fahrrad!

[along the rhine with junior, circa february '09]

today i get to say goodbye to 'junior'...
and let's be honest, jr. really wasn't all that good to me.
jr. was two sizes too small.
jr. left me stranded on the side of the road while
amy and i had to yank his chain back into place.
we had to use rocks and sticks and our she-power to do it.
it was no easy task; jr. could be pretty unaccommodating.
jr. wasn't open to change; when i tried to up the gears
upon approaching an incline, he threw a fit.
click-click-click, click-click-click. no luck.
oh pah-leaze jr., grow up! but he just wouldn't budge.
in the end, all the greased-up promises and perpetual coaxing
got us nowhere. -- nowhere, i tell you.
needless to say, i was left feeling pretty glum,
ride-less and depressed.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
but then someone new came along.
daaaaaaaang. oh, no he di'nt.
could this be what i've waited for?
everything i've dreamed and hoped for?

saddlin' up... giving him a go.

oh, boooyyy. -- mmmmm-hmm.
you betta' believe it.
pure and total joy.
i didn't know it could be this good.
built-in headlight, complete with a generator.
a jolly lil' bell to greet friends or passers-by.
an added shelf for groceries, picnics, books or treasures.
and just my size. just.my.size.
'yazoo'. he's foreign.
ya-zoooo, hunny.
we're gonna' live it up here. here, in the büs.
what grand adventures lie in store.
this one's made of love.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

bike it baby.

Hello all. Please read this nytimes article (shout out to Meg & Bridge for passing it on to me) about a German town (only a few hours from where I live) that has decided to forgo all automobiles. Bikes only. Pretty sweet. People are living intentional. I really applaud their efforts. I probably should take a journey up to see the town for myself... not in a car, mind you. : )

In German Suburb, Life Goes on Without Cars
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
A young development in Vauban illustrates a trend of planning communities to thrive without automobiles.

we share books, why not share bikes?

We've readily come to support the notion of public libraries, so why not public bikes as well?  It's the latest craze all over Europe, and the NYTimes keeps covering stories about this new transport system, so I thought I'd add a link to one of the stories below.  One of my favorite, favorite aspects of Europe is the fact that everyone seems to get from here to there by bike.  Only a few U.S. cities are as bike-friendly as most European cities; but as this article describes, even more European cities are jumping on the bike-band-wagon.  It sounds like D.C. is experimenting with a public bike project - let's see these same plans laid for other major U.S. cities.  Bring public bikes to the states!  We can share.  (Full story linked in article title below):

MEMO FROM BARCELONA

European Support for Bicycles Promotes Sharing of the Wheels

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Published: November 10, 2008

Bicycle-sharing programs have sprung up and taken off across Europe, on a scale no one had thought possible and in places where bicycling had never been popular.