It is snowing here this morning
and 8 degrees.
Two weeks ago today
H & I landed in Austin
where it was always sunny
and by the last day, 73 degrees.
I have no resolve left,
I hate winter more than ever.
So in honor or the Handmade Bicycle Show
starting today in Austin,
I am posting a mini-set of posts
looking fondly back at my time there.
First off,
My Beloved...
When I was in Austin I fell
In Love
with a BeUtiful bicycle.
The Beloved Half Full.
Like someone you existed fine without all your life,
but now feel you can't exist without,
I need this bicycle!
This is exactly the bicycle I have had in my mind for months.
The tube size, the beauty, the color, the quality. All of it.
Any bicycle whose motto is
"let us chase the sun"
is a bicycle for me!
I have a pretty big birthday coming up...
anyone listening?!!
More on Beloved here.
More on Austin tomorrow.
I have to say,
there is something impressive
about hearing a train horn in the distance
knowing your loved one is on it
and then feeling the power of the engine as it approaches.Let Summer Begin!
In unrelated news...
Come on America...let's learn from others. Good article here.
Going to Europe this summer? Read this.
So, it's been a month since H left for PDX
and sadly Pash and I have only ridden together once.
I love Bob, but having a senior citizen canine in the house is not easy,
Bob's definitely been getting more love than the Pash (as it should be)...
Sadly, unlike Miss. S, Bob doesn't fit too well in the basket...
nor would he enjoy it.
Luckily, H is on the train home as I type!
and in less than 24 hours we will all be reunited!
Not only am I looking forward to the fam being together again, but,
Pash...I look forward to getting to know you better as well.
How about a ride to work next week?
I've already mentioned that yes, Portland is green.
But is the grass always greener on the other side?
When we were leaving SF many people told us to head North,
Not Minnesota they said - Portland!
We always wondered...what if we had...
We had these visions of a Utopian bicycle universe where when you stepped of the plane it was like Amsterdam - bicycles, bicycle, and more bicycles!
And the rain? That was a built up myth to keep the tourists out.
Well, I gotta say, though Portland was beautiful,
is on the West Coast, so by default I love it,
and has many good things going for it,
it is quite similar to Minneapolis in many ways.
And in one way not - yes Virginia, it does rain...a lot...I lucked out on my trip - the Sun was shining,
but H has had many a ride shelved due to downpours the last 4 weeks
And the biking?
Maybe H and I were in the wrong places at the wrong time, but I really did not feel like I saw a lot of people on bicycles. H has been riding his Salsa out there and rarely crosses paths with anyone else.
I saw signs of bikes, but few bicyclists.
Yeah, I believe the hype, I am sure there are a ton of bikers,
but on an average day in Minneapolis I see many more.
And so...
Portland, you are GREAT, but...
I came home finally content to be where I am at for now
I have decided that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
my yesterday
sustains my today
and my tomorrows...
That's right! It's Friday again...
I'm off to visit H in Portland
See you back here next week!
Pash and I at the top of The HillI have to admit the first time I took the Pash out I wasn't sure what I had done
One of my issues all along with this crazy quest has been The Hill
I often think of this for inspiration and to convince myself it is okay
But then the Pash and I, with H's support alongside us, tried The Hill...
First gear, standing up, it was not easy!
I began to wonder what I had done
Here I had this expensive bike I said I wasn't going to spend so much on...
Here I had this heavy bike I said I was afraid I would never make it up The Hill on...
Here I had this bike that I said I just wanted to ride without worries, but I feel better looking at her in my living room than locked up for thieves to admire on a bicycle rack...
With H having to go to Portland, that was my only ride on Pash and I mulled all these things over for two weeks and the guilt and potential dissappointment was kind of bugging me. 
Then, on Sunday I took her out late in the day.
After my ambitious lycra trek the day before, I really didn't feel like going out for a 'serious' athletic ride,
the Pash seemed like a great way to get out and enjoy the few remaining moments of the weekend.
Pash on the crest of The HillThe streets were quiet, We found a little short cut for ourselves around The Hill ,
slowly I started falling in love...
All it is is just riding a bike.
Speaking of travel...
When I hopped on the plane to return home after my SoCal trip, what should I find?
A spread by a Minneapolis writer on what else - bicycling?!!!
I find it hard to imagine that anyone else on the plane was as excited about the article as me. Bicycling Europe...sigh...
