How BikeChick Got Her Groove Back

I love biking again. Not sure what changed, but this morning's ride in was - as Tony the Tiger would say - Just Great!

This bus is my nemesis  #245

Funny how much of a difference five minutes make in the morning. The streets filled up with cars and people and Sammamish High was a clusterfuck as always. A city bus blocked my bike lane, forcing me up on the sidewalk - amongst students, two cars stopped in the bike lane to let off the bright lights of tomorrow, and a car took a right turn through the bikelane right in front of me.

Other than that, I had a glorious commute. Monsoon rain and all.

Speaking of rain - I can't even begin to tell you how much my new fenders rock. I biked through two giant puddles that looked more like swimming pools today, and there was zero splatter. Best investment so far apart from the lights - that I'm starting to question to quality of.

The lights are great for being seen, but I can barely see the road with my current lights. I have two lights, respectively 750 and 500 lumens, but as I've been told - the quality of the light output depends more on how the light reflects and less on the lumens. This might be wrong, but I feel I need better lights. Whoever pointed out that I should be able to see better after the two flats I had, was right. I should be able to see better, dark roads or not.

To be seen

To see

One more thing I have to remedy this weekend is the quality of the brakes. Last time I was in to my LBS, the mechanic said I had about a month left on my pads. It hasn't been a month yet, but the front brake doesn't feel stable anymore and none of the brakes grip like they used to. The front brake feels bumpy when I pull it and makes me nervous. I'll take the bike in after work today.

But why do I have my groove back? Since my name's not Stella, and my non-groove had nothing to do with men - I'm not entirely sure. But - I'll take it!