huh? car? what?

I FREAKING LOVE MY BIKE.

So it's all-bike, all-the-time for me these days while the Solara's in the shop getting some plastic surgery, and I have to say... I LOVE it. It's almost even FASTER for me to ride my bike to school than to drive (if I'm running late... which is often... waaaayyy easier than dealing with traffic/parking), and I really don't mind the laughter and/or weird looks I get from the students. I usually just pull up next to them at a stoplight/crosswalk, make eye contact and jerk my head upward, and say "hey" or "yo". I like to keep up-to-date with the kiddies.

And, the PROS to riding a bike vs. driving a car are ENDLESS....

1. I look really hot in a helmet. That's an unarguable fact.

2. It's fun to go grocery shopping and to Target on a bike, esp. when it's slightly raining outside. You feel super-cool --y'know, helping the environment and all-- and you get to go to the front of any left-turn lane in traffic and everyone has to wait for you. Then you get home and think, "huh, I feel a little wet..." and turn around and see that your white capris and turquoise t-shirt have a big, wide, wet, water-asphalt stripe from your rear on up. And you realize, that, HOPEFULLY, you just gave the fellow shoppers at Target a little extra joy in their day.

3. I can get around my classroom faster.

4. It's downhill TO work, and uphill home. Easy-peasy.

5. You see more of what's around you when you're going slow (relative to driving--of course I am Super Speedy) on a bike; and if you want to stop and take a picture of an awesome billboard, it wouldn't come out blurry-- unlike this one in Fort Lauderdale where I had to do five passes in my rental car while driving on the freeway and taking shots with my camera pointing in the general direction, until I got it in the frame.

6. Can you even IMAGINE how skinny I'm getting with all this exercise?? It's a good thing I ate all that cheese and chocolate fondue over the weekend, or I might soon wither away to nothing.

Of course, biking is nothing new for me, it's just new in the non-bike-centered Los Angeles County. When I taught school in Austria, I rode the bus in winter and a bike in fall/spring... LOVED it.... what could be better than riding through meadow trails in an Alpen valley?

When I explore Pacific Islands, I like to do so on a bike... best way to see everything and have the locals yell appreciatively at you. And you can make your way all the up a steep windy road to a lookout point on the island of Moorea, almost barfing from the effort, but not wanting to stop out of pure pride.

It's also the best way to explore the valley floor of Yosemite Valley

and, of course, the absolute BEST way to be a missionary in Austria.

I just might not give it up...