Road Tires for Reagan

I'm a total idiot who forgot that my Dad got me a gift card to my LBS last Christmas. I forgot about it until just recently.

See, the intended purpose of the gift card was to buy some aero bars. But my LBS didn't really have what I was looking for, so I bought them online.

Hence the forgotten-about gift card.

What does this mean?

Merry Christmas to me! I bought Reagan some road tires!



It was a fabulously easier process than I thought it would be. They were picked out and installed within 10 minutes. The cost on the other hand... that was a tad on the shocking side. I decided to go with some thicker, higher-quality tires in hopes that they'll last a good while.

So today, I hooked Reagan up to the trainer and took her for a spin.



Holy cow! The difference in how quiet my trainer is now, compared to before, is unbelievable.

Yay! I just might have to use it more often.

Aero Bars?

Hey all you triathletes out there! I'm lost.

I really wanted to get some aero bars this year. I am signed up for my first olympic triathlon in August, and I'm ready to take my cycling to the next level.

My parents even gave me a $50 gift card to my LBS to help with the cost.

I want to have them bought and set up before spring gets here, but I don't know where to begin.

I'm afraid to walk into the bike shop with NO idea of what I need because I don't want to overpay or get the wrong thing.

Here is the bike I have...


It's a Giant TCX.

Do I need different aero bars because I have a cyclocross bike and not a tri bike?
What should I expect to spend? I don't need anything super fancy or expensive... just something that is comfortable and gets the job done.

Any suggestions or advice? Much appreciated!

A Big Week for Reagan

On Friday, I took Reagan to the local bike shop. She's been dying for a tune-up, and I don't know enough about bike maintenance to do it myself.

But I had secret motives behind this trip.

With only 5 weeks til my next triathlon, I knew it was now or never... to try out my clipless pedals.

(I'll wait for the applause to die down.)

So I asked the bike shop guys to give her a good tune-up, and reattach her god-given pedals (which I replaced with straps when I bought her last summer).

Then I went shoe shopping. I was sad to learn that triathlon shoes won't work with Reagan's pedals. Booo. So I tried on some regular cycling shoes. The sales-guy seemed to be pushing me towards a shoe with more tread on the bottom (possibly a mountain bike shoe?). He thought it would help me run easier in and out of transition.

My thought is... don't most triathletes just leave their shoes on their bike and run transition barefoot? If that's the case, tread wouldn't matter. So I asked to look at a road shoe instead.

I left the store with these...



Here they are at my house...





(Note the pink ribbon inside... 10% of proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation.)




So I'm REALLY excited to try these out. Only problem now is... I don't have a bike! Reagan won't be done with her tune-up until NEXT weekend. Gurrr.

Hurry up, week! I'm sure everyone here wants to hear about my awesome first try (I WILL fall).

I've Still Got It

With only 4 days til the race, I figured out my training plan...

Tuesday: Swim 1/4 mile
Wednesday: Bike 13.8 miles
Thursday: Run 3.5 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: Swim 1/4 mile, Bike 13.8 miles, Run 3.5 miles

Great plan, eh?

So I got to work on it, and squeezed in a little time at the Y this morning. What I dislike about our pool? They only have 2 lap lanes, which means I will almost ALWAYS have to share. What I love about our pool? How WARM it is! One of the main things that kept me out of the pool last year is no longer a concern. I don't have to "ease" my way in or take an ice-cold shower beforehand. The water temperature is somewhere in the 80s which is just perfect.

I had two options this morning... sharing a lane with an older gentleman who seemed to be a pretty good swimmer... or share a WIDER lane with a 6 year old boy who was learning how to swim for the first time.

That little boy and I were a great pair. His slow swimming and wall-clinging meant I hardly even knew he was there.

Ryan bought me knew goggles for my birthday (my old ones were falling apart and you couldn't see anything through them). They worked wonderfully... no leaking, no fogging, etc.

I swam 1/4 mile (18 laps) in 10 minutes, without stopping. I was surprised at how good I did considering this was only my second time in the pool in months. It seems to me if I actually WORKED at my swimming, I might not be half bad. But come on... who wants to work at things?!

________________________________

I took my bike to the LBS today to have it checked out.

Bike Guy: "Well, it may be something wrong with the derailleur, but--not to sound insulting--it may be an EDUCATION problem."

Oh.

I think he just called me stupid.

But he's probably right. I know HOW to change my gears, but I don't know WHEN to change them or WHY to change them or HOW to change them (oh... scratch that first part). So it may just be that I'm mis-using my bike. Poor Reagan.

Bike Guy: "Why is the back wheel skewer different than the front one?"

I told him it was from my trainer (the instructions that came with my trainer said it was perfectly find to ride with it in, so I just never replaced my old one).

Bike Guy: "Well, it's VERY loose." (fiddles with it... SNAP!) "Oh... um... it just broke."

Wow. Awesome.

He felt aweful for what he'd done, so he ran to the back and grabbed a new one for my bike.

He then took it for a spin around the store and tightened some bolts and things. He returned my bike to me and informed me that EVERYTHING had been loose on it. He said I definitely need a tune up... but that their store had a week-long waiting list for said tune up. He assured me it would make it through the weekend just fine.

Phew.

________________________________

Speaking of the weekend, I'm nervous about this lake swim. I've never done any out-and-back swim like this. The swim course at my first tri was out-and-back, but it ran parallel to the shoreline. It was shallow enough to walk at any point in the swim.

So when you're doing a lake swim... how deep does it get? I'd actually prefer it to be deeper so that all the seaweed and fishies can stay far away from me.

I had a triathlon-dream the other night that the swim-portion was in a rushing river... and we had to swim UP stream! At least this will be nothing like that.

Anyone got any swimming tips?

My Productive Weekend and Why I'm Never Eating Fried Chicken Again

I baked chocolate chip cookies yesterday. They turned out a little burnt, but overall delicious.



Today, I rearranged my apartment. I can't say I like it anymore than I liked it yesterday, but it's nice to just change things up now and again. Plus, my dining table is much closer to my TV, which makes it far more likely I'll use it.

I also took Reagan into the shop today. About a month ago, I was going along and a squirrel tried to commit suicide... death by bike tire. I "slammed" on my brakes, and one of them made a little pop sound. After that, it didn't work quite right.

So I finally got a free day to take Reagan into my local bike shop, Shosie's Cyclery. And I'd like to say they are awesome.

Shop Owner: "Oh, yeah... that's no problem. It looks like the cable slipped. I can fix that right up."



"Oh... your tires are really low. Lemme fill those up while we're at it."

"You know, this bag in the front here is really meant for underneath the seat. I can move your reflector so it fits."

"It appears one of the spokes on the chain gear is bent. I'll just fix that real quick."



"Your brakes are a little crooked. I can adjust that."



... And on it went. Where I was expecting to have to leave Reagan overnight and pay for that one brake problem, I got 5 times the service completely free and super fast.

The owner even gave me some tire advice for my triathlons.

And that's why I'm totally loving them. So, if you live in or are visiting the Stateline, go to Shosie's Cyclery. Shosie's Cyclery. Shosie's Cyclery. Shosie's Cyclery. That should just about do it.

When I got home, I was supposed to go run, but Reagan just looked so good and her tires were all filled and waiting. Plus, I just can't resist those puppy eyes of hers. So I took her for a spin. The "spin" was supposed to be long, but about 2 minutes into our ride, I thought, Man, I am the stupidest person alive for riding my bike without gloves on. I don't remember the last time I rode my bike in cold(er) weather, so I was not expecting my hands to completely freeze at 15 mph.

____________________________________

My evening has been spent cooking myself dinner. I'm not the greatest cook, which is why I don't do it that often (plus, I don't like to clean up afterwards).

So, before I had even washed my chocolate chip cookie dishes,



I was making oven-fried chicken.

This was a more daunting task than I had anticipated. First off, I couldn't find any skinless chicken legs, so I bought the skinned kind and figured it wouldn't be that hard to skin them.




... Boy was I wrong. Who knew a seemingly simple task could be so gross and smelly?! (Yes, smelly. It kinda smelled like a wet dog. Blehhh).



Halfway through one of the legs, my hand was bleeding. Oh my God, I cut myself!

Oh wait... that's not ME bleeding, it's the chicken. MY DINNER IS BLEEDING. This just totally turned me off to chicken. Even if I manage to make this, will I even want to eat it?!

I never seemed able to get the skin completely off the leg, so I would pull it down as far as possible and just cut off the extra. Oh well, I tried.

The biggest problem, however, didn't come about until the chicken had been in the oven for 15 minutes.



A) My kitchen started to fill with smoke. Apparently you canNOT replace parchment paper with wax paper. Woops.



B) My chicken legs were burning and looking funky.



I could NOT figure out what I did wrong... until I reread the recipe. That's when I realized you cannot replace buttermilk with powdered buttermilk (at least not when you're making a buttermilk marinade).

So I threw out my legs.

And every bad chef knows that at this point in the cooking process... you give up and order pizza.



Next time I cook something, maybe I'll just skip over the "effort" and "mess" parts and go straight to the delicious cheesy ending.

PS: My lovely boyfriend points out that powdered buttermilk can be made into liquid buttermilk simply by adding water (it even says so on the box!). This makes me an even BIGGER idiot!

...I was marinading chicken legs in POWDER.

Whhyyyyyyyyyyyy

Last week, I needed to work out, but I didn't want to.

This week, I DO want to work out, but I can't. External circumstances keep preventing me from getting my training in, and I'm mad.

Yesterday, I woke up with a full schedule. My family was arriving in 4 hours and I needed to work out, take my bike to the bike shop, shower, and clean.

I started with my dishes. With two bowls left, I noticed my water was a funny color. The more I watched the water pour from the tap, the brighter it became.... yellow. Bright yellow. Like pee.

I was thoroughly grossed out. I checked the faucet in my bathroom... yellow.

My shower water... yellow.

My TOILET water... yellow.

Ewwww.

So I went and talked to the maintenance guy and he said there wasn't much he could do about it. "The city is most likely flushing their pipes. Try running the water for a few minutes until it's clear."

So I returned to my apartment and turned on all the water. It sounded like I was living inside Niagra Falls.

But an hour later, it was STILL yellow. With all my water running and no help to be found, it seemed my To Do list was slowly being "flushed away".

I'm not particularly against yellow water (I figured I would be fine as long as I didn't drink it), however, my bathtub proved otherwise when I found brown dirt and yellow stains.

So at my lowest point, I had to drive to the Y just to take a shower.

My reason for not working out yesterday: The city... the stupid city. My apartment building and the unhelpful people who work there. It's all THEIR fault.

____________________________________


I still had pee-water when I woke up today. But I was determined not to let that ruin my workout. I had a 3-mile run planned in preperation for saturday's race, and I had eons of time until I had to be at work.

So I took my sweet time. I had a leisurely breakfast then drove Reagan over to the bike shop for her check-up. They are going to look at her shifting and get the grit out of her wheel.

When I got home, I sat and plotted out my 3-mile run. I did my push ups for the day
(4 push ups
90 seconds rest
3 push ups
90 seconds rest
2 push ups
90 seconds rest
2 push ups
90 seconds rest
maximum (7 push ups)).

But that's when it happened... It was 1pm when I made the sudden realization that I had to be at work 1 1/2 hours earlier than I had originally thought. That only left me 30 minutes until I had to leave. Gurr.

Reason for not working out today: My job.... my stupid job and their stupid changing schedule.

3 days until the 5K. I want to get in a mock 5K tomorrow morning.

Bikes, Bike Racks, and Baseball

This will be short because I'm ashamed to admit I didn't work out today.

However, I did ride a bike for about 5 minutes. It was the Giant TCX 1:




It's a cyclocross bike I found at a nearby bike shop. It was a nice ride. Handles bumps and gravel better than a road bike, but so much lighter than a mountain bike. Made for speed, not comfort (like a hybrid). Overall... perfect.

It's a bit on the pricey side... $800. That's not a lot for a good bike, but considering I began with the instructions "find a used bike" from my mom... $800 is a lot. I think $300 will be out of my own pocket (thank you, birthday money!).

After I made the final decision on buying this bike, I went through all the steps in my head. And as soon as I got to the part where I left the bike shop, it hurt me to imagine stuffing my brand new bike in the trunk of my car.

Lucky me... because I found a woman on craigslist who lived only 20 minutes away and was selling a spare tire bike rack. I drove out immediately and purchased it for $25.

The next step comes tomorrow. By the end of the day, I will be the proud owner of a brand new bicycle. I havn't been the proud owner of a new bicyle since I was 12... this is a big deal.

After that, I need to worry about the pedals. The pedals on my Giant TCX 1 are clipless.

Essentially, they look like this:



What you are SUPPOSED to have is cycling shoes, which "clip" into the clipless pedals like this:



But... since I'm a beginner, that's a bit much to learn (and a lot much $ to spend).

So instead, I need to buy instep adaptors. They will clip into my clipless pedals and allow me to wear normal shoes:



Overall... I'm excited. New bike... NEW BIKE! Yay.

_____________________________________


Random non-training-related sidestory:

My station bought out a minor-league baseball stadium tonight. All the employees got box seats, so I went. I was sitting next to 3 on-air girls.

About halfway through the game, a stadium employee comes over and taps on the arm of the girl next to me. He tells her that one of the players thinks she's pretty and wants to ask her out.

... She got asked out by a baseball player... DURING a game... Odd? Cute? I'm not sure.

During the rest of the game, the employee returned 2 more times... once to give her the player's phone number, and once to give her the player's baseball card haha.

From what I saw, the baseball player didn't play a single second of the entire game. He didn't even seem to care what was going on with the rest of his team... he stared at her the ENTIRE game.

I Am Awesome

Less than 2 months until the big (little) race. Here is a (confusing) diagram of the race course:


The dotted line in the water is the first leg... a .25 mile swim. The solid line on the left is the second leg... a 6.2 mile bike. The dashes to the right of that is the final leg... a 1.5 mile run.

I've been feeling especially lazy and slow recently. I needed something to jolt me out of that. I needed something to get me over my plateau and on to bigger and better things.

As I've said before... I'm not fast. I'm not good, and I can't go long distances in any of the three events. So keeping that in mind, today was a huge personal breakthrough.

I woke up and it was 69 degrees, overcast, and raining a little. It was the PERFECT day for a run. And I figured I'd follow that up with a swim (since I havn't swam in over a week).

I felt good and I felt motivated, so I mapped out race distance for my run:



It starts and finishes at the same location (the Y). It's funny how short 1 1/2 miles looks when you plot it out like this.

So I got to the Y, checked the clock in my car (I forgot my watch (the clock said 11:45)), and started running.

The cool air and the drizzling rain felt great. I decided to leave my IPod at home (I'm not allowed to use it during the race), and I was suprisingly okay with that.

At .3 Mile, my shorts starting riding up.
At .7 Mile, I got a cramp (yes, I'm a wimp).
At .9 Mile, my shorts starting falling off.
At 1.1 Mile, my cramp came back with vigor.
At 1.2 Mile, I was thoroughly bored.
At 1.4 Mile, I envisioned stopping.
At 1.5 Mile, I envisioned how proud I would be if I didn't.
And at 1.55 Miles, I crossed my imaginary finish line, smiling.

I ran the full 1.55 Miles without stopping once. I didn't even do any of those fake stops to "tie my shoes" or "stretch my calf." And immediately after I finished, I got into my car and checked the clock... 12:00 on the dot.

I estimate that if you total up the time it took me to tie and untie my car key from my shoelaces, it would be about a minute. So my final time was 14 minutes.

That comes out to a little under a 10 minute mile. It's not fast, but I did it without any stops... without any help. And I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end, which is always a good sign.

____________________________________


After beating my personal best in running (at least, since high school), it was time to swim. And I had this crazy thought that maybe I could beat my personal best in that too. Maybe I could swim the race distance without stopping. All the other times that I swam the 7 1/2 laps, I stopped at least once to rest my arms and catch my breath.

So I hopped in the pool and, still tired from my run, I began to swim. I had 7 1/2 laps to swim... also known as 15 lengths of the pool.

At 1 Length, I had second thoughts.
At 4 Lengths, I felt great.
At 7 Lengths, it was a steady pace.
At 12 Lengths, I was counting down.
At 14 Lengths, my form was sloppy.
And at 15 Lengths, I had completed 2 personal bests in one day.

I swam a quarter mile without stopping, and without pushing off the wall when I turned around. To my surpise, I found that I was able to keep up my stamina and swim longer when I did not do my flip turns. I didn't realize how much those were wearing me out when I practiced.

Total, it took me 7 or 8 minutes, which is a very admirable time. Now I just need to keep that time once I hit the open seas (aka Lake Michigan).

____________________________________


Day 5 of the bike search.

It seems to get harder and harder each day. With each new peice of information we learn, the decisions get more complicated. Every option has its good and bad points.

But I finally found the perfect bike....



Eh. I'm a liar.

My parents' trip to two bike shops this afternoon resulted in a more difficult choice. They think I should steer clear of road bikes. The reason are the wheels. They are small and thin and don't handle rough terrain well. I've never riden a road bike for an extended period of time, so I'm not sure exactly how rough "rough" is.

The salesman showed them some hybrids. Those are basically a road bike frame with mountain bike-like wheels. It seems great in theory, but most (if not all) hybrid bicycles come with flat handlebars (like on a mountain bike), when I really have my heart set on drop handlebars (the ones that curve forward).

During my extensive bike research on Google, I found a third option... cyclocross. They are bikes made for this crazy cyclocross sport where the athletes ride their bike a lot and then carry it through a lot of mud. I'm not exactly sure the difference between Hybrid and Cyclocross, but the cyclocross bikes have drop handlebars AND rougher wheels... all plusses in my book.

Here is the Redline Conquest Sport. It's a Cyclocross Bike that runs for about $650 (perfect):

... The problem is now going to be finding a cyclocross bike that I can take for a test drive. They don't seem to be common in our bike shops here. Gah.

Today is Sunday. I have the next two days off. By the end of my "weekend," I want to have a new bike.

An UnBEARable Day

Ok, so the title is a lie. My day is going fine. But I needed a good lead-in to this story. 2 days ago, my station aired a story about a guy in Colorado who was riding his bike and collided with a bear. Here is the story via a Boulder news station:

BOULDER - A bicyclist had a high-speed collision with a black bear Tuesday afternoon while riding down Old Stagecoach Road. It's an encounter they'll both remember.

Boulder resident Tim Egan, 53, is training for the Triple Bypass Bike Race. He and his nephew estimate they were traveling at about 45 miles per hour on the hill just west of Boulder. Neither one could believe what happened.

"I saw a blur and thought to myself, 'Big dog.' Then just as I was hitting it, I saw this gigantic bear head with huge teeth. He was surprised to see me and I was surprised to see him. It was almost like a cartoon when we collided," Egan said.

Egan and his bike were thrown through the air. Egan's breath was knocked out and he was afraid he'd broken his back. He couldn't move for several minutes. His nephew pulled up on the scene just seconds later and told him the bear was still there.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'I'm alive, but the bear's here. Oh, this is bad.' I mean, this bear was as high as my waist. He was extremely well-fed and a big guy. And he wasn't happy. He looked at me and he opened his mouth," said Egan.

Egan's nephew says the bear raised up onto his back legs. "He wasn't leaving the scene," said Egan.

Eventually, though, the bear sauntered off into the woods, apparently uninjured. Egan, though, was bleeding profusely and his bike was bent. He and his nephew got it straightened out and rode to Boulder Community Hospital.

One longtime homeowner on Old Stagecoach Road confirmed there's been a very large bear in the neighborhood over the past few days. Jerry Dancy also says he's surprised bicyclists aren't killed as they race down the hill.

"We've got bears, we've got lots of deer that dart across the road. It's very dangerous for bicyclists," said Dancy.

While Egan had to go to the hospital, he doesn't think the bear had any problems.

"I don't think I could have hurt him," said Egan. "It was literally like running into a brick wall. I'm glad my nephew was here, or nobody would have believed me. I told him, 'I demand that this story be told at my funeral, because it'll get a laugh out of everyone.'"

Haha. I got a kick out of this story. Thank goodness I live in Illinois and bears are uncommon. Although, if I did come across one, I would only be going about 12 mph, so I'd have far more time to process what was happening and come to a stop (immediately followed by a quick getaway in the opposite direction!).

Not to be the 'crazy animal lady', but I can't imagine what the bear must have thought about the whole situation. Even if he was big, it still must've hurt pretty bad.

Here is another photo of a bear... just because it's so darn cute...

____________________________________


In lue of dragging my lazy butt to the Y this morning, I drove over to the only other bike shop in the area. A little bit further away-- but worth it because it had a good selection.

My first trip to the bike store resulted in road bikes costing over $1000 each. This trip was far more successful. I told the sales girl that I knew nothing about road bikes... that I didn't want to spend a lot... and that I'm, relatively speaking, a beginner.

She showed me the Trek 1000 WSD.

It's one of the cheapest brand-name road bikes on the market. Plus, it's specifically designed for women (whereas most bikes are mens' or unisex).

I was well prepared. I had gone online and looked up the bikes that this store had in stock and saw this was the cheapest. I knew she would show it to me. I googled it and found reviews. Problem is, the reviews were all mixed...

"Cannot do sharp turns very easily. Foot hits the wheel when turning sharply."

"I am 5'9" and the bike fits me wonderfully. It is a great starter bike and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start cycling."

"The blue paint chips very easily, my foot hits the front wheel when I turn sharp corners."

"I am quite satisfied with my new and first road bike. "

"One problem is the fact that I can not do full or fast Uturns, my foot hits the front wheel depending on what stage of pedalling I am on. "

It seems that everyone had the same problem with the sharp turns. So I took it out for a short ride. I regret not dressing appropriately. I was wearing jeans and they were getting caught in the gears when I pedalled. I eventually gave up on looking normal and rolled them up to my knees.

It was hard to get going using the pedals with straps on them.

If I tried to put both my feet in the straps too early, I fell over. But if I waited too long, then the straps dragged on the ground. Definitely something to get used to.

I didn't notice the problem with sharp turns... but then... I didn't make any sharp turns. I could envision the problem arising, though. If I return, I'll need to look into that.

Overall, it felt good. It felt light. It felt fast. Generally, I enjoyed it.

I test rode one other similar bike, but it didn't fit as well. The Trek 1000 WSD goes for somewhere in the $600's (I can't remember exactly). I'm still not sure whether I'm going to go the new or used route. I sent 2 more emails to people on craigslist. We'll see how this all turns out.

What is This Thing on My Head?

It was a lazy day. Ryan left this morning and headed back to Philly. I headed straight home and crashed for 3 more hours.

But once I woke up, I remembered that I needed to work out. I need to get back on my daily training schedule. I havn't done a brick workout in 2 weeks... eek.

So I decided I would go biking. With our bike path still pretty much under water, I needed a new route.



It was 6 1/2 miles through downtown with the turn-around point being a local bike shop. I wanted to explore their new bikes.

Side story: I've had my Purple People-Eater bike since I was in 4th grade. It's a purple speckled Huffy mountain bike with rusty bolts and moody gears. In its prime, it was a vision in purple. Its rims were shiny and its gears were efficient. But, 14 years later, it's a mild disgrace.

I didn't want to say anything about it to my mom, because I knew she would try to buy me a new bike.

And so when I accidentally slipped to my mom this past weekend that my bike, well... sucked, the prophecy came true. Mom: "Start looking for a bike. It'll be your birthday present." Ha... never mind all those OTHER gifts I recieved.

So we started looking at used bikes. But it's hard to pick out a good used bike from a photo on craigslist. Plus, I'd have to make a decent drive just to check them out in person. And what's a good price for a used bike? Is $700 too much? Is $50 too little?

We found a bike going for $400 that was practically new. The seller claimed it had less than 30 miles on it. I don't know a whole lot about what makes a "good" bike or a "bad" bike... but almost ANYTHING is an upgrade to what I'm riding now.

Here's the $400 bike:


The catch is... he said he bought it for only $445. First off... that seems cheap. Does that mean it's a bad bike? Is it a good enough bike for a beginner like me? Second of all, it's only a $45 difference. Which got my mom and I to thinking... should I just suck it up and buy a new bike? Is the $45 worth getting it brand new and all mine? But if I get into the "new" department, am I gonna get swept away and end up with something more expensive?

There are SO many questions and very few answers.

So I thought a trip to the local bike shop might help me figure things out. So I hoped on old trusty (rusty) and headed off.

____________________________________


By the time I got to the bike shop, I felt good. It was a nice day for a bike stroll through downtown. I didn't realize how hard I was riding until I got into the store and took one look in the mirror. My hair was sticking up and sweat was pooling on my stomach and dripping into my eyes.

I glanced around at the road bikes they had on display and was horrified at their price tags... all $1000 and up. NOT for me. I was a beginner. A sweaty, inexperienced beginner.

But this beginner had another mission. I figured since I had come this far, I might as well buy a helmet while I was at it (4th grade was also the last time I owned one of those).

Apparently things have changed a lot since my purple speckled (yes, it matched my bike) helmet. The helmets at the bike shop were expensive and fancy. Large and pointy and one-size-fits-all.

After some awkward and probably stupid "helmet questions" for the store clerk, I decided on the cheapest helmet they had. And I decided on gray.

Since I had rode my bike to the store, I had no place to stash my new helmet except on my head. So I ditched the box and hit the open road.

... It wasn't until 2 blocks later when I glanced in the reflective storefront of a run down antique store that I realized how stupid I looked!

Are helmets supposed to make your head look this huge?! Are they supposed to have that stupid little visor on the front? Are they supposed to make your head sweat profusely?

Oh the things I go through. I feel like a total idiot wearing this.