Bike Bum

There is nothing I like better than riding my bike. With the wonderful weather we've been having lately I've taken to the trails and the streets with sheer joy...except for one thing...

the pain of "bicycle bum"...

Whoever thought that one of the largest parts of our body, the bum, would be comfortable on such a small seat??? I am suffering today like you wouldn't believe.

Or, more specifically, my "sits bones" are suffering today.

The most common causes of sore sits bones are: a saddle that is too soft (imagine that!), prolonged sitting in the saddle, and saddle height that is too high.  So maybe putting the memory foam saddle cover on the bike seat was the wrong thing to do??

Perhaps I should wear one of these?

Or, even better...

...a LAWNCHAIR seat!! Hee, hee, hee, no, seriously!!

I find if I keep sitting back further on the saddle then the pain is relieved - it's just that I'm forever moving forward on the saddle for some reason. I'll have to check and see if I can change the slant of the saddle to keep me from sliding forward...if not, then...

...I might just have to try a western saddle! Yes, I can actually get one of these from Amazon!! What doesn't Amazon sell??

Any other avid cyclists out there??

I Love Sunday

Don't you just love a Sunday when there are no demands on your time? Me too! Especially since we've lost an hour by springing ahead. I appreciate having daylight now til 7:30pm but I don't like that it will be dark in the morning again with sunrise at 7:38am instead of 6:38am. That being said, however, this is my favourite time of year wherein we add 2 minutes of daylight everry day now until June 21st, or "Summer Equinox". I plan to use those extra minutes on my bicycle. I don't believe I've ever had my bicycle out so early in the year before and I don't kid myself that spring is here to stay (considering it's still WINTER!!)

OOPS - there goes the dryer...I'll BRB! (be right back!)

Okay, one load folded, another in the dryer.

While the laundry gets laundered I plan to do the following on my peaceful Sunday:

• finish the crossword puzzle that I started Friday (I do the Los Angeles Crossword every week; I like a challenge but find that the New York Times Crossword is usually too difficult for me to complete. The LA version is just a tad easier.)
• I've started reading the "4th" book in the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. If you've read that series of books you know that it's a trilogy, not a "fourology" (yeah, I just made that up). 

"Spider's Web notably marks the first novel in the series not written by Larsson. Instead, Swedish writer David Lagercrantz, a former crime journalist and novelist, took over for Larsson, who died of a heart attack in 2004. Lagercrantz was chosen by the Larsson estate and the author's Swedish publisher, Norstedts, to continue the Millennium books."

You can click on the link above if you want to read the full review. I'll let you know if it's any good! I have high hopes!

• bring my bike upstairs from the basement where it's been stored the past few months
• clip kitty nails
• eat whatever I want as Kazi is away this weekend
• ride my exercise bike (not the best weather here today so I'll stay inside)
• listen to CBC radio which I am currently doing - Stuart McLean of The Vinyl Cafe fame, is on right now - he's a Canadian story teller who sees the humour in everything :)
• have "afternoon tea" and eat snacks :) :)
• maybe yoga, maybe not - we'll see if I can find the ambition!
• go to bed early!

Bicycle Blues

I love my truck (Dougie the Dodge) but in the interest of "living green" I use my feet and my bicycle to go most places during the warmer months. Like the girl above (who looks remarkably like me when I was about 8 years old - minus the sunglasses and helmet of course!) I experience such a sense of FREEDOM when I'm whizzing along on my bike.

Unlike my former child self I tend to engage the brakes when I get zooming too quickly down a hill and NOWADAYS I wear a helmet! Touch wood (my head!) I haven't had any falls so far this year but if I do I'm more likely to break something than when I was 8.

Back when I was a kid riding freely around the village I grew up in it was no problem to leave one's bike propped up against a tree while you went into a friend's house or a store or got involved in a game of softball. Every kid had a bike and had no reason to steal someone else's. The only problem I encountered was the time a bully threw my bike into the sandbox at the nearby park and for the rest of my years using that bike the chain made a loud grinding noise from the sand. Phooey!

This past week I've encountered some vandalism that made me feel like that 8 year old kid again. After riding my bike to my brother's house, then to yoga, then back home again I discovered someone had snapped my front light right off. Not to use mind you but just as an act of vandalism because there were a few little broken pieces on the ground. The rest of it they must have thrown in the bushes or somewhere.

As if that wasn't bad enough I then noticed the rear view mirror from my helmet was missing!

That little mirror pops into the arm and swivels for a good view behind me - it pops out from the arm rather easily I'm afraid. I do lock my helmet to my bike for safekeeping but never thought someone would pull the mirror off...until someone did. Again they didn't take the whole thing so they could use it, just the mirror! Sigh.....

I now have a nice new rechargeable light which I can easily detach and keep in my backpack when not in use and I have a "parts kit" coming with a new mirror. Until it arrives I'll just have to crank my head around and look over my shoulder to check for traffic behind me. I can do that. And lesson learned - I keep my bike locked with TWO locks when it's not in use but it's still open season on accessories so keep 'em safe! Darn bullies!