• Biking doesn't get cheaper with time. 2 new books, 3 magazines, a new jacket, disc lock, cable, and biker trash clothes, all within the past 5 days. Jeez.
• Your biker friends will not restrain you in the stores. Your biker friends will not listen to you when you tell them, "OK, you're going shopping with me to keep me from spending all my money." They want you to spend money, lots of money, the more money the better. That way, they can justify spending money too. They will also bust out with emails to you like, "Hey, I had fun shopping with you last weekend; I did some online comparisons and found *another* bike store! Let's go to that next weekend!" As if you're going to say no. This is a sick, sick, hobby, people.
• If you hate drivers when you're in a car, your opinion will not improve when you ride your bike. This is fairly self-explanatory, I believe. If you drive a certain route to work every day, and whenever you take your car, you swear at other drivers, say, 15% of the time, this percentage will at least double when you take your motorcycle to work. The nice thing is that talking (or swearing) to yourself out loud sounds really neat and cushiony from inside your helmet. This is valuable entertainment on eastbound Central Expressway at 7pm on a weekday.
• Eastbound Central Expressway at 7pm on a weekday sucks my ass.
• No one at work cares what kind of engine you have. Your co-workers could really not care less about your pistons, your carburetor, your single overhead camshaft drive, nor your new jacket. Ditto for your non-biker friends, but they deserve it because they just sit around and bore you with talk about the Foogenheimer Zerklephlud processor and the Zinklefoo Glockenspiel compiler all the damn time.
• That disc lock ain't stoppin' no one from takin' that bike. But wow, it looks cool. It's all bright orange and shit. To be honest, I have the sneaking suspicion that attaching the day-glo orange disc lock to my bike actually *increases* its chances of being stolen, since it sure as hell sticks out like a sore thumb. But, y'know, whatever.
• My hair hasn't looked good since I started commuting on the bike. See, I don't shower in the mornings, I shower at night. So in the mornings, my hair is kinda all over. Normally, I'd put cute little glittery clips in it, or little pigtails, or pull it back with cute barettes. Not with that helmet, though. Clips and pigtails don't fit inside it, and putting it on/removing it just seriously messes up the barettes and I'd have to redo them. As I am not the type of girl to immediately run into the work bathroom and do/redo my hair in the mirror, I just leave the hair all down and slap my Danger Research baseball cap on to keep the wispies off my face. You ever wear the same baseball cap all day, every day? Ew. I'm so gross.
• Ventilation is the greatest thing *ever*. My bike and I have something very important in common. We are both air-cooled. We both fookin' hate sitting at that stupid light at Rengstorff Avenue, which is always backed up like a million trillion light-years. So when we hit the last litte bit of Central Expressway, before my exit, and the traffic has thinned out, we both really really really love opening up the throttle and zooming along at like 60mph and getting some *air*. My new jacket has ventilation under the arms and on the back, and I'm telling you, it's the best shit ever. Oh god. Mmmm.
• Nothing will cure freeway anxiety like stop-and-go traffic on city streets at rush hour. 'Nuff said. Every day on my way home, I cry for the freeway.
• It is not allowed to rain this year. The rainy season is going to start in like 2 1/2 months. This is not OK. I did not authorize this. I know, I know, I could still get some rain gear (more $$!) and learn to drive in the rain. Maybe I will. But, dammit, I'm just really getting going with commuting on the bike, and it's always sunny and happy and with the slight exception of EVERY OTHER PERSON ON THE ROAD WITH ME, it's absolutely perfect. So it's just not allowed to start raining.
• A very special message for Peter, my darling, the love of my life. Dude, go fix that tire already, wouldja? I want to ride with you again. :)

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