The saga of the new and old bikes...aka bored at work

Today is another 95+ degree day. Fun, huh? Instead of having my day off from work like I used to on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I'm at the office, not the lake. The prospect of going to run at the gym later doesn't exactly thrill me either. So I guess I need to start adding some more creative material to this website. My portfolio isn't supposed to be the only creative aspect. I don't have my journals with me at work, which is not conducive to me getting started on THAT idea.

I will add, because I'm super excited, that I purchased a Haro bike yesterday for 100 bucks. Anyone that has seen me bike in Otis, knows what I blast around the lake on. For those unaware, let me give you a brief description. It's a Toys R' Us special. I say that with all the sarcasm I can muster. It's titled the Pacific Wanderer and I thought I was the cat's ass riding this piece around when I was ten. Yup. It's a hot magenta pink with garish lettering along the side. It's meant for, well, a ten year old girl.

Fast forward to today. I am now 22. I'd like to add that I did manage to grow at least a foot or two since I originally received the bike. So now, the bike is covered in dust and spider webs. The handle bar grips were starting to crack. So father decided it would be a marvelous idea to slather oil all over them. Not only do I need gloves because the cracked rubber manages to rub my hands raw no matter how many callouses I develop, but I need the gloves to keep the oil off. If I forget, my hands are a mess for the entire day, leaving greasy hand prints on everything I touch. I'm a huge fan of toast, so the toaster pays big time after morning rides and mom is NOT happy.

The other problem is obviously the size of the bike. I'm not scared by the pink color. I actually think it's a unique way of saying I love to run and bike so much I don't care what color or style I'm sporting. Really. But I literally have the seat almost popping out of the hold it's hiked so high. I"m afraid that one hard bump and I'll be tossed to the side of the road, seat flown off to somewhere else. Oh and my gears are hopelessly broken and messed up. I think I'm in 10th gear and it's more like 21-death-of-me-on-a-hill gear.

This bike was my only form of exercise when running wasn't an option. So 14 miles rides were not uncommon pretty much EVERY DAY for 2 -3 months. And the hill behind Katie's...let me just say that hill could make even the toughest people, cars, animals, whatever...cry. It sucks.  And I still go for rides after runs or if I'm feeling beat up. It was time to move on.

Pacific Wanderer, you have treated me well. Even after the past four years of particularly harsh abuse from our 14 mile rides around the lake, you have served me well in a sport you probably should never be used in competitively.

I raise my iced coffee to you and say you can now have a break. Other than when mom wants to ride you for a mile. Which might actually be worse than me riding you. Oh well.

As for you, Haro, I hope you're ready. LACE UP YOUR TIRES!

Here are some pictures I found online...very similar to how my new bike looks...well,
I bought it from my neighbors, so it's not exactly NEW. Just new to me :) Mine also has a very cushy seat and different handlebars.

Starting Over

Graduation has come and gone. Where am I currently sitting? In an old office building that is home to DiFrancesco Insurance Agency. My Mondays through Thursdays this summer will be spent here as I try to save money and regroup for the fall. Many people might have seen my Grad School Insider blog. Oh yeah, FANTASTIC idea! I had everything ready to go and then *flop*. No money. I'm currently not in any type of debt and don't plan to be. So I decided to take another road and save up. Dr. G told me a lot of grad school people are in their 30's anyways. So I've got some time.

Still running. The treadmills at World Gym probably hate me by now, but hopefully my weekends will be filled with Otis runs still. Miss those dirt roads. It still hasn't hit me that Chuck will no longer be texting to ask for my training log or tell me which freshman has been having stellar workouts. No more dread as preseason inches closer and closer and three LONG overnights in the Champagne dorms loom. It's an odd feeling, but the more I settle back into life at home, the more I realize that I"m actually glad it's gone. I loved X-Country, but it was to that point where I'd had my "run" with it and have to move on to it as a recreational sport. I'm not complaining about track being done. I literally had three 10k's in 3 weeks and managed to get my time down by almost a minute, then by another 10 seconds the third time I ran it.

So here I am. Just returned home from Pittsburgh with Paul and his dad and brother. And his brother, who works for Google, gave me a fantastic idea. We were talking about all my old journals because I was trying to write during our drive home. He told me I should take the pages, starting from my tattered, dog eared second grade journal up to my most recent pages and memories. I'll probably mix them in together and treat them more as parts of a longer memoir I hope to write. But I hope people laugh and find some of these old pages as interesting as I did when I went back through them. And, stay tuned, I have more nonfiction pieces to post!!

So that's really it. I hope to keep on the ball this summer with my writing. It gets a little hard sometimes since I do keep my hand written journal still. If I had a better scanner then I'd be able to just scan stuff in. All in due time.

So keep an eye peeled for those eventual old journals!!

Jasper says "hey"