My New Ride

During my walk with Ado this morning I could hear music. The sound reminded me of Don McLean, his "American Pie" album. After I returned home and had Ado all settled in, I decided to set off to find the music. I found it just off the trail to Uptown, behind the Community Cancer Center. I sat in the gazebo and listened. Monarch butterflies flittered among the daisies circling the gazebo.

I have since learned the singer is Dan Hubbard, a singer-songwriter who lives right here. The butterflies were released as a symbol of freedom and happiness, especially as these are connected to those who have battled cancer and won.

I followed the music. My day was all the more brightened for it.

Old Faithful has found a new home.
Yesterday, I said goodbye to the blue cruiser. I truly loved that bike, but I was ready to let it go and start a new chapter with a new cruiser. The kind I fell in love with, out in California during the TransAm ride 2012. We were sitting outside a bike shop in Davis, wiling away the time. I walked amongst the brightly colored bikes -- Electras. I really wanted to buy one right then and there, but all I bought was a package of red cherry valve stem caps. I put those on the blue cruiser when I returned home from the ride. Now that cruiser is in the hands of a couple who have promised to take good care of it.

My new ride -- what a beauty!
This afternoon, I breezed down the hill to the apartment, astride my new cruiser. An Electra. Glossy black. Seven speeds. The pedals slightly in front of the saddle rather than directly underneath. Pull brakes instead of a pedal brake. Hub powered front and rear lights. She's a smooth ride. I hooked on the panniers and set off for the grocery store. I pretty much cleaned out the fridge and the cupboards this week, which was my intention, so I could go grocery shopping and start fresh. I'm really working at eating what I buy, not letting the food spoil or just sit in the cupboards. The only thing I had to throw out was the strawberries. I'd just not felt like eating them all week, and when I pulled them out this morning, the mold had attacked. I've promised myself that won't happen again. I will eat the strawberries I bought today. I will.

On the way home, I took the hill that on the blue cruiser was a bit of a chore. On the Electra, I climbed the hill with ease. Even with two filled panniers that added at least 25 pounds to the back of the bike. The difference between the Electra's chainring and the blue cruiser's chainring makes me not fear the hill when the panniers are full.

Now I just need to figure out what to name this beauty (and no, it will not be Black Beauty -- that's a horse, not a bike).

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