This Weekend

The folding bikes have landed. Last night we went out and bought two green 2007 Dahon Speed D7's, brought them back to Reston, and tooled around on them for the evening.

While we were originally planning to test-ride a couple of Downtubes this weekend as well, the ones in stock didn't seem too promising, and the consensus seemed to be that these Dahons were the way to go. And the man who sold them to us, oddly enough, attended the University of Iowa (which we found out because, oddly enough, each time we went in I was wearing a different piece of Iowa clothing--a Hawkeye sweatshirt, and a UIHC T-shirt), so in addition to the 5% discount for buying two at a time, and the bags for packing them up which were included, he threw in a free rain cover. He intended to throw in two, but only had one, so he told us if we brought our bikes bike for the complimentary and highly-recommended 30-day tuneup, he'd give us the other one then. So, that was nice.  

So far? We're really enjoying the bikes. They're smoother and more ergonomic than the old clunkers we've been riding around, and getting them in and out of the apartment is a breeze. (Plus, they're adorable, and they match--it's like having an official team bike!) It also looks like we should be able to fit them and our camping gear in the car, which will come in handy for our impending trip to the Smoky Mountains and to Georgia (next week!). We've even found someone to watch our cats that week, so things are falling into place!

With that in mind, today we're planning to ride to the thrift store to make some donations (and clear out some clutter), and possibly scoop up some free day-old Trader Joe's bread. We're also going to be test-driving some of our dried-food recipes and dehydrating some more ingredients to take backpacking. We're planning to get our backpacks mostly packed. And, we're reorganizing the storage closet where our former bikes were stored so that we can unclutter the apartment even further! I've agreed to give my bike to a nurse-anesthetist where I work, and I think we're going to donate Matt's to charity. I do feel a little pang of sadness at getting rid of the bike my parents bought me when I was 8 years old, but on the other hand, I think back to times I've considered hanging onto something for nostalgia's sake and my mom told me "Just take a picture of it and look at that." Wise words. Plus, we pretty much negate the (hefty) investment we just made in folding bikes if we're still hanging onto the old ones!

So, it should be a nice day. We sit here with a pot of espresso (which always makes me feel more like it's the weekend, since we don't have time to make it during the week) and a pan of hootenanny and a lovely spring breeze blowing in the window, plotting our strategy. And realizing that it's pretty much only nurses and farmers who spring out of bed at 7 in the morning, refreshed at having "slept in so late."