bad metaphor

My sister once described our mother and grandmother as “adventurous wussies.” They both love to travel, but their crippling paranoia induced by the most random of things. But for the most part, this doesn’t keep them from traveling. We younger ladies have our own, uh, quirks. My sister happens to be terrified of driving, even more than my mother, and gets very anxious at the thought of driving any further than, say, down to the corner store. My thing, as anyone who knows me knows, is biking.

It’s been at least four years now since I have properly learned to ride a bike that wasn’t attached to the floor of a gym, and I’ve steadily grown less anxious about it. One summer I rode to work almost every day, when I didn’t want to spend the gas money (and I also felt like coming to work drenched in sweat, because how professional is that). I even got really mad at birds for befouling my bicycle, though I guess that didn’t really help my biking reluctance so much as fuel my hunger for chicken wings. I liked my bike okay, but never really got all that attached to it. All the same, I was dismayed when someone stole it from campus one day.

I eventually purchased another bike off Craigslist for cheap, $50 with a bicycle rack. The main appeal of the deal was the rack, I think. I tried it out before buying it and, though I wasn’t exactly enthused about it, bought it anyways because I needed a bike, and also I have this weird guilty feeling when I make an appointment with someone to look at an item, and not buy it. Which is totally stupid, and makes it really unwise for me to buy anything from Craigslist! Anyway, I rode the thing maybe once or twice. Since I last rode it, the weeds in my yard have grown into the spokes, clasping it to the earth.

This weekend my roommate rode home on a shiny new yellow bike. “But you already have a bike!” I said. “Yeah, I know, but tax refund.” Hmm, okay.

Maybe it was the sunny yellow paint on the bike, or the way my roommate crowed over his new purchase, but somehow I started to feel like I needed a new bike. “But karenology, you are a wimp and will never ride it!” said the sensible Negative Nancy in my head, and usually I listen to her.

But not this time!

Welcome to the girliest bike sans built-in streamers.

Pretty flowery handlebars!

So maybe it is a touch on the girly side, but when I saw it in the store I instantly fell in love with it! I opted for the more expensive model, with front suspension – because I live in East Lawrence, and therefore would be riding on war-torn, pockmarked streets. Plus, anything that would make it easier for me to feel comfortable riding it is a good thing. I immediately took it for a ride down by the river with E, and…I didn’t even run into any poles! And there was minimal screaming whenever cars happened to drive sort of nearby. For Cycling Me, this is progress.

Now I have actually not filed my tax return yet, so unlike my roommate I don’t even have the excuse of having a tax refund burning a hole in my wallet. But not to worry, Negative Nancy – I will! Plus, I am really just doing my part to help stimulate the economy and local businesses.

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