Monday, September 29, 2008

I ♥ NY

















And for a special NYC series, go to my photo blog: snapshot-montreal.blogspot.com

Viva La Velorucion

In my relentless efforts to keep this blog going (what a lousy job I've done this summer), I thought I'd quickly post something before September ends (so I don't feel too guilty about not posting at all).

Tomorrow will be my last day as a biker (well, for this year). Mid-July I first started biking to work. Despite Pieter's advice to get the bike checked first (which I of course neglected to do), despite my colleagues advice to wear a helmet (I’m European, helmets are NOT sexy) I courageously started my trip down the mountain one warm summer morning.

Going to work was pretty laidback. I kept going down my street, down the steep descent of Sherbrooke until I hit the downtown core. There I took De Maisoneuve bike path and got to work in 15min. (not bad for 5km and all those traffic lights). I quickly changed at work (shorts and tees for business slacks), freshened up, a whiff of perfume and I was ready to go. And as fast as taking the bus. I was more alert in the morning, got more work done, I really loved it. The real challenge was going back home. Changing clothes again (stinky damp musky shorts and T-shirt by now) and 5km up the hill this time. Then I had to deal with mad T. (if anger turns into disappointment, you know it's BAD :-) coz instead of neatly folding up my dress pants and shirts, I always managed to artistically wrap everything together so she could iron all over again (before I get feminist comments, note that I ironed my work outfits when T. was in Barça. I do plenty of stuff around the house and a stellar cooking service doesn't come cheap either, ha!).
2 flat tires, a new tire, lost front brakes (scary going down the mountain), new brakes, new gears (not easy going up the mountain without those) later it was more than worth it. But things are turning fall (USA/CAN)/autumn (UK) now, frost warnings and too much rain force me to take the overcrowded bus again. *SIGH*. When I was a kid I drove 15km to school year round (well except in summer, because no school of course). But winter is not quite the same here. Since I like this biking thing and it gets me good exercise, I am seriously considering a career change as a bike messenger in NYC. Oh well, we’ll see about that.

PS: I am sorting out my pictures so I might post some before getting Californicated.