Hello, friends!
I have a funny story to tell you, and by funny I mean "shake your head" funny and not "laugh out loud" funny.
We're in the middle of New Student Outreach right now, which means long days and even longer nights. Today I was on campus until about 9:30, which meant biking home in the dark. (It also meant lots of hours saving money on meters, but that's for a little later).
The route that I take home is pretty much the same route every time. I bike up Hitt Street, turn right on University, make a left on college, then a right on Walnut, cut through Stephens College (thanks, ladies!) make a right on Widsor, a left on Ripley, a right on Hinkson, a left on William, a right on Amelia, a left on Mount Vernon, and BAM! I'm home. (In case that wasn't confusing enough, here's the map).
Overall, it's a bunch of side streets and a pretty safe ride. The one stretch that is the most dangerous is going north on College avenue. It's a pretty busy street with lots of cars traveling at pretty decent speeds. Bikers, and some pedestrians have gotten hit along that road for as long as I can remember.
As I was biking up the street tonight, thinking thoughts and such, I heard the unmistakable sound of something falling out of my bag. I had my gym bag strapped to the back of my bike and I must have left it a little bit open because something definitely hit the street.
Friends, it was decision time. What do I do? I sounded like plastic so it was probably one of two things. Either it was my almost empty shampoo bottle, in which case I could leave it without a second thought, save for a guilty conscience for littering, or it was my pair of swim goggles, which cost me $15 and would require another trip to the store to buy a new pair. I couldn't risk losing the goggles so I had to pull over and run back to pick up what I dropped.
It was the shampoo bottle...
Slightly relieved that the goggles weren't broken and slightly miffed that I had to stop for a bottle of shampoo, I hopped back on Sulu and rode the rest of the way. There, my wonderful wife had just arrived home and was unloading the car.
Funny thing... she was on college the same time I was, so she saw me pull over and run back for my lost shampoo bottle. Needless to say, she was less that pleased.
As my way of showing my love for her and taking her concern into consideration, I will be taking a different, safer but longer, route back home after the sun goes down. I haven't figured out what that route is yet but I suppose it makes sense. Sulu getting crushed by a car seems like the sort of thing that would make this blog a little bit useless. =0).
Stats:
Distance: 10.8 miles ($1.00)
Meters: 12 hours on campus ($12) + 2 hours downtown ($1.20)
Total: $14.20
Grand Total: $374.62
Left to Save: $208.41
Happy Biking!
~Adam
The story of a guy trying to rationalize the money he spent on his bike and other random thoughts.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Time to Think...
Hello, friends!
It's been a relatively light few days from a biking standpoint but that won't get me down. We still logged a few miles and saved some cash by parking on campus. You know how much I love saving money. =0).
As I was riding to campus the other day I had an interesting thought about how much I think while I'm riding. It takes between 7-10 minutes for me to ride from my place to campus, depending on traffic but it is a solid time for thinking. When I am driving my car, the radio is on and I'm either listening to music or sports talk radio. Sometimes Meg is in the car with me and I'm talking to her. Other times the only thing I can think about is whether or not I think I'm going to find parking.
But it's not like that when I ride. I take the same path to campus so I don't have to think about the route. I know there will be parking because there's always parking. If I'm biking it usually means that I'm not running late so there's a laid back atmosphere to things as well. I don't play any music or anything while I ride (although I could via my phone if I wanted). Pretty much, it's just me alone with my thoughts.
Of course, that leads to the question that I'm sure is on your mind. What do I think about when I'm biking? The honest answer is that I think about everything and nothing at the same time. I think about the future and what's going to happen a few years from now if we stay in Columbia. I think about the past and wonder if I handled situations correctly. I have conversations with myself about one thing or another. I cook up plans for my next date night with Meg or a new idea for New Student Outreach. Sometimes I see a bird and think about how great it is to be a Cardinals fan. Really, it's a hodgepodge of goodness.
There is one disadvantage to thinking while biking. It is that I can't write down any ideas that I have. I don't have the balance to bike with fewer than 2 hands unless I have to do a turn signal, so I certainly can't write down an idea or use a voice recorder. When I'm driving I at least have the ability to record my thoughts and listen to them later. While I'm biking, I just have to hope that I remember. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. (Let's be honest, I usually don't).
So there's that. 15-20 minutes a day with a man alone with his thoughts, sometimes just thinking about thinking. It's not much, but it's something. Maybe my next great idea will come from a bike ride one of these days.
Stats:
Places: Pretty much just campus (exciting, I know...)
Distance: 6.2 miles ($.57)
Meters: 8 hours on campus ($8)
Total: $8.57
Grand Total: $360.42
Left to Save: $222.61
Happy Biking!
~Adam
It's been a relatively light few days from a biking standpoint but that won't get me down. We still logged a few miles and saved some cash by parking on campus. You know how much I love saving money. =0).
As I was riding to campus the other day I had an interesting thought about how much I think while I'm riding. It takes between 7-10 minutes for me to ride from my place to campus, depending on traffic but it is a solid time for thinking. When I am driving my car, the radio is on and I'm either listening to music or sports talk radio. Sometimes Meg is in the car with me and I'm talking to her. Other times the only thing I can think about is whether or not I think I'm going to find parking.
But it's not like that when I ride. I take the same path to campus so I don't have to think about the route. I know there will be parking because there's always parking. If I'm biking it usually means that I'm not running late so there's a laid back atmosphere to things as well. I don't play any music or anything while I ride (although I could via my phone if I wanted). Pretty much, it's just me alone with my thoughts.
Of course, that leads to the question that I'm sure is on your mind. What do I think about when I'm biking? The honest answer is that I think about everything and nothing at the same time. I think about the future and what's going to happen a few years from now if we stay in Columbia. I think about the past and wonder if I handled situations correctly. I have conversations with myself about one thing or another. I cook up plans for my next date night with Meg or a new idea for New Student Outreach. Sometimes I see a bird and think about how great it is to be a Cardinals fan. Really, it's a hodgepodge of goodness.
There is one disadvantage to thinking while biking. It is that I can't write down any ideas that I have. I don't have the balance to bike with fewer than 2 hands unless I have to do a turn signal, so I certainly can't write down an idea or use a voice recorder. When I'm driving I at least have the ability to record my thoughts and listen to them later. While I'm biking, I just have to hope that I remember. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. (Let's be honest, I usually don't).
So there's that. 15-20 minutes a day with a man alone with his thoughts, sometimes just thinking about thinking. It's not much, but it's something. Maybe my next great idea will come from a bike ride one of these days.
Stats:
Places: Pretty much just campus (exciting, I know...)
Distance: 6.2 miles ($.57)
Meters: 8 hours on campus ($8)
Total: $8.57
Grand Total: $360.42
Left to Save: $222.61
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Thursday, August 15, 2013
New Resolve...
Hello, friends!
If you are friends with me on Facebook, you've probably seen that I have been biking a lot these past few days. I haven't decided yet if I am going to keep automatically updating my rides but at the very least, it's forced me to blog again, which is a good thing, right? =0).
A few weeks ago, Megan and I moved (for me "back") to Columbia. It was a tough move as we've built up a ton of friends and such while in St. Louis. It was not fun leaving them all. Still, one thing that I was very much looking forward to, besides having a house instead of an apartment, is that I would be able to start biking again! Sulu has been lonely without me (as evidenced by all the air I needed to put in his tires when I rode him last week) and I was eager to stop spending money on gas and start saving money by biking.
There's and old saying that when someone hasn't done something for a while but they never really forgot how to do it, they say it is "just like riding a bicycle." I think it is something about muscle memory or something like that. Well, getting back to biking has literall to Savey been just like riding a bicycle. It feels so good to be back in the saddle, to pedal up and down College Ave, and to think about all the money I'm saving as I lock Sulu up to the bike rack.
Friends, by my last count, prior to this post I had just about $244 left to save before Sulu was "paid in full." After riding these past few days, I have a whole new resolve to get this thing done this school year. My goal is to have made back all the money I spent buying Sulu but May 1, 2014. I am motivated and I am ready. Let's do this!
Stats (since Friday):
Places traveled: Ernie's, the Plasma Spot, and campus a few times.
Distance: 18.25 miles ($1.71)
Meters: 2 hours downtown ($1.20) + 10 hours on campus ($10)
Total: $12.91
Grand Total: $351.85
Left to Save: $231.18
Happy Biking!
~Adam
If you are friends with me on Facebook, you've probably seen that I have been biking a lot these past few days. I haven't decided yet if I am going to keep automatically updating my rides but at the very least, it's forced me to blog again, which is a good thing, right? =0).
A few weeks ago, Megan and I moved (for me "back") to Columbia. It was a tough move as we've built up a ton of friends and such while in St. Louis. It was not fun leaving them all. Still, one thing that I was very much looking forward to, besides having a house instead of an apartment, is that I would be able to start biking again! Sulu has been lonely without me (as evidenced by all the air I needed to put in his tires when I rode him last week) and I was eager to stop spending money on gas and start saving money by biking.
There's and old saying that when someone hasn't done something for a while but they never really forgot how to do it, they say it is "just like riding a bicycle." I think it is something about muscle memory or something like that. Well, getting back to biking has literall to Savey been just like riding a bicycle. It feels so good to be back in the saddle, to pedal up and down College Ave, and to think about all the money I'm saving as I lock Sulu up to the bike rack.
Friends, by my last count, prior to this post I had just about $244 left to save before Sulu was "paid in full." After riding these past few days, I have a whole new resolve to get this thing done this school year. My goal is to have made back all the money I spent buying Sulu but May 1, 2014. I am motivated and I am ready. Let's do this!
Stats (since Friday):
Places traveled: Ernie's, the Plasma Spot, and campus a few times.
Distance: 18.25 miles ($1.71)
Meters: 2 hours downtown ($1.20) + 10 hours on campus ($10)
Total: $12.91
Grand Total: $351.85
Left to Save: $231.18
Happy Biking!
~Adam
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