Me and my Craigslist Bike - TLA

I think it's been pretty well established that I am capable of forming a deep bond with inanimate objects (as evidenced by the fact that I'd sooner give up a kidney than to surrender my iPod). In that vein, I heart my bicycle. I purchased a season pass for a local river side trail and have used the trail a fair amount this summer. I ride to a park (from the spot where I park my coolmobile), rest on the bench pictured above, and then pedal back. I sit on that particular bench because it has the name Cletus inscribed on the back, and I really think it is a shame that there are no babies being named Cletus these days.

This morning, I biked in a charity event with a friend of mine. For days we had been watching the weather with a growing sense of unease and dread. Rain was predicted. There were five courses and we had signed up to bike the 35K course. I think with the conversion that's about 173 miles, right? Seriously, though, how come we measure some things using the Metric system and then others are out of the question? I can buy a two-liter soda but can only buy milk and gasoline by the gallon. I find that perplexing. When I was a kid, they made it sound like the U.S. would be converting to the Metric system at any second and that it was imperative that we get on board with it. That was when Carter was in office and it still hasn't happened, so I dare say the sense of urgency has dissipated considerably. Do they still make kids fill out those stupid conversion worksheets?

Anyway, it did rain for the entire duration of the bike tour this morning. Every blessed minute. I am way too prissy to be out in that kind of weather, but I'd raised $120 in pledges and I did not want to let my sponsors down. My Craigslist bike, with its new tire and new gel-filled seat, saw me through. As it turns out, the rain wasn't as much of a downer as you'd think. There was no earthly way for me to get overheated, so there was that. As we pedaled along, we chatted about this and that, noting periodically that the precipitation really could have been worse (we didn't have high winds or that crazy kind of rain that comes at you sideways and whatnot). Honestly, I don't think we were too disturbed until we realized our feet were wet. I could feel this ucky little squish squish squish with each rotation of the pedals. By the end, I was so soggy that I felt like I would never be acceptably dry again. The water was pouring off my helmet. My back was gritty from mud flying up off the road. I can only hope that I looked as pretty as I felt.