2023-03-05 - 1:39 p.m.

Thank the Lord I have three adult bikes in this home.

I can get one of them in decent shape for a good ride.

This afternoon's to do, now that home from church ate lunch and did the dishes:
(I ate remaining leftovers from the Church lunch last Sun. Heck it was refrigerated and smelled ok and I zapped in good and hot. Should be OK still. But day 7 my limit for leftovers.We had prepared for the church the meal kits for everyone to taste just a bit of. Those ones from Rise Against Hunger, a Hunger relief org our church collabed with- so the congregation could see what it was like to eat that and simple bread and the simple soup made. Seems like a good org. We boxed a whole bunch of food items about six months ago that got shipped to schools in the Philippines to provide meals to the kids. The org has folks there who started school kitchen programs, community gardens, and other hunger relief efforts. https://www.riseagainsthunger.org/ Charity Navigator 92% 4star rating. After our event was over during which the local warehouse manager who organizes our local events was kind enough to talk to our church and tell them where the donations they helped packed went, and more about the work of the org- there was leftover of the relief meals and soup. I brought soup to some folks from church who were watching from home. One lady started to toss the relief meal which is made of soy protein and rice and dried veggies. I just couldn't see tossing it- I mean I know it doesn't help a starving kid when there is food waste here in the U.S. but I still generally really never have food waste. I try to plan for using what we buy and only buying whatwe will use. Ironic as I overbought the basics for the soup stock! JUST IN CASE the congregation did not show up with chopped veggies-- of couse they did and my purchasing copious amounts of onions, carrots and celery was foolish. I am eating those fresh veggies or a cooked onion as often as pracical!! I suppose I can freeze some too, or maybe find a neighbor to share some with that could use some.)

So the bike ride to and from chuch was a bit more challenging even than the ride home yesterday. Well... actually the ride home was more challenging because the bike is not easy to ride up hill with the slipping gear of the foot pedals. They just slip and don't engage.
I had to walk the bike up hill.
When I first sat down I thought "Oh my, I don't like this bike as much as mine AT ALL", cause my butt was sore- so my bike DEFINATELY has a more comfortable seat!

I had actually fallen or rather intentionall went to side of road and stopped and kinda landed on the bike yesterday at one point when a well meaning driver FULL STOPPED when she saw me biking to the right of her in the lane. Problem was- I needed to get over to the LEFT LANE And she made a FULL QUICK STOP when I had been hugging the curb in anticipation of her PASSING ME on the left (along with two cars behind her) so THEN I would have visibilty to see the lane next to her and judge when I could get into it-

She basiclly came FULL STOP where my visibilty BEHIND and to the left of her was completely blocked.

DRIVERS do slow down as you pass but please DO pass cyclists-
we wait for you to pass so it is CLEAR before we take a lane or do a lane change to the left lane for an upcoming turn.

It was like there was NO PLACE for me to safely go AT ALL so stop was the ONLY option

BUT I am NOT used to this pedal brake stop. I am used to hand brakes and more nuanced control of gear downshifting. Its like I am so familiar with MY BIKE *( Old thought it is- it is sturdy and functionally the mechanics work well, and sure old looking but damn it is stable and reliable but most importantly I can ride it and its hard to describe but my bike feels like an appendage rather than an exterior thing to me. It is like Being ONE with the bike- one whole unit of a moving being
and it is just part of me I am using like any other limb but it is the one that make me fly through quickly as moving about rather than a slow walk.

I think this is what it feels like when skiing, when skilled- on a downhill. You don't have this sense of your skis as separate from you any more than you have a sense of your BOOTS as a separate thing of you. Well fitted clothes are like a PART Of your body in motion. That is what it feels like for me when wearing skates, or skiiing, or when "Wearing" A bike! HA Yes that is it

Why fit is so essential.

If you have the wrong fit, and there is not a snug comfy secure enfolding over your body- the item of clothing or the tools you are using as aid to navigate remain distinctly a separate thing that are hard to get used to.

So yeah I missed that feel of the bike just being this part of my moving body.

The ride was different both yesterday and today. It was still nice many moments yesterday. But not as mind clearing and freeing, not as zen as when can be completely unconscious and not having to be so aware of the bike and the road itself. I mean when I ride regularly, I become so familiar with this local trail I literally have rode in the dark (without lights once) NOT RECOMMENDED but when found myself somehow stuck in the rain at night on a night I planned to take an UBER and for some reason there was NONE running
(Now I think that does not happen! It was early on in UBER world and I had not had a problem til that one Sun night when worked til 9pm. I had biked to work and planned on catching a ride back. I just leave my bike at work and then take the bus to retreive it in the AM but that night there was no other ride around so eventually at around 10 pm ish I decide what the hell, I know this trail-I am just riding home. I made it. NOT RECOMMENDED in the least. We do what we have to do sometimes.)

BUT I am NOT going to be riding to work in the dark in the AM without lights. I did not yet order new lights-

SO on today's TO DO:

Service the other bikes here. The one for my kid that I had the bike shop service to fix ITS slipping gear problem a couple years ago. Will take it to fill its tires and for a spin around town, to stop get some cash for bus fair. Can shop and get some change! (Simple) or visit an ATM... shopping and getting change a good tip if really just one a few dollar bills. Larger bills are harder for bus drivers to handle, so easier to get change to have exact fare.

SO to do now:
BUS schedule check
Service the remaining bikes. I am going to lower the seat on my son's bike as may ride that or my kid's when need to go anywhere. Either will likely be better than the one I used the past couple days.

OH the problem with my not being used to the brakes is the BIGGEST Safety issue- and that is a rider thing. MY RIDER ERROR

It got me today -as I left church just gently rolling down the handicap ramp- AGAIN tried to ease the bike and guide by steering and slowing down
But my slow down was the kinetic memory movement of going to press the brake on right handle bar- the phantom brake that does not exist on that three gear bike with the pedal brake you depress by shifting the weight on the right pedal backwards.

OOPS
I ran clear into the railing- banged my right knee pretty good. It was not too bad thankfully as I just went back into church and iced it immiately. In fact it ended up being fun as NO ONE was in the church so I noodled on the piano a bit as the ice pack was propped on my knee and I played the song I recently learned on guitar happily (The one for my guy friend in BUFFALO's BD). It was just so fun to know I can still play piano by ear and hear some basic chord formations and still can always pick out the melody easily. Thing is I want to SING the melody so wish to learn chords better ( I can't hear and pick them out quickly- have to spend time to tinker and find them) and would like to hear a bass line and the chords to play both THOSE while SING the melody- so really need some practice. If I practice that wouldn't be hard for me to gain the skill. I found some learn to play piano so called free app but is not really free--- just free for the very basic learn cde notes... HA HA.... and then of course the hard sell sales pitch of their paid program.

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"
OR apparently good free music lessons.

I am thinking now that I have basic guitar skills my next step musically is to hire my friend the amazing pianist if she will take me on as a teacher. I would like to budget for that somehow. ON my bucket list. I have an old accordion in my living room for noodling on, but realizing that on Sundays there is this EMPTY grand piano... well perhaps I could practice on it.

The one problem for me is I swear it is ever so slightly flat. I don't know if imagining this as it never bothered me before. But when using the learn to play music program it works by recoding your playing so it can see if you play correctly. The program is well designed as it first had you play the notes so it is calibrated to your instrument- essentially tuning the program to read if you are playing the right NOTES on your instrument- not measuring tonality- if your instrument is tuned correctly. Either the program is sharp or the piano is flat as the program would then PLAY A song and I had to play it back (or basic notes at first) and from the get go the intonation WAS NOT the same ( which of course was mad irritating.)

If did not have the refereant perhaps I would not notice.
I do think when singing in chior when we are all singing slightly sharp together I don't notice! Flat I hear- sharp I don't so think my ear is off..
so it might be the piano was good and the app was off?

OMG not accordion I mean ORGAN and old ORGAN in my living room! Trust that typo is from having just read The Book Theif in which the accordion is important.... not aphasia or early dementia!!

I am leaving the error. By leaving errors or tracking the things we know should not do * like interrupting! , it is a good way to measure if they happen enough to be a concern or not.

So off to service bikes on this gorgeous sunny day! Grateful for the weather. I can fill the tired easily enough. I do miss the bike shops that used to be in this town that closed! I would have gone to buy lights from them today. Instead I am going to buy them in town I think to support the local shop in the town where I work when next there. When I had a good paying job and was bike commuting, I always brought the bikes to my local shop in town- not cause I could not figure out how to maintain the bikes myself, but because I really wanted to support their business, and could AFFORD to bring bikes and knew they would do a BETTER JOB than me *they were kind wanting to teach me a bit too. Honestly it was so great to have a shop right here if I needed a light or help with the bike when it was my primary mode of transportation. I think I did order stuff on line and went to Target at times when it was necessary based on budget. BALANCE
* But the one shop in town I go to is not generally overpriced so will support them this time around I think. ( There are a couple more in the area that ARE pricey for the fancy rich folk! HA HA You know the type- the bike bros that have all the "essential" gear and are riding for health and pleasure and lets face it sex appeal- heck I suppose it works! It keeps them fit and having more energy so I really should not mock them.... problem is they are the same dudes who are rude on the trail... but that is another issue... and I should not generalize. But...I am in the women bike groups and hear an earful. But then again no one is writing about the good guys they encounter as much as they are about the rude ones.)

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