Grocery Shopping the Fun Way

Over the weekend our doggies ran out of food. They had enough for dinner Sunday night, but nothing for breakfast. We humans were also dangerously low on toilet paper. These things weren't something that could be put off, so I decided that I needed to go grocery shopping on the way home from my morning bus route.

Jamie's old bike Vandal has been given to a coworker, but it still has the trailer hitch on it. Luckily, I had ordered a second hitch so that we could easily swap towing duties between us without having to break out the multitool every time. That gets tedious after a couple swaps. I had forgotten that I'd need to install the hitch, though, so I was almost late to work. It's not the best way to start the school week, but it could have been worse. Off I went hauling a bouncy empty trailer.

I wonder if passing drivers thought I was abusing a child in there. For some reason the chance that they might think so was hilarious to me. Maybe because I've chosen to drive dozens of children around safely for a living?

After work, I pedaled off to the store. The wind wasn't directly against me, but it was blowing steadily about as fast as I pedal on a bad day- so maybe 7-8 miles per hour. I went to King Soopers first- it was directly on the way home, so it was closer, while Sprouts was nearer Jamie's commute route home. I only really wanted milk from Sprouts, so most everything else would be purchased first.

Eggs are only a dollar! For 18 of them. I think that's a great deal, right? I got two. Jamie had also requested Diet Coke. Those were 3 for $12, so i went ahead and got three, why not? I also got the 46lb bag of dog food we always get. Making trips to get dog food is somehow abhorred by Jamie, I'm not sure why, hehe. So we get the jumbo package.

Dogfood on bottom, soda on top, eggs carefully AWAY from crushing danger in the perfect dimensions of my saddlebag (YES!). Off to Sprouts. Our last gallon of milk disappeared extremely quickly, so I bought two this time. Jamie also requested nuts from the bulk bins (the candy section of Sprouts, even you don't consider the chocolate-covered offerings). I wasn't craving anything, and the only free samples were the tiny oranges we had at home, so that's all I got there.

The trailer was very heavy. It's been quite a while since I hauled anything with that much weight. Grunt and Jackjack probably only weight 60lbs between them- 40 for Grunt and 20 for Jack. I wonder how close that load was in weight to the one Jamie hauled a little while ago? The wind fought me only a little bit, but I definitely felt any little uphill. It was funny, because slight downhills were equal and opposite- the trailer pushed me along very eagerly and it was a nice change of pace from the usual effort of pedaling. Flats were a piece of cake... once I got rolling. Getting started was interesting.

But, I made it home just fine, spinning along fairly easily in the first and easiest gear. I even brought the groceries up the stairs all myself after I took the puppies out. They were very happy for breakfast. As they both contentedly munched up kibbles, I checked email. A list of nearby Meetups had one for road bikers. Sitting there, I had the crazy urge to go right that second and hop on a road bike and go. Somewhere, anywhere, but far and FAST. It was very strange. I don't own a road bike. Plus, I had thought only moments ago that my legs would be paying dearly for that weighty trip. In fact, the commute to work was just fine, as was the ride home. I guess spinning along was an ok thing for them to do.

I didn't think to get pictures, sorry. Here are some icicles instead. The weekend's snow is clingy stubbornly, but the melt is happening regardless. Come on, Spring!

The sunlight made these glow so prettily.

Danger from above.

Now. Despite the success and relative ease of my morning shopping trip, I missed one crucial item on the list. Can you guess what it was?

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?

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Yup, the toilet paper!!

I don't like that bike rack. The lower bar is so high off the ground that it makes Zoomie lean rather precariously, don't you think?

Speaking of bike racks, I'm tired of getting ice pellets dropped on my head and down my neck from those stupid metal things on the tops of glass walls around here. I see those thing in the new schools all over the place. Are they sun shades? Well, they freaking collect snow and then hold it menacingly above you to rain icy frustrations in the form of ice pellets and drips of extremely cold water and did I mention ice? Enough! 

I moved the bike rack at work.

And that was my Monday, how was yours?

Let's See... Pictures!

Finally sharing pictures! Let's see, the last thing you guys saw was the big day of snow... that means I need to share... all this!

It snowed lightly another day.

My niece had her 3rd birthday. I didn't get to go to her party, but look what I got her! 

It's German, and I love how it isn't automatically PINK. I have nothing against the color, but everything for girls is pink. (They have a wonderful lime green one! And matching helmets! <3) 

I got this for $15 from a lady who didn't think I'd want to buy it all scratched up. If her little boy loved it that hard, don't you think Natalie will too? She'll add her own scratches and scrapes!

Here is the photo proof of Zoomie's big blowout that I mentioned in the last post.

It's huge!

A lesser bulge of tire failure.

And from the side.

And now you know why I got these! 

I like how I accidentally captured the branding just perfectly- it was not planned!

I LOVE these tires, by the way. I can see why everyone raves about them on the online forums.

Daylight savings took beautiful morning views like this away from me again. I'm back to fully lighting myself up like the aforementioned pathetic Christmas tree and pedaling along in the dark.

Oh yeah!

This happened during a trip home after visiting Jamie at work. He was getting the evening shift a lot and that meant I didn't get to see him in the middle of the day and by the time he got home, I should have been asleep. I missed him :(

The little shortcut path was slick and muddy, but it didn't occur to me that it would be until I was already on it. I was jamming along to music, feeling awesome, so I had a BLAST! I threw mud everywhere- slipped and slid a little through it, and tested out that traction on the new tires. 

It sure was fun!

Jackson wondered why I stopped to take pictures.

Then it snowed some more. It was very pretty, but melted fast.

I love those reflective sidewalls!

We went grocery sopping at Sprouts and bought WAY more than we intended. Jamie had to haul it home.

Look at all that stuff!

A train on the morning commute.

Some geese decided to hold up traffic too one day.

I discovered a night scene setting. It sounds like it takes 5 pictures and puts them together. Regardless, I'm pleased with the results!

And now with my new route, I don't even get to see this anymore- it's full dark and I've been to my first stop before the sky lightens this much.

Hehe, static! It's unusual on the streamers, to say the least.

After all that mud, Zoomie required a bath big time. 

This is why I had to go find a new chain- I didn't think this one was worth cleaning. It took all day and I ended up finishing the bath in the lighted breezeway. I finished at 11, well past my bedtime, but it was worth it.

All clean!!

Poor scraped-up Zoomie. <3

Yay clean.

I still love my frog watch. It didn't take long for me to get dependent on it for telling me the time- my wristwatch is always covered lately and my bike computer can now show more important things- like temperature.

Look, a fender sparkle!

This cloud is out of focus, I swear. Look, you can see the tree mainly in focus. I really did check and make sure I was wearing my glasses when I looked at that cloud, it weirded me out.

And lastly- I had big news:

JAMIE GOT A NEW BIKE!!

Ta dah! 

It was a dusty display on clearance. 

Jamie got another 10% knocked off for a few tiny dings.

Disc brakes!! 

I guess it is a Mongoose Stat.

I'm trying to think of a name. I think either "Squishy" or "Dory", after the Finding Nemo character. Jamie said he had to get a suspension seatpost since he no longer has rear suspension. This put in my mind the mental image of him bouncing along as he pedaled, which made me think of squishy suspension... the idea just sort of stuck in my head once it got in there. Since Dory is a female character, I think this bike might be dubbed Squishy. 

Tell me what you think or make other suggestions!

Vandal now belongs to a coworker of Jamie's, which saves us the hassle of trying to figure out how one person can get two bikes home (or two people for three bikes). I have to get my trailer hitch, though. It's still on Vandal from that grocery trip.

That's it so far! Life goes on. 

I'll talk about my new route later, today was only the second day.

Goodnight.

Spring is Coming! Time for Changes and Plans

I woke up this morning and was absolutely elated to find the thermometer showing over 50 degrees in the darkness before dawn. 58! I had bare skin exposed for the first time since.... well, for a long time. It was glorious.

Life has been pretty same-old-same-old until just recently. Did my lack of posts give it away? There just isn't much to write about when life is happening smoothly. Now, there seems to be a bunch of stuff to talk about, and it's all exciting.

Firstly- I got a bus route!! I've been serving as a substitute driver on a regular but unofficial route. That means we are driving these two kids around until they no longer need service- indefinitely. They could disappear tomorrow, or we could finish out the year with them. It looked as if we'd finish the year with them, and not only that, but the one boy started summer vacation long after my district was out on holiday- so yay for more pay!

But, I'm happy to say that I am now going to be a driver with an official route- which means the uncertainty of tomorrow is gone (you know, as much as it can be). I'll go from driving that white Suburban to the wonderfulness that is a yellow and black school bus, complete with flashing lights and emergency exits and everything. It's a mini-bus, but that's ok. I will gleefully throw on those hazard flashers at every railroad crossing to hold up traffic and check for trains.

The office staff is already talking about adding more kids to that route, now that a driver with a CDL will have it. The previous driver is one of only 2 remaining who do not hold regular CDL licenses- which means that if their little buses break and all we have are big spares, we have to find another driver to substitute as well. If the office folks want to add students, they'll just upgrade me to a big bus now that they can. See, there are additional perks to employing me besides my awesomeness.

The new route begins on Wednesday, which also happens to be the Vernal Equinox, or first day of spring, when the length of day and night are equal. How appropriate!

Anyhoo.
The second awesome thing is that I'm officially planning my first bicycle tour!

We had originally thought of doing it during Thanksgiving break, but decided against it. We tossed the possibility of spring break around, but we (my mom and I) agree that would be rushing things. Now it will definitely happen sometime this summer. Scheduling will depend heavily on the work schedules of participants.

The plan is to ride from my house to my dad's house, pretty much. It is roughly 120 miles from Longmont to Colorado Springs, so 2 days is a reasonable expectation, maybe 3. I am the only one who rides regularly, although my husband also commutes to work when he can't get a ride. The other people accompanying me on this trip is my mom, my dad, and my twin sister. And my husband Jamie of course!

Rather than find a dog-sitter, I plan to tow them along just as if it was my dream cross-country tour. Grunt has done very well- we've had a second trip, this time for a rushed picnic dinner at the dog park. I plan to get him used to the trailer with more trips, but rides fine, if a bit noisily.

We also plan on acquiring a tandem bicycle sometime between now and then. I started coveting a tandem shortly before my birthday. I very nearly had one then. How awesome would it be to ride a Schwinn Twinn with my twin on our birthday? Alas, it did not happen, but I brought up the tandem to my mom, who seems to have immediately fallen in love with the idea just like I had- we could use one on our tour! It is now a done deal- I will be getting a tandem at some point, I just don't have it yet.

So far, I'm just trying to think of supplies that we'll need (sunscreen!!!), and I'm figuring out a route. By "figuring out a route" I mean I told google I wanted directions from point A to B and told it to go by bike. Now I am walking the little street view man along the blue line, and taking notes. I'll peek at each road it wants us the travel on and check for a bike lane, a sidewalk, a wide shoulder. I'll divert from roads that might be unsafe. I'm also marking hills that I can see- Mom is concerned about hills (understandably!) due to her fitness level and leg strength. With Zoomie's gearing, I would be worried about hills too, but I also know that you'd be surprised at what you can actually pedal up.
Oh, and of course, I must do the onerous chore (horrors!) of taking my puppies on bike rides to someplace nice- like Petsmart or the dog park, or for a picnic. I'm sure I can manage.   :)
I wonder if I should put some weights in the trailer and start carting it back and forth to work with me?

Speaking of work again, Daylight Savings has robbed me of my glorious sunrises! How rude. I'm back to pedaling along in the dark lit up like a Christmas tree. Well, a small pathetic tree. Really I only have my front Maglite flashlight, the rear Bell Radian, and 2 dim NiteIze spoke lights. I expect the NiteIze to only have a 1-year commuting lifespan, the way they are slowly dying. Slowly, I can see the sun starting to grace the world with light a teeny bit earlier each day, and it makes me happy.

I got new tires! Zoomie had a blowout as a result of the cheap stock tires being unable to hold my DIY winter studs. The rubber started tearing, so I uninstalled the studs. It was only a matter of time before the tears opened larger. Sure enough, one morning I started pedaling off and felt a bumping, and heard a rub in the fender. My two layers of inner tube lining saved me from ruining the thorn-resistant tube. I rode Chainless to work that morning.
That afternoon, I found a guy in Boulder selling Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires- nearly new, and for half the usual price ($70 for both, and that's usually what I find a single tire listed online for, IF you can find them in stock)! These are reputed to be the best winter tires on the market, according to just about everyone in the bike forums. The guy was awesome enough to agree to accept a check from me dated for the next day when I got paid. I decided it was fate, and I spent that day between school bus routes taking a bus to Boulder and back and installing the new tires.
Thank you Keith!!!! I rode Zoomie back to work for my afternoon run.
The tires were indeed practically new, with the little nubbies still on in most places (he'd said they had 12 miles on them). One tire was missing 7 studs (out of 240!), the other was perfect. YAY!!

There, I think that's everything you missed. I have pictures, but I've misplaced my camera. I assure you I'll post them soon- I have some gorgeous scenery to share, more snow, and of course that magnificent tire failure had to be captured in imagery.

Happy Friday!!!