Bay State Bike Week

This week is Bay State Bike Week!! As part of the festivities there have been a number of free breakfasts. With a little planning I'm pretty sure I could get free breakfast nearly every day this week. I haven't quite managed to arrange my schedule to take advantage of all of them, but this morning I headed over to Broadway Bicycle School before work and had some delicious free pancakes. They were good. And something that I liked even more was that they were served on real plates, with real silverware and real cups. And you know it didn't seem to be that big of a deal to have to wash the plates before they could be used again. And it seriously reduced the amount of trash generated by this event.

One of the other great perks of this event was that Mass Bikes was there giving free mini tune ups. Nothing big, mostly just lubing chains and pumping tires, but the guy was super helpful and explained some things to me that I should get adjusted on my bike (my new-old bike--a story for another day), and it was great. My tires were super low and so riding since he filled them up has been wonderful.

I love that I live in a place that has such a strong bike culture. And it was great to get to spend a quarter of an hour in the company of people who think that bicycling is important.

What I did over summer vacation

Well, summer is drawing to a close, classes started up again last week and I feel like it's time for my "what I did over summer vacation essay." Unfortunately for you  (or not??) I don't feel the need to write an essay per se. How do you feel about a bullet list instead?

• Spent 230 hours in class
• Made 9 books
• Ate a lot of pizza, biscotti, and pastry
• Saw the Tall Ships
• Saw the Queen Mary 2!
• Commuted about 250 miles on my bike
• Only had one flat!
• Worked two jobs
• Quit one of those jobs!
• Had only two weeks of actual summer 
• Went to Old Sturbridge Village
• Visited The Cape
• Got really sunburned
• Museum hopped
• Moved
• Watched several documentaries about plastics

Old Sturbridge Village!

The Cape. It was a gorgeous day for the beach.

The USCGC Eagle

Some of the Naval boats. A US one and a German one I think.

The Queen Mary 2. Maybe as close as I'll ever be to cruising on it.

Ethiopian binding, and three varieties of Italian paper bindings

Bike Ride

As this week draws to a close I have biked approximately 70 miles. I think that's a lot. And I confess, today I cheated and took the bus for 7/10 of the last mile home. I have no excuse, but I do think it was high time I learned to use the bike racks on the buses. Besides I did still ride the other 7 miles of the ride.

Cycling

Today I rode my bike into Boston proper for the first time. For whatever reason on the other days I've had to go downtown I've never felt like taking my bike was a good idea. But today the stars aligned and I ran errands. I rode about 8.5 miles and I'll ride 4 more to get home tonight. Somehow numbers like 8 just seem super big, even though I know that in biking miles that is exceptionally small. I guess because I couldn't run 8 miles (let alone not even hurting afterwards) that makes biking that far seem like a long distance. I love the freedom of not having to walk everywhere but also not having to worry about parking. So far I feel like Boston is a pretty bike friendly city, and it's been pretty easy to find somewhere to chain my bike up when I've been out and about. I haven't quite mastered the art of the left turn, but I imagine that I will get more practice...

Daily Commute

When I got home from work tonight to my dismay I found that there was a dishwasher parked next to the pillar I chain my bike to on the back porch. Turns out that dishwashers are surprisingly light, though they make pretty terrible sounds when you drag them across concrete. Despite having to relocate a dishwasher at 9:45 at night, I got home a solid 15 minutes earlier than the earliest I'm normally home, and I was about 25 minutes before the time I get home when the bus is late (which it usually is). I'm a huge fan of biking. Of course, I do give up on my reading time, but I am getting some solid exercise. And somehow I feel like the books will still get read whereas the exercise might not happen otherwise. Overall, my new commute is a success so far. We'll see how it continues. 

Bicycles: a resolution

My bike made it to Massachusetts. I picked it up today from the bike store in Cambridge. It felt so good to have my bike back. It's been nearly a year and a half since we've lived in the same state. It felt amazing to fly down the road and feel the wind in my hair. I road approximately six miles today, and only had to get off and walk once. Part of my problem had to do with the fact that I was riding in the heat of the day and today was very hot. Also, I'm fairly certain that tomorrow I will be quite pink. I could definitely feel myself burning. I also managed to forget the key to my bike lock on my desk--it's surprising how many businesses will allow you to bring your bike inside and  leave it in a corner while you patronize their shop.

As always, I meant to take a picture of my bike to share with you, but it's dark now, and I forgot earlier.

To make up for not taking a picture earlier. Here is one now.