In the summer of 2010, the summer I finally bought a bike.

I'm pretty sure that it was in the summer of 2007 when I hatched a plan to buy a bike as I was starting the annual end of school pub crawl with some friends. They were considering freezing their eggs, if I remember correctly, and I was like "I think I want a bike".

Then I got busy in the summer of 2007, traveling to the West Coast, some weddings, and some trips back and forth to St. Ratford, and then well, it was back to school time, and buying a bike then would be bad because it would distract me.

Fast forward to 2008 and it was the same story, but I traveled to San Francisco and the East Coast. 2009: ditto, but it was France and the UK.

So the beginning of the summer has rolled around and I've been thinking about a bike yet again. Today I walked by a bike store, and started browsing. A shiny red bike caught my eye. Some dude asked if I needed help, and I explained that I wanted a bike that was good for riding around the city in the summer. Perhaps this red one would be suitable? Well, unfortunately the red bike was more suited towards the needs of a person with back problems, but he found me a better option and I decided that I would just get the bike and end the three year farce of me wanting a bike and never getting one.

Having chosen my bike, I then got to go accessory shopping. White helmet that matches bike, check. Lights, check. Bell hand-painted with cats, check. Lock, check. Stupid water bottle holder that I regret buying now 'cuz my water bottle doesn't fit properly in it, check.

As I rode my bike home, I loved how fast it went. It took me much longer to walk to that bike store, that's for sure. I realized the seat was way too high, but I was able to fix it myself at home. I get so proud of myself whenever I can fix any sort of mechanical problem on my own.

After fixing my seat, figuring out my lock, and accidentally managing to remove a chunk of Rilo's fur with the bike (curiosity might just kill that cat one day), I went on my first bike ride of the season. Again, I love how fast I can get places on my bike, and I'm already getting good at finding some safe routes. I even took my bike out on a busy street and discovered it wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be.

Here's my bike:

And my awesome bell:

Anyway, now I get to spend my Saturday evening doing some cleaning, some laundry, writing exams, and marking. Tomorrow I'm planning another bike ride, some errands, some marking, and then sushi for dinner with some peeps. Yay for weekends!

p.s. 'cuz I bought my bike, the Los Campesinos! song "2007, the year that punk rock broke my heart" keeps going through my head but with the title I used for this post. I'm so weird.