I got a bicycle!

Hello there -- it's been a little while! The internet was down at Tall and Salty headquarters last night, and the IT department here is not as devoted as one would think.  Sorry for the delay, and hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend! 

Besides unsuccessfully trying to fix my computer, I was also busy yesterday doing something far more satisfying: getting a bike! I’ve been on the lookout for a vintage cruiser for a few weeks now, and finally found one, an old blue Schwinn. I’m far more excited about it than any thirty-year-old woman should be about a bike!

I’m sure I look perfectly silly riding it because it’s too small (as you can see above!), but I’m okay with it. Some not-so-tactful-fellows at a local bike shop were like "pssssht . . . good luck, lady" when I told them that I didn't want a men's bike, and I may or may not have indignantly stomped out.  Dudes, let's be serious: it's not like I'm going to be entering any races on this thing. 

On the other hand, the guy I bought if from was the nicest: he adjusted the seat for me to try it out, waited patiently while I rode up and down the sidewalk like a wobbly eight-year-old, and said to give him a call if anything at all goes wrong with it (beats the usual Craigslist customer service, eh?).

I am of course now on the lookout for a basket (too bad my passenger is approximately seven times too heavy to fit in this one). Maybe a bell!  Or a cup holder (the possibilities are endless).  And don't worry, Mom and Dad: a helmet.

 

Major confession though: I’m terrified of riding on city streets! I'm hopeful that with more practice, I’ll be less afraid of the traffic and fast-moving (i.e., crazy) cars. However, I have this completely irrational fear that when I’m riding next to a row of parked cars, someone is going to open his or her door right in front of me and send me flying! Unlike watching for moving cars and "being aware of your surroundings!" as my dad always cautions, I feel like no level of vigilance will protect you from random door-openers. So this will be a major test of getting over my fears.

 

Do any of you have this phobia? (Or have you ever had this happen to you, either as the rider or the door-opener??) Any ideas for getting over it?

PS: More about bikes: a cute Pinterest board of girls on bikes, bike street style, downtown from behind, and what must surely be the most insanely cute bike ride in the history of the world (if you click on one link in this post, make it that one.  Seriously).

(Image of me on my bike by Tall and Salty; images of the Beatles, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Frank Sinatra, and Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly from the Rides a Bike tumblr.)