Introducing: No-Name!

Hurrah!

I got a bike -insert cheering here-! I have been wanting a bike for several years, and the year my parents were going to finally get me one for my birthday I busted my knee. They thought it would be a cruel joke to get me a bike I couldn't use, but in reality biking was a big part of my recovery. Their logic didn't hold up a year later when my sister totaled her car right before Christmas, and then a few days later received a car GPS as a gift. Luckily she had a good sense of humor about it.

I love naming things, which I believe stems from my moms habit of giving everyone and everything a nickname. Here is a brief list:

• Remote control - remotus apperandi (who the hell even knows)
• Molly - Moll-a-roo, Moll-a-rooski, Moll-a-rooskified(?????????)
• Dictionary - Dick-Tie-On-Ar-Eee
• Emma, my niece - Emma-Loo, Lu-Lu, Lu-Lu-Faces, Loo (may give her gender confusion)
• Adding "Louise" to the end of people's names for no reason, like to my friend Christina's name making her Christina-Louise
• Our cat Shuffles (RIP) - Shuffie, Shuffle-Puff, Shuffles-Louise, Shuffle-Off-To-Buffalo, etc.
• Our car, a Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition - The Ford Exploder, Eddie Bowel Edition

The list goes on and on. Basically, if she gives you a nickname it means that she likes you. I want to name my bike, I am my mother's daughter, after all, but I've been struggling to come up with a name. The best I have come up with so far is "Dirty", so I can say I'm "riding Dirty". 

Boston is nicknamed "The Walking City", not because it is so safe to be a pedestrian here but because you can walk almost anywhere within an hour. The same goes for cycling; you can get across the city pretty quickly, and sometimes, as I found out yesterday, much faster than the Green Line. But first you must know how to navigate an infrastructure system designed for horse and buggy, not logical travel (I know I haven't lived in a city with a grid system, but I'm so used to Boston's jumbled mess of road systems that the grid systems I have encountered actually confuse me more). Next, you must be prepared to share the road with Massholes, city buses, cab drivers that apparently enjoy risking life and limb while driving, other bikers, confused tourists about to be struck by cars, and an abundance of construction vehicles. Boston was rated one of the worst cities for cycling for many years, but has made it to #26 on Bicycling Magazine's list of the top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities. A former Olympic cyclist now serves as the bike coordinator in Boston, and in the past few years many bike lanes, bike racks, educational programs, and a bike sharing program called Hubway have been added.

I took No-Name out on our maiden voyage in the middle of rush hour traffic on Monday afternoon. I think my 5 years of experience of being a pedestrian/public transit user, but also an occasional driver, in Boston helped me not die. Sadly, the phrase "not die" is actually relevant, as several people have been hit and killed on their bikes by MBTA buses and other vehicles in the past few years. I swerved through hoards of traffic and tourists like a pro, but I was glad to get off the road and ride along the Esplanade for a few miles. The 5.26 mile ride took only 35 minutes, which is equivalent (if not faster) than the T at that hour. Not only that, but being on a bike was much better than being packed into the Green Line like a sweaty sardine.

Boylston Street

I biked to work that morning, and again it was faster than taking the train. Being caught in the afternoon traffic on a road without a bike lane was a little scary, but it's been a fun experience to see my city in a different way. It was about 95 degrees and disgustingly humid, and I had almost been hit by a cab, but getting stopped at a light and seeing this view was pretty cool. I tend to get tunnel vision when I'm going to/from work, or using public transit at all, so it was a refreshing change. 

Thankfully there are some bike-friendly areas, and there is a nice path at Belle Isle Marsh near my house. I wish I could replace my T rides with bike rides for the summer, but unfortunately I cannot get through the tunnel on a bike. By the way, the Callahan Tunnel is closing for three months so I'm really thrilled to see what the traffic will be like in the 8th circle of hell. I suppose I prefer that over my worst fear becoming a reality - the walls failing and water from the harbor filling the tunnel as I slowly drown to death. That fear was intensified when a panel broke off the wall during rush hour. It was removed along with a few more faulty panels. A full inspection resulted in ALL of the panels being removed. How encouraging!

In other news, I convinced my roommate Jaime to do her first obstacle race with me in September. I found this deal on Living Social, which is probably the main reason we were okay with signing up. It will be my second obstacle race, my first is going to the Spartan Sprint at the end of August. Rugged Maniac, the race in Sept., is just one of many options of the obstacle race fad. I'm hoping to be well prepared for this race, as I believe the Spartan Sprint will be more challenging than the Rugged Maniac. I don't doubt the Rugged Maniac will be tough, with obstacles like Suicide Slide and Rugged Rope Ascent, but the Spartan Sprint will be my first time doing something like that. It may even be my first actual race if I don't get my ass in gear and sign up for a 5k before then. Spartan Sprint requires you to do 30 burpees (HELL) if you can't do an obstacle, whereas all other obstacle races I've seen allow you to go around any obstacle you can't/don't want to do. Thankfully I am tackling that course with several male friends who are buff and were in the military, so if I can't get over a wall they will throw me over it. The Rugged Maniac may be a different story... I'm already getting visions of Jaime and I, face down, dead in the mud. Our team name is Biggest Losers, that way if things go well we will look like successful Biggest Loser contestants, and if things go poorly we will just be big losers. Win-win.

My strict(er) training and eating habits start July 1st. I've been slacking off, especially since this past weekend was my 23rd birthday and I sat on the beach drinking and eating for four days. My running pace is getting better, and on my last run I averaged 9:48 min/mile on a hilly course. Not that fast, but really great for me! I plan on getting my pace faster, doing longer distance runs, and building my upper body strength. Summer is here, but it's going fast!