Being a troubled young biddy riddled with serious, years-old issues of anxiety and manic depression, my life goes through sweeping phases of "I'm OK" or "I'm really, really not OK at all..." The first phase is generally maintained by certain habits and practices being strictly adhered to for the purposes of protection from simple, everyday triggers which can set off the second phase.
It's almost unfairly unbalanced, but that's the hand I've been dealt. Just coming out of an "I'm really, really not OK..." phase now, I'm recalling some of the habits I used to take part in everyday when I was a bit more OK. The school choir *HOLLA former choir kids!!*, writing in my Xanga *shout-out to all muh Xangstuhs!!*, and the habit I held when I was most recently last "OK," riding my bike.
Oh, how I loved riding my bike. I rode it all throughout New Brunswick, NJ in the summer of 2007, between semesters at Rutgers University. No matter how face-blisteringly hot it would become, I was blissful as long as I was pedaling away.
But I'm not going to lie; if you are a female cyclist in that neck of the woods who likes to wear robust outfits (skirts/heels/platforms/flip-flops/whatever) and bike everywhere she goes, then you have to be prepared for some serious gawking.
Although, being gawked at while biking is somehow so much more pleasant than being gawked at while walking. Perhaps because of the semi-quick zoom past the noted gawkers, and maybe on account of the fact that when I'm riding my bike I feel like nothing can touch me.
And-not to undermine the seriousness of bicycle injuries (I have a scar on my upper EYELID which tells tales of horror that my mouth or keyboard could never reveal)-but straight up: cycling injuries are easier to take than any other kind of (everyday) injury. Even the emotional injuries triggered by my paranoia of being stared at are severely less painful on a bike. I even laugh when I remember the weirdly specific cat calls I'd get while riding through the most "hood" parts of NB: "Yo Indian girl on the bike with a backpack on-can I get a ride??"
Sigh. Good times.
But these times were brought to a nasty halt when my bike fell victim to one of New Brunswick's favorite crimes: bike theft.
The sudden lack of exercise and convenient transportation, and just general feeling-down-ness of losing something I loved quickly caused my life to fall into shambles, eventually leading to the most epic seizure of paranoia and immobility I hope I'll ever see in my life: several months of straight-up-not-leaving-the-house agoraphobia.
While I may appear to be in the gutter, I'm still looking up at the stars, and dreaming of becoming a proud female cyclist again. So, as I look for someplace warm to jet to before true NJ cold sets in (if I'm not supposed to hibernate like bears, I'll migrate like birds), I'm keeping an eye out specifically for places where cute-outfit-wearing, giant-bag-wielding, platform-rocking biking biddies are all the rage.
What do you guys think? Do you love to bike/know any good vacation spots where one can bike?
When you go on vacation or take a trip, do you bring a bike, buy a new bike, or rent one?
While you think it over I'll leave you with my fellow flamboyant Indian (yes, he's really Indian-google it) cyclist Freddie Mercury's take on the subject:
I clicked this to tell you there's a song called that, lol.
Hey! Our mission at AnnotationSensation is create the world's largest book club for those who love to read and annotate. PLease help us make our idea a reality by visiting our page!
I'm more a motorbike kind of guy than a cyclist, but yeah, I cycle sometimes. If I travel, I usually rent a car or a motorbike, but if I'm on a low budget travel, I'll rent a mountain bike.
my parents had this time share at some resort in florida..that we went to pretty much every summer while growing up...as soon as we got there the first thing my sisters and i would do was run over to the rec building and get bicycles and race. it was awesome.
@agnophilo@xanga - QUEEN i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bikeee. oh my gosh. @___@ addicting ass song.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - As an atheist I especially appreciated "You say shark - I say bite, you say lord - I say christ I don't believe in peter pan, frankenstein or superman, all I wanna do is BICYCLE!"
: D
@agnophilo@xanga - @Asianrockgurl@xanga - lol did u guys even noticed i linked it? i feel like u both just got psyched and immediately went to the comments haha but i don't think people use the sentence structure "i want to ride my bicycle" EVER without purposefully referencing Mercury
Which means I can't post this comment for two minutes and 55 seconds, much to my chagrin.
@missneeraja - haha my bad. my browser didn't load it at all until after i posted the comment. haha and i get what you mean when people give you weird remarks when you ride your bike. =__= whether it be random people or perves.
@agnophilo@xanga - loll i caught that, but i'm the opposite. i don't appreciate it D:.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - Meaning you're christian or you think it's an affront to comic book readers?
@agnophilo@xanga - yup and nope. i don't really care for defending superman. batman ftw.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - Heh. You know he says he doesn't believe in superman, right? : D
As a matter of fact, I do vacations strictly for their mountain biking opportunities. There's nothing like a bike to make you feel twelve years old again.
i always pick up my motorbike rather than cycle when going out. But i always love to ride bicycle because when riding cycle we can come across many thing when moving slowly whereas you can witness such things while riding bike.
Former choir kid holler back! Woot! =) I had my bike stolen a  year ago after leaving it locked outside of my dorm...going to my first class after the break and realizing that my bike was gone...no bueno. I actually got it back though after reporting it to the police! It was great. Any place with hills is fun for me..hard on the way up, worth it on the way back down. Good luck! =)
EVERYONE cycles in Copenhagen. Even politicians!! So u can be sure no one will gawk at u while u are there. Plus they make it safe to do so with cyclist-only tracks EVERYWHERE. its like an extra road by the pedestrian walkway for bikes.
Its nice to cycle in paris too.. Its actually encouraged by the local tourism board & u can cycle for free in Paris with the rental bikes. :)
I dun cycle when i travel. I like sitting in car being driven around better.
Big fan of using the word "biddy" to describe yourself. Underrated for sure.
Being a troubled young biddy riddled with serious, years-old issues of anxiety and manic depression, my life goes through sweeping phases of "I'm OK" or "I'm really, really not OK at all..." The first phase is generally maintained by certain habits and practices being strictly adhered to for the purposes of protection from simple, everyday triggers which can set off the second phase. 
Comments (18)
I clicked this to tell you there's a song called that, lol.
Hey!
Our mission at AnnotationSensation is create the world's largest book club for those who love to read and annotate. PLease help us make our idea a reality by visiting our page!
You can participate and find out more at www.annotationsensation.xanga.com or through e-mail at annotationsensation@yahoo.com! Thanks!
I'm more a motorbike kind of guy than a cyclist, but yeah, I cycle sometimes. If I travel, I usually rent a car or a motorbike, but if I'm on a low budget travel, I'll rent a mountain bike.
my parents had this time share at some resort in florida..that we went to pretty much every summer while growing up...as soon as we got there the first thing my sisters and i would do was run over to the rec building and get bicycles and race. it was awesome.
@agnophilo@xanga - QUEEN i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bikeee. oh my gosh. @___@ addicting ass song.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - As an atheist I especially appreciated "You say shark - I say bite, you say lord - I say christ I don't believe in peter pan, frankenstein or superman, all I wanna do is BICYCLE!"
: D
@agnophilo@xanga - @Asianrockgurl@xanga - lol did u guys even noticed i linked it? i feel like u both just got psyched and immediately went to the comments haha but i don't think people use the sentence structure "i want to ride my bicycle" EVER without purposefully referencing Mercury
@missneeraja - : D
I did just go to comments, but I'm listening now.
Which means I can't post this comment for two minutes and 55 seconds, much to my chagrin.
@missneeraja - haha my bad. my browser didn't load it at all until after i posted the comment. haha and i get what you mean when people give you weird remarks when you ride your bike. =__= whether it be random people or perves.
@agnophilo@xanga - loll i caught that, but i'm the opposite. i don't appreciate it D:.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - Meaning you're christian or you think it's an affront to comic book readers?
@agnophilo@xanga - yup and nope. i don't really care for defending superman. batman ftw.
@Asianrockgurl@xanga - Heh. You know he says he doesn't believe in superman, right? : D
@missneeraja - I do.
As a matter of fact, I do vacations strictly for their mountain biking opportunities. There's nothing like a bike to make you feel twelve years old again.
i always pick up my motorbike rather than cycle when going out. But i always love to ride bicycle because when riding cycle we can come across many thing when moving slowly whereas you can witness such things while riding bike.
by
playstation
Former choir kid holler back! Woot! =)
I had my bike stolen a  year ago after leaving it locked outside of my dorm...going to my first class after the break and realizing that my bike was gone...no bueno. I actually got it back though after reporting it to the police! It was great. Any place with hills is fun for me..hard on the way up, worth it on the way back down. Good luck! =)
EVERYONE cycles in Copenhagen. Even politicians!! So u can be sure no one will gawk at u while u are there. Plus they make it safe to do so with cyclist-only tracks EVERYWHERE. its like an extra road by the pedestrian walkway for bikes.
Its nice to cycle in paris too.. Its actually encouraged by the local tourism board & u can cycle for free in Paris with the rental bikes. :)
I dun cycle when i travel. I like sitting in car being driven around better.
Big fan of using the word "biddy" to describe yourself. Underrated for sure.