I’m in the Gator Club!

Considering how much I love being in the bunny club, I’m not sure if this qualifies as good or bad news.  Either way, I’m now officially in the Gator Club.  I was cruising along the Little Econ, looking for bunnies, when I saw a gator just cruising around in the water.  I tried to get a picture, but I was too scared to get close to the bank.  I also heard a lot of gator activity at different points on the trail–I wonder what it will be like in mating season!

My commutes were wonderful this week.   The ride itself has become much easier and, at the same time, I feel like I am getting faster.  I tried a different strategy this week and drove twice and rode twice.  Jumping in full-force the first week was a bit overwhelming and I need this to be sustainable.  Next week, I plan to ride three times, drive once, and work from home one day.  I’m feeling far less pressure, which is really allowing me to fully enjoy the ride.  I’m tacking on a few unnecessary miles but, in true Scarlett O’Hara fashion, I’m just going to have to think about that tomorrow.

This should be interesting

So you know how I like to jump in headfirst?  Well, back before my Radish even got here I booked us a campsite to go camping–by bike.  Yep.

We did a test pack tonight and I’m quite pleased to see that it looks like I will be able to carry all of our camping gear on my bike without the trailer!  I’m really happy that I don’t have to worry about pulling the trailer and adding to the length of my bike.  Jesse will carry the kids, the dog (yep), clothes, and the food.  I’ll carry the 8-person tent, two adult camping chairs, the stove, air mattress, sleeping bags, and the kitchen gear.

My Radish is like the Volvo of Bikes

It’s official–I learned how to ride a bike this week!  Yesterday, I finished up Part II of the “Confident Cycling” class.  This was a pilot class for the Florida Bicycle Association; Part I was a three-hour lecture-style class and Part II was a six-hour road class.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding on one more thing to my already crazy week (especially 30+ miles for the class on Saturday!), but I am really glad I went.

Wonderful weekend followed by a slight case of the Mondays

Another lovely weekend by bike.  Saturday a friend called and invited us out to Lake Eola (downtown) for the Fall Fiesta in the Park.  My first thought hovered somewhere around the idea of “don’t you know we have to bike everywhere now?!?”  However, one of the most important rules we made about this challenge was that we would never turn something down because of biking.  If we didn’t want to go, fine – but not going because it was too many miles out of our total or too hard to bike to was not an option.  Otherwise, what’s the point? Anyone can live on 4,000 miles if they stay inside all day!

I can’t believe I almost missed it.

It was so chilly in the house this morning and the fan was doing it’s lovely white-noise thing and I just didn’t want to get up.  I kept thinking about how long 17 miles sounded and how tired I was.  Instead of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, I think it was more like a cat and a puppy:

Keeping the faith

Sometimes it’s hard to keep the faith. I avoid sensational news for this very reason – seeing all that ugly gets depressing, especially when you’re trying to shepherd kids through the world. Unfortunately, sometimes riding your bike brings you face-to-face with the anger and tension other people are carrying around. This morning, I was using a relatively busy street to cross a major highway. I was first at the light and as soon as it turned green, I heard “HOOOONK!” The driver behind me laid on the horn the entire time we were crossing. I’m finding it all very humorous at this point, because really—it’s been all of 10 seconds. Normally, when I’m behind other cars, I experience the same delay trying to cross and I’ve never thought of ringing my bell like a maniac. As soon as we get to the other side, she pulls into a left turn lane next to me (I was controlling the lane, as I always do) and screams at me through the passenger window, “I AM IN A CAR!! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!!!” I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I just smiled really big, waved, and gave her the peace sign. I’m sure this infuriated her even more, but I was truly at a loss. As soon as she sped off, I wished I had said, “This is a vehicle, learn the law” or “Nice role-modeling” considering she had to lean over her kid to scream at me (a child that looked way too young to legally be in the front seat, I just can’t help but add). And I don’t know why, but it made me terribly depressed. The thought of someone being so incredibly angry over a 15 second “delay,” the thought of someone acting like that in front of their kid, the thought of someone screaming at a stranger – it left me overwhelmed.