I Saw Sunlight On Saturday

and it made me happy from the inside-out.

Sweet Baby Jesus, it's amazing what an afternoon spent in the sun can do to your head. Add on to that an excellent day spent shopping with a fun friend, and it's easy to believe that all is right with the world.

I made sure to store up a mess of that feeling inside, and my drunken-sunshine state carried me through most of today's greyness. But now I'm all out, and seem to be suffering from a sunlight hangover.

But talking about this afternoon, I spent some time out at roll:, getting some hands-on experience in changing flats, and adjusting gear and brake line tension. Believe it or not, in the past few years that I've been riding, I've never had a flat tire - I put it down to the fact that, excepting last year, all of my road cycling had been on a mountain bike, with tires that probably could've carried a monster truck down the street. Still, not an excuse for knowing-how-but-not-doing, so I'm glad I got to remedy it today.

PS: I am in full-on covet mode for a Mike and Chris bone-coloured light weight leather jacket that has no business being so expensive, or looking at me the way it does. And I will be actively avoiding stepping into Jinny's for the next couple of months, until leather jackets are too heavy to wear and it disappears.

This is How We Roll(:)

When you move to a new city, you have to find replacements for things and places that were yours in your old home. Sometimes you're disappointed (see: Columbus grocery stores in general), and sometimes, the things and places you find far exceed what you're used to.

A few weeks ago, my friend Andrea was considering purchasing a bike from one of her friends. Being the pushy monkey that I am - and very much wanting her to buy a bike that would be just right for her, so she'd love it and never want to get out of the saddle - I was insistent that she get professionally fit to make sure that all that the frame had going on would be right for her body.

On suggestion from a co-worker, we made our way up to roll:. And the store? So damn excellent that I forgot to be annoyed by the colon. Store design aside, though it does, indeed, have an excellently cool look and layout, the place just felt good on stepping through the door. The people who work there are incredibly approachable and equally knowledgeable about bikes and the act of cycling. And, on top of that? It's the first bike shop that I've set foot in that has women on staff. That's right, more then one. And they ride, too.

So, last week when I saw spring starting to peak around the corner, I took my sweet baby in for a spring tune-up, and took advantage of their crazy laser body scanner to set up my bike to a bit more of an aggressive stance. And I can't wait for it to be warmer then 0C in the mornings so I can get out on the road.

Dear Spring, where are you?

Anyway, I'm looking at the body scan printout right now, and I feel like I could confidently take this information to a seamstress and get some excellent bespoke clothing made. Is it wrong that before Friday, I had no idea how wide my shoulders were, how long my arms were or the length of my inseam? Oh dear, this is somewhat dangerous information to have, indeed.