Getting around town (on a bike?)

I’m driving around town, transferring money between credit unions and banks when I slip into the Bike Shop. The clerk, a high school aged boy in a wife-beater, listens, as I explain how I have not bought a bike in well years. Do I share that the one gathering dust in the cat garage was a $20 Wal-mart version from middle school, and the one before that the kiddy purple training wheeled one? No. Leading me over to the racks of hybrid bikes, built for recreational and road usage with a slightly thicker tire. This would be an expensive new hobby, but I am bored of the car commutes and then walking around the neighborhood. YMCA confirmed that classes are free for members, so I look forward to learning yoga poses like half-moon and the dolphin, on my new Target mat come July.

Virginia Gambrell from my Spanish class is an ardent supporter of this Earth. Earlier she organized bike rides starting on campus and ending near strawberry patches this semester. I do think competing in a triathlon (in the far future!!) would be fun, unrealistic, but fun. As with anything, comes the task of distinguishing between wants and needs. Currently I cannot rationalize the price of a new bike, so create an account and begin saving towards the dollar amount goal. Oh but than setting that dollar amount… do you include the bike $260 for a “basic” model by TREK, a spare tire and tube $?.??, helmet, pump $13, lock $17. All this without listing the racks of cycling attire specially designed to cushion you from the seat’s friction. These run in the seventy-dollar range. Or the racks to attach your bike to the roof of your car! Okay so this is a major purchase down the road and worth saving for because it expands my exercise options while living far from the nearest gym.

Backpacker magazine listed its favorite tent of the year as a REI brand. Dick’s does not carry it. Another impractical purchase because my family does not camp, never has been big outdoors back woods types. Hence why you join the Outdoors Club in college. I think a cheaper two-person tent would be a better option than the REI brand and would be lighter on your back.

Well, besides dreaming of the outdoors – the bi-product of two semesters studying indoors- I have been fighting a cold for the last week. Antibiotics are useless against viral infections, which is what the doctor pronounced this coughy mess. 2-3 weeks is normal. Argh! Oh well. The bank teller was very nice at Bank of America today and conversationally stated that all I needed was a sweater, a pair of jeans, shorts, and a couple shirts and I’d be set. I need to remember this as I pack light. Will I actually wear dresses on the streets there and how do you pack them so as to not wrinkle without bringing a garmet bag. Hmmm the welcome dilemmas of traveling!