I'll miss you and love you forever Bike.

I'd recommend pressing play so you have appropriate background music for this post....

Bad news bears, my bike has been laid to rest in front of my work. Although I suppose in the next week I"ll have to figure out a way to move it off the sidewalk...

Bike's final resting place...Brooklyn, NY :(

So many of you know my bike was already in bad shape. The breaks didn't quite work, which made downhill rides all the more exciting. It had 6 gears, 4 of which worked... but you never really knew what gear you were in. The handle bars were rusted at an awkward angle. Long story short... it was a mess... and I loved it.

Earlier this week I had an unfortunate run in with some metal shards that apparently, someone thought would look good on the street. My tire and tube were torn pretty badly and I had the do the walk of shame all the way back to my apartment, making me late for work. That was Monday...

Tuesday: I paid $37 dollars for a new tire and tube and was back on the roads!

Wednesday: I planned to meet a friend in Manhattan after work and decided I'd make an adventure out of it. I was going to bike through downtown Brooklyn, over the B Bridge, across Manhattan to the West Side Green way, and up to Columbus circle. I was SO excited, and was looking forward to the ride all day!!!

6:05pm I look out the window and see a man KICKING my bike. Seriously?! Who the heck just     stands there and kicks a strangers bike. I yell down the sidewalk at him... he disappears.

6:15pm I finally get out of work and go to start riding. I realize the my pedals barely rotate and the chain won't stay in place cause the whole spinny contraption has been bent... literally... not just dented, but BENT. 

6:25pm After spending a few minutes trying to fix it. I throw out some curses, then a few tears, call a friend to vent, then just get on the subway.

Taking a Break from biking some trails in NC

So that's it. I decided it was time to throw in the towel and venture into the new and updated world of bikes. We've had a good run bike. Multiple states, roads, trails, and many accidents. But we stuck together. I'll truly miss you and no shiny new bike will ever fill the void you've left. Goodbye my friend.

Our first picture together

Glow Sticks and the bike I loved.

Charlotte, NC. 

Hey Again

Well Blog-o-sphere, It's been a while. I've been overwhelmed with work (7 straight days totaling around 70 hours) and haven't been doing much of anything exciting. Last weekend I headed up to West Point to cheer on the athletes participating in the Special Olympics. It was fantastic to be outside and to be a part of something so special to so many families.

I took it easy on my ankle this week. Did my typical bike rides to work and a few other places but only got one run in. The great news is that I ran my fasted 5K in a year! I actually giggled a little bit as I was slowing to a jog and looked at my watch. It feels so fantastic to finally be making some progress again. So much so, that I almost considered attempting a sprint series Ru-Bi-Ru today. Unfortunately, my friends birthday celebrations were a bit more festive than I had planned for and I ended up sleeping in past the 7am registration deadline (and the 8am start time). I did get to explore a new Biergarten! We all met at Greenwood Park and had a great time! Their prices are fantastic, I spent less than $20 in the 5 hours we were there. It was also right along the cemetery so my bike ride home really renewed my excitement for exploring Greenwood.

Despite sticking to my normal routine, looking back it was a pretty good week. Ran, biked, made an impromptu trip to Coney Island with the roommate, celebrated a friends birthday, and now am just relaxing at home and preparing for next week. The man comes into town Thursday, one of my best friends comes on Friday and we've got tons of fun stuff planned.

Exciting posts/pictures to come!

Me and My Bike... A Love Story

Last Wednesday I got reality handed to me in the form of a sprained ankle. Apparently running a 5K, biking 8 miles, then trying to play 3 hours of a sport I haven't played in a decade was a bit too much for my ligaments. After 4 days of intense RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) I'm back on my feet (without a limp). Today was the first day I've been back on my bike since Wednesday and MAN it felt good!!! So I figured I'd take a moment to tell you all about me and my bike...

It all began the spring of 2009. I had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina that year and was starting graduate school. I happened to live an awkward distance from school, you know, when you're too far to walk but too close to drive. So i decided to get a bike. I found a decent "hybrid" on Craigslist for $50 but upon examining the bike a week later, was able to haggle the guy down to $35. I occasionally rode the bike but really never used it as much as I had planned. 

Fast forward to 2013. For some reason, one Saturday... I decided to ride my bike to work and it was MISERABLE. I was horribly out of "biking" shape, NYC drivers are MEAN, and it turns out there is a whole neighborhood named Park Slope because it's on a huge, steep slope... but I had never put that all together. Long story short, I hated it! But for some reason... I did it again the next day, and the next. I also started realizing that even though the subway is much cheaper than my car was... riding my bike is FREE!!!! Half of my commute is also through park. Most New Yorkers barely get to see a park once a week and I get to see everything blooming twice a day. These days the only reason I take the subway to work is if I'm forced too because of an after work commitment, OR if I have a sprained ankle (although I think riding my bike would have been better than hobbling the 1/2 mile to the subway). 

My bike is very old, it has shocks that are completely rusted, brakes that function when they feel like it, 6 gears: 4 of which work but you never really know which one you're using, tires that have to be refilled every other day, and handle bars that have rusted into a very odd angle. But... it cost me $35 so getting the $75 tune up that it needs is out of the question. When I heard through the grapevine that I might be getting a new bike for my birthday (June)... I had very mixed feelings. I've come to love my heavy rusted chunk of steel but, at the same time, am very excited about the prospect of an upgrade. 

Apparently a "hard tail 26er" is what the bike shop dudes think will be best... I don't know what this means but apparently it has wheels that can handle trails OR roads (a must) and brakes that work. So I'm sold. Any advice from the bikers out there? 

Pick-Up Soccer.... Adventure #1

So for the past few weeks I've been STARING at this pick-up soccer league on Meet Up.  All women's, beginning/intermediate... exactly what I needed. Now, I used to be fairly decent at soccer, I did play for 12 years after all. It's just that those 12 years were from age 4-16 or somewhere around there. Haven't really touched a ball since then, so I figured this league would be a great way to meet some new people and get back into playing without being expected to bounce the ball on my head across the entire field.

So Wednesday comes along, I leave work early and am so nervous that I ride my bike all the way to Prospect Park before realizing I didn't wear my helmet (EEK!). Then it begins... the awkward few minutes where I get to stalk around the park fields looking for the group of strangers that looks most "soccer-like"

Long story short, I found them. There were 24 ladies in all and we played 2 games (shortened of course). There were lots of ability levels and even some people who were worse than me (woohoo!). By the end of the night I had scored 2 goals, made some friends, and sprained an ankle. All in all a good night.

I highly recommend Meet-Up. I've really been wanting to meet some new people here in the city which can be hard since everyone is so spread out and busy. I also am broke so this was a great and FREE (unlike other rec leagues) way to get out there, meet people, and play some soccer. 2 thumbs up!

If you're ever looking for me on a Wednesday I'll be playing soccer (after the ankle heals )