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April 29, 2005
Triumph! 
Obvious observation #1: it's much easier to ride a bike with correctly-inflated tires.
Last night was the turning point. Yes! Sweetie and I scooted to get some salad and 'za, and then I returned to the Bike Gallery with the gauge that wasn't working for me. I walked up to the counter, and the employee was working with someone on the phone, so I left the gauge, the receipt and my purse at the counter while I went to check out standing pumps.
They were having a sale, and there was an obnoxious yellow one that called my name. I looked at it suspiciously. On the packaging, it said that it fits both types of valves. So I bring it up to said counter.
The employee is now ready for me, and as a matter of introduction, I gave her an abbreviated version of my frustrations with getting back on the road.
Can I make a suggestion?, she asks.
Yes, please, I need all the help I can get!
She explains that the pump I've chosen has an adapter for schrader as an afterthought, and that she thinks I can do better at the same price. So we go over to the pumps, and she immediately picks out a much more subdued pump. A Wrench Force with its "easy to use dual head, all you have to do is put the valve in the correct opening, flip the locking lever, and pump. The dual head automatically directs the air into your tube." Ka-ching! Same price too. $30, marked down from $90!
I thank her and thank her and thank her again. And then I bring the pump out to the scooter and learn that it is just a smidge too big to fit in the underseat compartment, so I'll have to hold it between my feet. Which actually wasn't bad at all.
...
Mat pilates was great. There were only seven of us, including the instructor, and the focus was really on the abs. By Thursday night, after three straight days of pilates, I'm usually having a communication breakdown with my abs. I do what I think is bringing the belly button to spine, but I feel about as connected to my belly as I do to the soccer player's belly on the mat next to me—it's all theoretical. I worked really hard, and I concentrated on my abs, these abs that I could not feel, rather than leg lifts or the other crazy stuff you're supposed to be doing while you contract your abs. So that's not to say that I didn't do the other crazy stuff, I just tried to stay focused.
...
I got the pump home, and immediately brought the bike onto the backporch. It was so damn easy that, well, it was kinda a letdown, honestly. So I filled the tires, and then I went inside and got a pile of other stuff done, just as if I had some energy. Wuhoo!
And this morning, I biked in. It was fun for the most part. I can't even put words together to say how much easier it is to ride a bike with full tires. Oh. My. Gosh. A world of difference.
The steel bridge-pedestrian bridge was closed (and locked up!), so I ended up going along the Eastbank Esplanade. It's not my favorite as there are these little tiny intsy-weensy itty-bitty hills, and I'm not there yet in my bike-jock-evolution. But, I made it up them, and so what that a runner passed me? This is supposed to be lowkey and fun, and damn it, it's going to be!
I got across the Hawthorne Bridge and saw the Shift folks out with Last Friday breakfast for bicyclists. How cool is that. So I stopped. They are so great. They served coffee in real mugs, and had goodies from Grand Central Bakery, and were tremendously friendly. Wow! So totally cool!
...
So I am very pleased this morning. It's the first day this week where I've felt like I was not fighting the tide.
I need to come up with a 20-21 mile walk for this weekend. I could do the old Steel Bridge to Sellwood Bridge loop twice, but I like the idea of not having to repeat a loop. So maybe tonight I'll try out a route on the scooter. I wonder what the St. Johns Bridge to the Broadway Bridge via my house would be?
Posted at April 29, 2005
Comments
What a great day. I love the idea of what the Shift folks are doing, and score on the better pump at the same price!
Posted by: Lynne at April 29, 2005 6:42 PM
Yay cyclist!! You go girl! Doesn't that feel great when finally everything WORKS? Be sure to fill your tires before every time you go out, because you're much less likely to get flats then! And yeah, it's much easier to ride, too! :)
Posted by: Nancy Toby at April 29, 2005 7:15 PM
Lately I feel like my life is a little out of control, but once I get sorted out again... we should cycle. I love my bike although I haven't ridden for about two years. YOur posts always inspire me to get out and go though.
Posted by: brit at May 4, 2005 12:25 PM