Confessions of a Chronic Cyclist

The Good:
I'm totally in awe over the new Austin Bike Map. It's been in my possession for over two months, and I still think it's the best thing to happen to my cycling habit since bike lanes. The other night, I was poring over it while Chad did his homework, and I finally said, "This is so fabulous-- I really feel like I could go anywhere in this city on a bike!" My husband did not say, "Wow-ee, honey. That's great. Is this why we're spending $14K per year to send you to one of the best universities in the nation? To enhance your perception of the obvious?" He didn't say that, because unlike myself, my husband is neither a jerk nor a smart aleck. What he did say was, "That's great!" in his best imitation of my "I-could-do-my-homework-better-if-you'd-stop-talking" voice.
All that to say, the Austin Bike Map is fab. I love cycling in this city.

The Bad:
Summer has officially arrived at last, although here in Austin the summer temps arrived about two months in advance of the actual season to spread out and get comfortable while the calendar was getting its act together. My bicycle has no air conditioning. Put these two things together and I have this perma-sweat that is bound to stick around until mid-September at the earliest (although since it does go away, I suppose that makes it a semi-perma-sweat). This has the added effect of keeping non-cyclists about five feet away from me at all times, which, given my slightly anti-social approach to the universe, could actually come down in the "good" column. Unfortunately it also means more laundry and more hydration, which leads to more trips to the loo than any one person should be taking.

The Ugly:
I got off the bus the other day and was then facing two one-way streets, both going the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. So I walked the bike back to the previous intersection, passing a convenience store that had a couple of drunk guys behind it. One of them emptied the copious contents of his stomach onto the ground right as I walked by. The other guy cheered. If I'd been in a car, I never would have had to see that. (Thanks to the wonders of Blogger technology, I can pinpoint the exact location of this incident for your viewing pleasure, except I still haven't figured out which button to press to get the location to appear on my blog. Oh, well.)

Your turn! Good, bad, or ugly about anything in your week. Although I ask that you please steer clear of vomit-related stories.