Tag Archives: bicycle

The middle of the Bicycle story

So I started the story the other day about how my bicycle was ripped from the back of my car. This was the first really nice bicycle that I ever purchased for myself, I’m thinking it was just under $400. Generally, I just purchased $99 bikes but I was having a hard time finding tires that weren’t mountain bike (extra wide) size and I didn’t want to get the really thin tires. Plus I was at a point when I knew I’d always be able to keep the bike indoors to take care of it (and I wanted something a little nicer). The weird thing is I just commented several times over the last few months about how much I loved the bike and my bike rack (just slides into the trailer hitch and it’s so easy and sturdy).

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A Minor (but Quite Annoying) Accident

So I’m on my way to Chicago to see a variety of bloggers (to see who, follow the updates over the next few days) and I stop in Kalamazoo (Michigan) for some gas. After I get off the highway, I’m driving along and the truck in front of me swerves and I see a tire hurtling towards my car. I swerved but it managed to clip my bicycle (which is on the back of the car) and and rip it off the rack and drag the bike for a little bit before I’m able to pull over.

It does turn out there is a Jeep minus a tire that I didn’t notice during my swerving, turns out it was out on a test drive from an auto repair shop. They said to bring them the bill for fixing the bicycle and the rack. They sent me to a local bike repair shop and the end result is they’ve done $90 in repairs and then decided that I should get the bike replaced and it’s 3 hours later and I’m still in K’zoo. Everyone is closed now, and the repair shop is closed for the weekend and I didn’t think to get a home number.

Arrgh!!!! Why do accidents happen on the way to places and not on the way home? Of course it could have been way worse but the point was I’m bringing the bike to Chicago for the purpose of biking. I would have taken the train otherwise, I love the train, the station is a mile from my house and I don’t have to worry about traffic or paying for parking, etc.

On a side note I’m in Bennigan’s right now, who has free WiFi (always a bonus) which I’ll keep in mind for the future, eating their delicious Guinness Glazed Chicken Stir Fry. Yummy food and the ability to access the ‘net always helps!

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing weekend and now I’m pretty cranky and stressed now. And did I mention that that I’m three hours behind schedule now? I’ll be better tomorrow, I’m just venting for now and telling you about the exciting part of my day. Now to decide how much further I should drive tonight…

Miles and Miles

Michigan trip october 2005So I drove 695.9 miles round trip for my travels up north. I’m a really slow traveler though, I stop every so often to shop/look/snack. The 280 mile trip up there took me about 350 miles and 28 hours to do it. Like I said I really like to take my time. You can see on the map (click to enlarge) my zig-zaggedy path (in red on the map). I went Dearborn to Sterling Heights (stopped to say HI to my Mom at work), to Troy (the Apple Store at the Somerset Collection), to Birch Run (the outlet mall) to a hotel near Cadilliac, then to Frankfort (furt?) to bicycle and shop at Gwen Frostic’s then up to Leeland and visit at Jim & Karen’s in Lake Leelanau for a few days. On the way back I went to Traverse City to bike and eat lunch, Mt. Pleasant to have dinner with Dawn and April, East Lansing for Cookie Dough Ice Cream and then back home. Lot’s of other little stops to shop and eat and we ran around a little while I was up there (that might be another post or two).

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