Snowy Scenes By Bike

These were the snowiest spots that encountered on my ride Friday--my first ride in snow. I had to bypass a patch of ice at the bottom of my driveway, but that was the most dangerous thing I saw on the roads. The other patches of ice were striped with tread marks which I followed with my tires to prevent slipping--it seemed to work. The only threat of slipping came when I rode through an icy patch of grass.

The Lost Weekend

My mom with my sister.

Praline Supreme: the senior member of the Sable Stable.

Apparently, my mom is the carrier of the blurry picture gene which afflicts me so.

She insisted I pose for this rustic picture at the old train depot.

I'm trying to take a cool picture like meligrosa and failing.

Like, I said, my mom, my sister, the Yorkshire terrier, and I went riding. What I didn't say is that I need a Courtnee-proof camera. Hopefully, I'll get a camera that takes good pictures despite me for Xmas. (They do make those now, don't they?)

Also, in spite of a little test run on Betty, my mom's ride didn't get off to a very smooth start. I should've shown her how to come to a start after she'd come to a stop--I had a lot of problems with that initially too. Well, at a stop sign, my mom was trying to get started again and she and Betty went down--Mom went flat on her back. It was no one's fault, but a lady driving an SUV paused at the intersection kept apologizing even though we told her she had nothing to do with it. I hope I find such sensitive drivers in the future when I'm actually moving.

While out and about, I took a number of pictures downtown. Pictures of downtown Acworth which looks a lot like downtown Cartersville and Woodstock and probably a number of other places will be coming soon and I'll throw in some pictures of Lake Acworth for variety.

Anticipation

I knew that my bike would be ready Wednesday or Thursday. Wednesday night I literally didn't sleep. It feels like I turned twice in bed, blinked my eyes a few times and, the next thing I knew, it was 6:40 AM. I had to get up and get ready for class. I was tired, but excited about the call I was expecting from the bike shop. I was at the library around five o' clock when my cell phone rang--it was Outspokin' Bikes. My bike was ready! Unfortunately, there's no bike shop particularly close to me in Cartersville. Outspokin' Bikes is about seventeen miles away. After riding Praline home and jumping in the truck with plenty of blankets and old tee shirts, I made it to the bike shop shortly before closing.

I asked the bike mechanic who assembled Betty to pose with my new baby. (The photo must have come out like this because I was trembling with excitement). Then he put her in the back of the truck on two old blankets and I put the tee shirts around any points that were rubbing up against the truck bed--she was swaddled like a newborn baby.


I'm the type of person who likes to maintain the newness of a new thing for as long as possible; I can get a little freaky about it sometimes. When I first got my iPod, I would only put it in a pocket in my purse by itself--I didn't want anything knocking up against it. I didn't want it to get scratched. I got over it eventually, but gradually. Very gradually. I'd planned on being just as precious with Betty, but my inveterate procrastinating took care of that. Last night, I was so excited about my first ride on Betty in the morning that I couldn't sleep again. It was exactly the same as Wednesday night. I got up late this morning, wolfed down my breakfast, and hopped on Betty. It wasn't a very gracious hop, but I got under way without a problem. Regrettably, I didn't secure everything in my basket before heading out. I thought I could grab my bike lock before it slid out of the basket, but as I raced across the railroad tracks to beat the train that, as it turned out, wasn't coming, the lock got away from me and took a little bit of my wooden basket with it (not a lot, just some sort of coating on the wood). Luckily, the big AT&T van behind me didn't smoosh my bike lock under its tires. The driver actually got out and picked up my lock for me. He was nice--he complimented my bike and advised me to get some reflectors since it was such a dark color. I thanked him and he drove away.




When I reached school, I was presented with another problem. The bike rack looked positively Lilliputian. In order to lock my bike to the rack, I had to back it up and hook the lock around the dropouts. In the process, I scraped the rear fender against the building. So much for being precious with Betty. But I guess it's a good thing because it would be difficult to enjoy my bicycle to the fullest if I was overly worried about "messing it up."

Actually, I should be more worried about the damage my shoes might develop on Betty. No wonder Vivienne Westwood rides with her heels in her basket.
Nonetheless, I will ride tall. Literally. I feel so high up on this bike. I noticed it immediately and I thought, "I can look an SUV driver in the eye." Funnily, when I was on my way to the library after school I intimidated a younger SUV driver. I didn't even acknowledge her honk initially because no one has ever honked at me in town. When I casually turned to survey her through my sunglasses, I'm sure she shrank a bit. Her passenger passive aggressively yelled for me to get on the sidewalk before getting out of earshot. I've certainly felt more eyes on me today than usual; Betty really turns heads and, apparently, makes some chicks feel threatened. Sad. It would be so much easier for her to get a bike of her own than to try to spoil my good time. I'll be out and about enjoying myself tomorrow for sure.