Biking

Success! I bit the bullet yesterday and got a great new folding bike for myself. I liked the idea of a used one, but I decided I really wanted one that folds up, and those were hard to come by used. I take that as a good sign that people who buy them really like them and hang on to them.

I had considered getting a regular-sized bike, but I heard so many horror stories about bike theft that I really hated the idea of leaving my new toy chained up outside my office building every day; it was just asking for trouble. With the folding bike, I can take it upstairs to my office each day and keep an eye on it. It'll make it easier to store in my apartment, too, which is great. And even though it cost more to get it new, the money I'll save on unlimited metro cards will offset the expense in just a few months.

Todd already had a bike, so once I was ready to go we hit Central Park. It was a perfect day for riding, and we started out on the bike loop and then veered off to chart our own course. After noshing on an awesome sweet potato knish by the Harlem Meer we left Central Park and headed over to Morningside Park instead. After that it was a cup of coffee and a a quick ride (after the big hill that kicked my ass anyway) back to Todd's. The bike folded up beautifully and is now taking up about a third of the space Todd's is.

I was very focused on not mowing down pedestrians when Todd took this picture, so I'm not smiling. I really was having fun, though!