Hello hello! The eighteenth already? That's crazy talk. Only TWO WEEKS till Toby and Bear leave these lands. Only ONE WEEK till I have to be smart in a CANPO (see my May 27 entry to find out what this is) teleconference. Yikes! Only FIVE DAYS till I go skydiving with my coworkers. This is my boss' idea of a teambuilding activity.
Summer really flies.
Anyway, look at this:
Is it a bird? Is it a hot dog? No, it's my neeeeewwww bike!
Yup, after four years of riding Toby's too-big hand-me-down bike, I finally bit the bullet, sold my Kona to Collan of Ham and bought a new one. It wasn't fun. I hate bike shopping. I always get stressed, and I'm very picky and I evidently have the impossible body because no bikes really fit me well. Aside from my new Django. It fits me beautiful.
Course I may be the only person under the age of 45 in Victoria riding a recumbent. And possibly the only female. And definitely the only brown person. But that's okay. I got used to the stares after two days. Now I think it's strange if people don't stare and point and comment. Sort of like when you have a newborn and everyone fusses over it and it's very annoying, and then there's that one person who seems not to even notice your precious darling, and that's even more annoying.
Was is expensive? Yes. And even though I paid a lot I still have to get some new components put onto it this weekend. See, the price you pay for an average recumbent bike is the price you'd pay for a really excellent road bike. So I paid a lot but got a bike with much lower quality components than I'm used to on my Kona. Which I never thought would be an issue at all. In fact, when Toby asked the bike shop guy to give us an estimate on upgrading all my components I laughed and told them both that there was no chance that I was going to shell out even MORE money just for some princessy shifters and derailer. Screw that!
Oh, how wrong I was. After three commutes, I see very clearly the need for new shifters and better working gears. The ones on it now are so clattery. Riding uphill on a recumbent is hard enough without the gears taking a long time to sort them selves out every time you shift. So I'll be taking her in next week and getting her all tiddlied up. My new baby.
Toby is pretty jealous about all this. When we went to Fairfield Bike shop two weekends ago it was so he could try out recumbents and I could look at commuting bikes. Then he coaxed me into test riding a recumbent and everything changed. I got on, started walking down the road while sitting on the seat, and quickly realized I could lift both my feet off the ground and not fall. Then I started cackling; what a hilariously fun ride it was. I didn't realize they were so fun to ride. It's like go-karts or something. I cackled loudly all the way down the road. An old lady shouted out "It's just a bike, dear!" but she was wrong. It was more than just a bike. It was my new baby.
But despite my joy at finding a bike that not only fit me, but made me burst out laughing while I rode it, I hemmed and hawed for a week until Collan of Ham forced my hand by offering yet again to buy my Kona. I don't mind admitting I shed a few tears over it. After all I've had that bike longer than I've had Sassy.
Then I shed a few more when I plonked down my cash for the Django and had an awful ride home with it. I thought I had made a huge mistake. But no, it's just that different muscles are used when riding in a reclined position, and I just needed to get used to that.
Toby and the Golden Gulliver are riding up Hurricane Ridge on Saturday. I won't be joining them. I mean, I have a hard time understanding how riding uphil for four hours straight can be fun at the best of times, but on the Django? No chance! Hills are much more difficult, but, according to Sahsez' daycare's director, a longtime recumbent rider, you make up for it on the "straightaways".
If I'm going to be a recumbent person, I have to start using words like "straightaway". I also have to wave to all other recumbent riders that I see on the road. It's a thing we do. You upright folks wouldn't understand.
Reading: I rocketed through Oranges are not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson last week and enjoyed it very much. I'm plodding through Atlas of a Human Heart. I went to a dinner, discussion and film viewing at farheenhaq.com's house last night for Orlando. I haven't read it for two years, but I read the first forty pages to remind myself. Now I definitely have to read it again. I think I will get a lot more out of it this time.
Listening to: nothing exciting
Eating: I made a cool thing for Father's day, an apple quiche. That was yummy. Tonight was a tuna casserole kind of night. It was a big joke at my work, because just as I was taking off one of my coworkers said "So what are you up to tonight, Rebeca?" and I sort of shrugged my shoulders and said "Eatin' some tuna casserole and going to bed early" and for some reason this was hilarious to all the childfree bastards I work with. "Haha tuna casserole and early to bed! The life of a mom! HAhahah!"
Splash page: elephant seal that was moulting down at the Gorge about a month ago. She's so cute.
