So I'd discovered this past month that parking near campus and walking could make for a very lengthy walk indeed, and this was without students moving back into said residential neighborhood, and the possibility of 2-6" of snow on the ground. Time to revise the plan a bit.
Being as that my college is in one of the most bike- and pedestrian-friendly cities in the US (or so I believe), I decided it was time to get a bike. Since new bikes these days start- for a cheap bike at a general store- at about $120, I decided to take my search to my old friend, Cragislist. If you don't use Craigslist, I highly, highly recommend it. Within a week, I had found a mountain bike (for snowy days on campus) for just $40. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it had the basics that I needed: two wheels, two pedals, steering and brake mechanisms and gears for going up and down hills. That's good enough for me.
When the lady replied to my email, saying she'd hold it for me, her name at the bottom was clearly of Indian derivation, which made me think of my sister, Suzanne, who died recently. Suzanne loved India, the outdoors, and biking, so I took it as auspicious that the two were coming into play in my life at the same time. Out of remembrance of her, I wore a shirt of hers that I'd gotten on the way to pick up the bike. It has the letter for "Om" in the superman logo, and says "SUPERMANtra". Being a comic book supporter and a linguist, I thought it was great, and wore it with pride and love for Suz. In retrospect, I hope it didn't offend anyone, as it is a little tongue-in-cheek.
I went and picked up the bike without any problems- all those spare blankets and pillow in the trunk of my car finally got put to good use, and my mom's insistence that I carry rope with me came to fruition, as there is really no good way to get a bike into a car. I drove back at a very careful 60 mph, and was rewarded with no damage to car or bike. Despite the tires being low on air, I spent some time in the parking lot of my apartment adjusting it to fit me and getting used to being on wheels instead of feet again. I did have a little help from one of the handymen of the complex, as I didn't have the right tools, and he did- and I do my best to be nice to everyone who lives or works here.
He apparently thought nothing of stopping on the way to his next assignment and helping some silly chick get her bike tweaked. He watched me ride in circles for a bit, which I'm sure was sufficiently hilarious as a method of repayment. Much appreciated, and I did eventually stop lurching like a zombie every time I changed gears.
I finally felt comfortable enough to go up and down the street a few times, and made it for all of about 5 minutes before feeling like a dog on a hot day (pant pant gasp!). I'm assured this will get easier as time goes by; in the mean time I will simply be grateful that it will be a downhill ride to classes, so I don't arrive sweaty and dying to class. I managed to summon enough arm strength to get the bike up to my third-floor apartment (I'm not known for my bulging biceps, by any stretch of the imagination), parked it in front of my sewing area, and promptly fell apart.
Just as what happened when I finally loaded up the Rosetta Stone program I'd taken to remember Suz by and discovered it was not Spanish, as I'd thought, but Hindi, having a bike in my house reminded me so strongly of Suz that I started missing her all over again. I don't want to turn this into a memorial for her, but she was an amazing person and it's hard knowing she's not out there doing whatever she set herself to do anymore. In the midst of missing her, however, and before I could really get
depressed and lose sight of the good things that had happened today, I noticed that my hair, something I've always held to be an integral part of me, had decided to be literally and figuratively flippant, and was sticking straight up out of the ponytails I'd (uselessly) attempted to contain it with. Sometimes, it only takes a little thing to make you chuckle, and realize that things could be so much worse. I'm sure if Suz had been there, she'd have had a good chuckle at my oh-so-serious work all day- getting, tuning up, and learning to use a bicycle... with my hair jauntily waving at everyone I dealt with.
Anyhow, the long and short is that I have a bike. Even if I have to get a from-the-store bike rack and conversion bar (mountain bikes don't go on bike racks well, apparently), I will still have paid less than $100, all told. And for that, I get exercise, new experiences, and the ability to blow a big, fat raspberry at the parking goons on campus. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Sometimes a highly creative, slightly bizarre and mildly embarrassing mother, but it gets the job done. Cheers!
Being as that my college is in one of the most bike- and pedestrian-friendly cities in the US (or so I believe), I decided it was time to get a bike. Since new bikes these days start- for a cheap bike at a general store- at about $120, I decided to take my search to my old friend, Cragislist. If you don't use Craigslist, I highly, highly recommend it. Within a week, I had found a mountain bike (for snowy days on campus) for just $40. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it had the basics that I needed: two wheels, two pedals, steering and brake mechanisms and gears for going up and down hills. That's good enough for me.
When the lady replied to my email, saying she'd hold it for me, her name at the bottom was clearly of Indian derivation, which made me think of my sister, Suzanne, who died recently. Suzanne loved India, the outdoors, and biking, so I took it as auspicious that the two were coming into play in my life at the same time. Out of remembrance of her, I wore a shirt of hers that I'd gotten on the way to pick up the bike. It has the letter for "Om" in the superman logo, and says "SUPERMANtra". Being a comic book supporter and a linguist, I thought it was great, and wore it with pride and love for Suz. In retrospect, I hope it didn't offend anyone, as it is a little tongue-in-cheek. I went and picked up the bike without any problems- all those spare blankets and pillow in the trunk of my car finally got put to good use, and my mom's insistence that I carry rope with me came to fruition, as there is really no good way to get a bike into a car. I drove back at a very careful 60 mph, and was rewarded with no damage to car or bike. Despite the tires being low on air, I spent some time in the parking lot of my apartment adjusting it to fit me and getting used to being on wheels instead of feet again. I did have a little help from one of the handymen of the complex, as I didn't have the right tools, and he did- and I do my best to be nice to everyone who lives or works here.
He apparently thought nothing of stopping on the way to his next assignment and helping some silly chick get her bike tweaked. He watched me ride in circles for a bit, which I'm sure was sufficiently hilarious as a method of repayment. Much appreciated, and I did eventually stop lurching like a zombie every time I changed gears. I finally felt comfortable enough to go up and down the street a few times, and made it for all of about 5 minutes before feeling like a dog on a hot day (pant pant gasp!). I'm assured this will get easier as time goes by; in the mean time I will simply be grateful that it will be a downhill ride to classes, so I don't arrive sweaty and dying to class. I managed to summon enough arm strength to get the bike up to my third-floor apartment (I'm not known for my bulging biceps, by any stretch of the imagination), parked it in front of my sewing area, and promptly fell apart.
Just as what happened when I finally loaded up the Rosetta Stone program I'd taken to remember Suz by and discovered it was not Spanish, as I'd thought, but Hindi, having a bike in my house reminded me so strongly of Suz that I started missing her all over again. I don't want to turn this into a memorial for her, but she was an amazing person and it's hard knowing she's not out there doing whatever she set herself to do anymore. In the midst of missing her, however, and before I could really get
depressed and lose sight of the good things that had happened today, I noticed that my hair, something I've always held to be an integral part of me, had decided to be literally and figuratively flippant, and was sticking straight up out of the ponytails I'd (uselessly) attempted to contain it with. Sometimes, it only takes a little thing to make you chuckle, and realize that things could be so much worse. I'm sure if Suz had been there, she'd have had a good chuckle at my oh-so-serious work all day- getting, tuning up, and learning to use a bicycle... with my hair jauntily waving at everyone I dealt with. Anyhow, the long and short is that I have a bike. Even if I have to get a from-the-store bike rack and conversion bar (mountain bikes don't go on bike racks well, apparently), I will still have paid less than $100, all told. And for that, I get exercise, new experiences, and the ability to blow a big, fat raspberry at the parking goons on campus. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Sometimes a highly creative, slightly bizarre and mildly embarrassing mother, but it gets the job done. Cheers!
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