Sunday, September 30, 2007

You Spin me Right 'Round





Saturday was beautiful. And a riding day if I'd ever seen one. So I walked over to the Prunés' to take Julep out for her first spin in weeks. It took a few tries, but the kick start was successful. I felt like I was a little rusty, since I hadn't ridden in weeks, so I did my typical Northwood loop to warm up, and then stopped off at home to show Tim it was working.



Next goal: get gas (for the first time!). I rode over to the Exxon on Oxford Ave (another first), and filled the tank – it took a whopping 1.14 gallons (I told you it was still half full!).

I was feeling good, so I decided to get more daring. I rode farther down into Northwood than I ever had, and looped around onto Castor Avenue, a fairly busy street. I think I got up to about 35mph. All without going into 4th! Whatever Griffin did, the bike is riding noticeably better. It gets off better at corners and can go faster before requiring a shift which is greatly appreciated.

I felt really confident, so I decided to finally take the plunge and ride across the Boulevard to church. I did it without a hitch. I had one car pass me on a stretch of road with five stop signs... (excuse me for actually stopping at stop signs).

I returned home and gave the deserving Julep her first bath. Scrubbed up the "whitewalls" as best as I could (they are still not white), then dressed her up in her rubber floor mat, rear rack, and bag. And finally, I rode her back to the garage and tucked her into bed.

The sun had set on a pretty good day.

4 comments:

  1. Yeah Julep! I'm proud of you Smuggs. All that's left is that big band meanie of a bridge separating PA and NJ. LOL.

    She looks great. Her caboose is killer!

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  2. Nice brown seat & satchel (is that the right word?) on the back. hot!
    sounds like you're really riding a lot now- and on busy streets... brave. but when will you ride down route 1 to a little side street house in fishtown??? :)

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  3. She looks really great in these photos...but why does she keep bashfully looking away from the camera?

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  4. After seeing her after her bath I thought she looked like a young Sofia Loren

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