do I look like I know what I’m doing? Because I’m going to be on the road with the cars soon!)

We circled and stopped and started and amused/puzzled the neighbors to no end, and then we rode to get brunch. It was pretty much like this video. Let’s hope the Monday commute is, too.

Wonderful Copenhagen from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

I think I’ve started a tradition of doing physical activity that’s slightly beyond my capabilities, preparedness, or both on Labor Day–last year I made Mr. Isbell hike to the tram at Snowbird and this year we went on an Epic Ride from my house to…well, not my parents house.

We were going to ride on the Jordan River Parkway down to 7200 South and make our way west. It was a long ride for us (not for some paternal people who ride 100 miles on their 61st birthday, of course) but we thought it would be easy and pleasant. And it was, until I noticed Mr. Isbell’s back tire going flat around 4800 South. And realized neither of us had a patch kit.

So we call our “support team” (cough, thanks Dad, cough!) and have the “team van” come meet us at 5400 South, where Mr. Isbell’s tire is repaired so we can continue our ride. However, while waiting for the repair I discover the only thing that was keeping both my front and back tire up…were the thorns I’d just pulled out of them.

The team van ended up taking us to my parents’ house, where it was discovered that my front tire had three punctures and my back tire had four. (Again, thanks Dad!) So much for an Epic Ride–but it looks like I have a new tradition.

1. As soon as I posted about how much I was biking, I got a weird, symptom-less sore throat and had to drive to work two days. Serves me right for showing off, I guess.

2. Speaking of biking, did anyone see Holly Mullen’s editorial in the City Weekly a few weeks ago? She thinks it’s not cars that are a threat to cyclists, it’s cyclists not following the rules. I have to disagree, as long as we get news stories like this: Kamas man charged for swerving truck into cyclist.

3. IT’S A GIANT CHICKEN!
(That was for you, Dad.)

I’ve been biking five days a week lately—four days to work and then to the farmer’s market. When I first started riding to work I was only able to ride two out of the seven blocks (straight) up to my apartment; now I can ride four. I’m getting much better at carrying things home, too: I’ve finally figured out how to get a dozen eggs* back from the farmers’ market unscathed. And yesterday I got two crystal lowball glasses that I bought at lunch (to drink Mad Men-style) home in one piece.

So all in all, I think the bike is working out. Especially since I bought it to be stylish first and functional second.

*Why make a special trip to buy local eggs? Because I read this, briefly considered becoming a vegan, then decided I could do better than than the generic “cage free” eggs in the grocery store.

I’ve now made my biking debut at the farmers’ market and at work, and let me just quote my dad–“Life’s better on a bike.”

I rode down to the market on Saturday and the comments started right away: “Nice bike!” and “Where’d you get that helmet?” from the bike valet dude; “Love your bike!” and “Sweet ride!” from passersby; and “Good morning, beautiful! Nice bike!” as I rode by a homeless guy camped on the steps of the Greek Orthodox church.

Similar things happened at work–people I hadn’t talked to in nearly two years at the office admired, offered help with the elevator, liked my helmet. I was riding up Main Street on the way home and a panhandler asked, “Got a dollar?” and when I said no (I really didn’t), said “I like your helmet!”

So on the next ride, what will happen? Will it be like a musical, with song and dance and synchronized pigeon flights? It may very well be–because life apparently IS better on a bike.

If you see a minty-green blur in a pink helmet going down the Avenues, that would be me.

And if you see a girl in a dress having to walk a minty-green bike back home because so far she can only ride two blocks up a hill without having to stop–well, at least she look stylish.

I highly recommend Bountiful Bicycle Center. Nice bike dudes, fair prices, and good inventory.

*French for, “Nice bike!”

As I said last week, I want to get a bike. I want to ride it to work and to the farmers’ market and around the neighborhood in the evenings. I’ve looked for a month now, getting recommendations from my brother, the former bike mechanic, and my father, a crazy roadie who can put in 130 miles a week on his Kestrel. (Hi, Dad! That’s crazy in a good way!)

Following their advice–and my own experience that tells me yes, cheap things are cheaper but not necessarily a good investment (true of shoes, cooking equipment, mechanical things)–I decided not to get the $99 Target special and instead get a cruiser with a light frame and some gears.

I rode the bike I had in mind Monday, but Tuesday, instead of calling and getting a special order in, I just second-guessed myself. This is a lot of money for someone who makes her own clothes. Was I sacrificing functionality for style? Should I get a mountain bike? And if I insisted on a cruiser, should I get something cheap so I wouldn’t feel bad about not riding, if I couldn’t make it up the hills? And would I hate storing it in the apartment’s Minuscule Vestibule?

I thought I had decided, but my internal crazy monologue (crazy in a bad way) hadn’t. Fortunately, work was slow yesterday and I could let the internet convince me. I found this post on Copenhagen Cycle Chic:

When she bought her bike at her local bike shop she didn’t have a “fitting” at the “full service workshop and showroom”. She probably walked into the shop and said, “I need a bike”…

She doesn’t know how much it weighs…Likewise, she doesn’t know how far she rides each day…She rides at a good pace, not too fast to cause a sweat, and the ride is nice enough. She likes the fresh air…and seeing the transformation from season to season. That will suffice.

She doesn’t wake up and make a decision to “commute by bike to work today”. It’s just a part of her day. She just walks out of her flat and gets on her bike. If it has a puncture, she’ll walk it down to the local bike shop to get it repaired and then take the bus or train to work. Picking it up in the afternoon.

Yeah. It really isn’t that hard. It’s a bike; it will be fine. I have the money, I won’t outgrow it, and the hills will make me toned. Even if I have to push the bike up them.

I’ll get my order in today.

I’ve decided to buy a bike. But after realizing I really, really disliked mountain biking, I haven’t been on a bike in ten years. While this may make my decision sound like a recipe for disaster, I’m remembering how much I liked just riding around (on pavement) in my teens. I’m also remembering how expensive gas is and how many hours every day I do nothing but sit. Plus, I live about a mile and a half from work and my car is not getting any younger.*

Another thing that helped convince me that I will LOVE riding a bike: the Internet. Did you know there are whole blogs dedicated to cycling stylishly? Blogs that advocate wearing dresses to keep cool and vintage capes to keep warm? Here are a few that helped me decide:

Copenhagen Cycle Chic
London Cycle Chic
Riding Pretty

I’ll start looking at bikes (pretty!) next week. I’m undecided about wearing a helmet, but the Internet has told me that there are even pretty-ish options for those, too–they look a little like a riding helmet, turning my bike into my pony…

I think I’ll like cycling.

*I do plan to actually ride a bike or two before I buy one myself, just to make sure I won’t hate it. It’s one thing to “cycle pretty” and another thing to spend $400 on an accessory you won’t use.