Dude, I got a bike.
This is huge. I'm terrified of bikes. Or, at least, I thought I was. Turns out, I just have super short legs and have probably always been on bikes that were too bike for me (thus, I fell off almost every time I slowed). Inspired by MMM, I went out and bought a used bike (the Bikery, Oakland, CA), an old Peugeot mixte, and it's made me remember why I loved biking until I was 16 and got my first piece o'crap car.
We live in East Oakland which is no joke to ride through -- bikes aren't seen much except guys rolling them two or three at a time -- I've seen guys come down my culdesac, disappear for a while and ride back down the street with extras they've just lifted. But I recently took a full-force fighting class which has kind of changed everything for me. Now if mugged, they might get my bike and/or computer, etc., but I could protect myself, which as a woman who had NO skills that way, is life-changing.
So I've been biking! I made a pledge to do all errands on my bike in the month of May (one car trip a week allowed to get big bags of dog food and pick up the Amazon packages from my post office), and I'm LOVING it. My biggest trip was across Oakland (186 blocks) to let my sister's dog out. I haven't cheated once. I LOVE RIDING MY BIKE. It's like a game. It's truly amazing. (Thanks to local Bakari for encouraging me!!)
I wish I could ride to work, but I can't. It's 35 miles each way and I go in to work once a week for a 48-hour shift so I have to carry two days worth of living crap/clothing/bedding/food. But then I have 4 days off, so it's only one commute day every six days, which isn't bad. And on those days off, I'm riding my bike! With BART, I can get just about anywhere! (It's only been a little more than 2 weeks, but so far so great!)
And being the only girl in my area out riding her bike? I feel like I'm making a difference. Cars seriously do double takes when they see me (the bike lane on Bancroft doubles as an alternate lane to pass at 50mph+). It's scary, yes. But I'm being careful, and if *I* can do this, anyone can!!
Goal for Saturday: Get to Maker Faire on BART/bike... WOOOOO!
Edited to add a link to a pic of sign I took a few blocks from my house that goes up about once a month - this is how we sell bikes in my area - nothing suspicious to see HERE!
http://twitpic.com/dvsl2i
