I Want To Ride My Bicycle

this is in Boise-notice the nice little geese, the sunny blue skies and the green trees.


So I started a love affair with biking two weeks before I left Boise. Ah haa! I left Boise. It makes me sad to say it. I decided as gas prices soared that it would be better to let Deirdrie rest and use my own two legs to get me around town for awhile.So I borrowed a bike and started riding. Over those glorious two weeks my legs gradually became stronger and leaner as I explored nooks and cranny's of Boise that I never knew exsisted. I found magical bridges and pathways along the green belt and even went out on 5:30am forays to Meridian for breakfast with friends. My bike riding feats became legendary as friends started to call me the crazy one. My bike truly did become my best friend. Then I came home to Calgary, the home of long rolling hills and incredibly unpredictable weather. Boy oh boy. The first day that I made the trip from south west Calgary home to my parents house was gruelling. I was riding an old school white, purple and aqua marine blue mountain bike with fatty tires and a stuck break pad. I didn't even have a helmet with me that day and got a killer look from one of those super profesional road bkier types as he came towrads me on the highway. The second day was much better as I rode my dad's tricked out road bike. Please imagine this bike with me. The silver frame was found leaning up against a dumpster ready for the dump. This frame was then fitted with old mountain bike handles, new roadster aloy wheels, a saddle pack on the back and the extended arm rest pads and middle hand grips that professional bikers use. Attached to the top of the hand grips with hockey tape is an old gold wrist watch face. I am actually growing quite fond of this crazy hodge podge of a bike and would probably want to steal it from my dad if the frame wasn't too big for me. Oh! the toe clips, I forgot about the toe clips! Because the frame is a little big for me, I sometimes have a hard time with getting going and getting my toes in to the toe clips at the same time. This is a delightful thing to see as I wobble my way across intersections in front of amused drivers. Let me also comment on the difference in weather from Boise to Calgary. In Boise, it seems that every day was heaven sent. Spring has been delighting Boisians for a couple months now. There is nary a cloud in the sky, well, sometimes. But for the most time everything is fine and dandy. Calgary on the other hand is a big city with big weather. We sit at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. those Rocky's like to mix things up as weather patterns come over the mountains. Yesterday as I began my ride home, a sudden torrent of rain drenched me within 1 minute flat. With that driving, stinging rain came 60 mile an hour winds straight at my face. The wind was so strong that I couldn't get any air in my lungs, or it could have been that I was pushing uphill straight into it and was pushing my body to it's physical limit. One or the other. Rush hour traffic on the highway started to back up as people slowed down to stare in disbelief at the psycho biker that was being pumled by the elements. Oh how glorious. I ended up back tracking to the nearest 7-11 to wait out the storm. Don't like the weather in Calgary, wait 5 minutes. Sure enough, 5 minutes later I pushed through a milder wind to make my way home. In the following picture please notice the retreating storm clouds in the distance. I only wish you could see all the mud on my legs that passing vehicles spit all over me! Oh the glory of it all. I was made for the Olympics. Wait for it! You WILL see me there one day.