Slowly Getting Out Again - On Two Wheels

Yesterday, Sam and I went on a brief, albeit it exhausting bike ride. After being cooped up over the last couple of days, trying to force myself to rest (everyone keeps telling me this is what I need, but I truly believe that being still is just making my body parts atrophy - though I realize that isn't possible after only a couple days), I wanted out - desperately. Sam suggested lunch, and since my meds have made me oddly hungry over the last several days, I was all for it. I must say, I think I take my health entirely for granted most days because our 1/2 mile bike ride to the destination - yes, you read that correctly - one half mile - nearly killed me.

Upon our return home, Sam said he wanted to get a kickstand for his city bike. After my stating that the bike shops in town are all closed on Sunday, Sam mentioned that the sporting goods stores are open, which I knew immediately meant another ride. I sat down on the steps to rest. "I just need to breathe for a second," came pouring out of my mouth. It sounds crazy, but I literally couldn't breathe after such a short ride. I started thinking about the overpass I'd need to climb, the hill to get back home, and I wasn't entirely thrilled with the prospect. However, I was enjoying being out, so I said that if it got to be too much, I'd just wait until he made it back to wherever I gave out.

Surprisingly, I made it the entire distance (and by entire, I mean slightly over 3 miles, roundtrip). You'd have thought I'd just rode a century the way I was gasping for air, but honestly, I think it was completely worth it. Being outside, in fresh air, is simply irreplaceable, not to mention, I wanted to try out the new ride (yes, another bike - story to follow in another post).

As for the kickstand we needed to obtain, the Soma that I had thought I was going to sell just wasn't getting any {reasonable} offers, and since I really didn't want to give it away (my comment was that I'd rather let it gather dust, or donate it to someone in need, than sell it for a mere pittance), Sam said that maybe he could ride it as his city bike. I thought it was perfect because then it would get used, and because we had everything except tires for it, the build was easy (at least in the respect that we didn't need to buy parts for it). The only thing missing was a kickstand, which I believe to be essential for something one intends to ride around town, running errands, etc.

Pre-kickstand sitting outside

As you can see, it's still in need of some bar tape, which we also have sitting here - it just needs to be put on, but we wanted to make sure that the handlebars/set up are going to work before wrapping it all up. While even Sam admits that the frame is small to ride, he thinks it will work for the trips that are just around town. I promise that next time I'll take some better photos, but it truly is a great looking frame. It's currently set up as a single speed (it's oddly set up as a single speed too, as we're using a double crank, that just isn't used), but it seems as though it's going to do what it needs to do. It's going to get used, and I don't feel like we're losing money on something that wasn't even used.

So, while I got to test out my lungs a bit, Sam's Soma was tinkered with to get it to a good place. While we both may need a bit more tweaking, I think we are both going to be just fine.

Columbus Day Quick Ride

Columbus Day is one that few have off from work, but because Sam works for a bank, he is one of those fortunate few. Even I don't have the day off from school, but while I was home this afternoon, we decided to take a quick ride over for some tortilla soup and naked burrito lunchy-type food via bicycle. I love these days when it's not brutally hot or cold out, and we can just enjoy a quick ride somewhere.

Sam rides a bike... 

The last shot I attempted to get of Sam riding behind me was mistakenly deleted, but this one kind of cracked me up because I also got a nice shot of the top of my head. It's not often one gets to see such things, and while I could've just cropped it out, it made me laugh, so I kept it. Regardless, the ride was beautiful and reminded me why I love to be outside, especially during Colorado's 'two weeks of fall' as we have come to call it. Winter will, whether we want it or not, soon be here.

Home Hunting in Denver

Today began an exhaustive search for Will's new home. When Sam's friend moved here last September from South Carolina (via a year long stay over in Oregon), he wanted to live the urban life in an apartment and have things within walking distance. Seemed reasonable to us. Now, he's in the market to purchase his own home rather than renting, and we decided to help him out by being the annoying tag-a-longs as we searched out various areas. Will's brilliant idea is to find a single story duplex, buy it, rent us one half, while we in turn rent out our house (since there is no way we can sell our current house in this market). If this were to actually take place, we would want the new home to be in a place that is in an area that has a lot of things within walking/riding distance, otherwise, there would be no point in moving.

But, before the big search got under way, I had to stop and pick up some art supplies, and since we were in Denver anyway, might as well go to one of the best little shops around, especially if one is looking for paper (which I was).

Kozo's store front: small, unassuming, but great people inside

After picking up supplies I needed (for the work I should've been at home completing), we were all hungry, so we stepped across the street to a little pub for some lunch.

Turkey wrap, with some all too greasy (though good) fries.

 We sucked down some water, people watched from the outdoor patio, and the boys had a good time being silly (particularly Will).

Empty water glass: More please!

Will being weird, Sam hiding his disgust

Having the opportunity to be in Denver and feel like a part of the community is always nice. I know I spend a lot of time there anyway when in class, but I don't ever get to experience the city because I'm in my little protective bubble and I stay focused on the tasks at hand while there, only departing the art building to head home.

People bicycling, walking, and just enjoying city living

It's easy to see why people want to live close to things. Accessibility, convenience, and enjoying life is so much more fun when you aren't driving tons of miles to get to where you're going. After a nearly day-long hunt for the perfect area, I don't think we are any closer to a find for Will, but I did realize that I absolutely don't want to stay where we are any longer than we must, as ditching the cars for two-wheeled, or two-legged transportation is so much more appealing!

Lunch in Longmont

Today I went to meet Linda for a leisurely lunch on the other side of town. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but when riding my bicycle on the highway for several miles to even get into what is "really" considered town, it becomes quite an adventure. One of these days I'll learn that it doesn't actually take me two hours to go 10 miles, but I still seem to leave awfully early because I think it will take me forever to get there. I'm always fascinated by the lack of interest on the highway portion of the ride (which is most of it), so I thought I'd take some pictures today, to remind myself that it's a pretty incredible place to live. My first real sight to see is a bridge that always has water flowing (unless it's frozen).

I think it's such a beautiful spot with the river flowing, the houses behind, and even had a flock of birds that kept dipping by as well. There's also this really cool pond that sits right in front of a little neighborhood. It's just such a restful and peaceful place. One of those places you just want to sit up a lawn chair and hang out for awhile. At this particular stopping spot, you can also see the very edge of town and the mountains in the background.

It's easy to start taking the mountains for granted because we see them every day, but they pretty much stay snow covered until the end of August or so, and even though it was mid-70s today, it's kind of funny to know that snow is very close by. One of the luxuries of living on the Front Range of Colorado, I suppose.

I really just can't get enough of them. I'm thinking about doing some paintings.. not necessarily naturalistic or photo realistic work, but using these as a starting point. We shall see, as next week, I start my plan to have some sort of schedule for painting this summer. Anyway, so the ride at this point is getting to the edge of town, and I always think it's interesting how fast the cars move. You can see the edge of the 65 MPH sign on the right, but people speed past, easily going 70+ MPH. I suppose I should be wearing a helmet on these parts, but I still believe that if I do get hit, I'm not going to survive it, regardless of whether I have a helmet on or not.

I refocused and headed back on my mission to get to lunch with Lin. It's funny how easily I lose focus though, and even felt the need to try to capture a shot of me taking photos in my bicycle mirror.

I made it to our lunch meeting spot with about an hour to spare, even with all my reckless regard for time and constant photo taking. It was nice to have the camera on hand, but I also have to say that it was a pain to carry the extra weight, once I arrived at my destination, as I brought all the lenses with me, for some ungodly reason. I did finally make it to lunch though, and we had a nice long chat about everything you can pretty much think of, so by the time I was heading back home, it was nearing "getting off" time for the work folks. Always a joy to pass people in their cars as they just sit in traffic. Gotta love bicycles!