Bye Bye, Carema

I sold my first road bike yesterday: it was a bittersweet occasion! I'm glad for the extra space in the garage, and my new man Jake the Snake is plenty of bike for me. But the Carema was a great first bike and I really liked it a lot.

I was so excited when I bought it.

You never forget your first.

Well, it went to a good home. The woman who bought it fell in love immediately and didn't even haggle. Happily, for me, I sold it for only $22 less than I bought it. I did leave the rack on the back, though, which I had added. I would say, for sure, I got at least $22 enjoyment out of the bike in the 1600 or so miles I spent riding. :)

Still, being the emotional sap I am, I did get a little teary-eyed when it left. But I love my Jakey lots more than I ever did this bike, so it's cool.

Iron Lady

I wanna be an Iron Girl, I've decided. Well, I wanna be a half Iron Girl, anyway. Completing the full thing just seems inconceivable to me! We happened to be in Couer d' Alene last weekend the day before the Iron Man competition and I had event lust like I have never had before! I wanted to be there the next day to watch it start...to watch it finish. I wanted to be in it!

That's a lofty goal, considering I ran a block or so with Reid the other day, and besides peeing my pants, thank you very much, old lady bladder, I was also winded and stiff. Hrumph. Maybe the Iron Man is outside my range. But it did at least really get me thinking about triathlons, which I know I would love. Except for the water temperature part...I'm not really much for cold water. But I could totally do it.

In the works, then, are early planning stages for some 2015 triathlons.

In happy biking news, I am still commuting regularly to work on my Jakey, who will hit his 200th tracked mile in the next couple days. I say tracked mile because shortly after I got Jake, my Strava app crapped out on me several times, which irritated the snot out of me, because it's how I track my cycling mileage. I am so glad I bought that bike! I just love it.

What is funny, though, is that immediately before I bought Jake, I had bought panniers for my road bike.

Black ones, though.

I had just gotten used to them, but I tell you...Jake is too pretty for panniers.

If you're this good looking, you don't need accessories.

I just can't bring myself to put a rack and panniers on this baby. Can't do it. I've been wearing my backpack, and it's time for me to get a real cycling backpack instead of my Old Navy kids' backpack. That's next on my shopping list!

Last week, it was a scorching 90-something degrees one afternoon, and I pretty well killed myself biking home. Ack! So hot. I did not have it in me to extend my route, and I also had to get off and push Jake up the last hellacious hill, so tired was I. It's going to be warm this week, too, so I am strategizing by drinking lots and lots of water all day and reminding myself that it's not a race, it's a bike ride. But I like to ride, and I like to ride fast! In so many regards, I'm just a fast girl. That's why I bought this shirt the other day, hahaha.

I never buy shirts with writing and I have bought two in the last month!