Newest addition to the Nicholas family
...of the two-wheeled variety, that is.
Chris bought me this bike for my birthday this past weekend. She's pistachio green, and I call her Peanut (because I like to anthropomorphize my non-human stuff). We got her outfitted with a rear-view mirror, lights, a nifty heavy-duty lock, and a rear rack for my backpack (although I've had to downsize the pack a bit because my wheely bag was just too big and heavy for little Peanut's caboose to handle).
Last night was my first trip alone on her... I rode her to the NoHo train station, locked her up good and tight (which made me nervous), and then headed to school. Low and behold, 4 hours later, she was still there waiting for me when I got off the train from school. YAY! Actually, it's probably safer to lock her at the station than on campus, but that's digressing.
So by the time I got home, I felt pretty frickin' cool... I made it all the way to school and back without the need for my own gas-guzzler. My next hurdle will be figuring out how to get to work in the same fashion, but that will wait until after Micro is over. Hopefully this nearly-$5-a-gallon crap will force me to put more miles on Peanut than Smurfette and shave a little extra padding from my own backside in the process.
A quick calculation based on $5/gallon gas tells me that in roughly 2000 miles, Peanut will have paid for herself.... that should be sometime next year, unless I get the bike-to-work thing figured out sooner.
Chris bought me this bike for my birthday this past weekend. She's pistachio green, and I call her Peanut (because I like to anthropomorphize my non-human stuff). We got her outfitted with a rear-view mirror, lights, a nifty heavy-duty lock, and a rear rack for my backpack (although I've had to downsize the pack a bit because my wheely bag was just too big and heavy for little Peanut's caboose to handle).
Last night was my first trip alone on her... I rode her to the NoHo train station, locked her up good and tight (which made me nervous), and then headed to school. Low and behold, 4 hours later, she was still there waiting for me when I got off the train from school. YAY! Actually, it's probably safer to lock her at the station than on campus, but that's digressing.
So by the time I got home, I felt pretty frickin' cool... I made it all the way to school and back without the need for my own gas-guzzler. My next hurdle will be figuring out how to get to work in the same fashion, but that will wait until after Micro is over. Hopefully this nearly-$5-a-gallon crap will force me to put more miles on Peanut than Smurfette and shave a little extra padding from my own backside in the process.
A quick calculation based on $5/gallon gas tells me that in roughly 2000 miles, Peanut will have paid for herself.... that should be sometime next year, unless I get the bike-to-work thing figured out sooner.