Flashback Friday - Its as Easy As...

Riding a Bike.

I was about 5 in this picture. Learning how to ride my first bike complete with streamers and training wheels on the open road. Bike riding is not my strong point, I don't know why, its just something that I've never really been too good at. Just ask my family! It didn't matter where we were, what we were doing, where we were going, I would always, without fail, find the nearest tree and beeline for it. Perhaps in a previous life I was comparable to Lance Armstrong and this time they (whoever 'they' may be, the people who decide this stuff?) just didn't want me to have any bicycling skills. These days my cycling is limited to a 50 year old one-speed cruiser that my Dad helped me fix up :) (And by 'helped me fix up' I mean he took the bike and brought it back ridable, Thanks Dad!) her name is Chrissy, isn't she cute? You can see more pictures and read more about her here and here.

Want to participate in Flashback Fridays? Check out christopherandtias blog!

Renovated Bike

Remember this bike? Well my very generous, helpful Dad took it home with him the other weekend, fixed it up and sent it back down with my momma this weekend!

It has new (white-wall) tires on the old rims, new handle grips, a new seat, one new pedal (the other old one wouldn't come off for anything), a wicker basket and cannot forget the bell! I can't wait to ride this charming bike all around campus hehe.

My momma and I had a super wonderful time, shopping, gossiping, doing all the girl things I knew we would do. The Carolina Chocolate Drops were very cool, it was a great show, very personable, good music, cultural, fun.

Fixer-Upper Bike

So I live in this tiny, little bitty town south of Albuquerque, NM and I go to the Tech school here. I live in an apartment off campus which is probably less than a mile from the campus. I am close enough that driving everyday makes me feel bad (for my car, the environment, my wallet...) but far enough that there is no way I could get up in time to walk to class and work. So I decided, time for a bike!

Granted, I haven't ridden a bike in, oh, probably around 5 years, and when I was first learning how to ride a bike, it, uh, didn't go so smoothly. I learned in this big church parking lot across the street from our house, yea, bit ol' parking lot. One tree. You see where this is going? Yea, towards the d@#* tree.

Anyways, I want a bike. But I don't like those mountain bikes everyone rides around here, and road bikes are dangerous, for me at least, and tricycles, I don't want to be "That Girl" so I found a vintage cruiser. I really really like those. I found one, its a bit of a fixer, its at least 50 years old, and it shows, I call it character. But I have high ambitions of making it ridable, complete with at least one basket so that I can put my bag in it instead of it across my shoulder making me all lopsided because, lets face it, I need all the help I can get.

What do you think of my new project?

It will probably take me a good three months or so to fix up because the needed parts cost money and as a broke college student, I don't have much of that, but I have dreams! And that's all one needs right?

Oh, and on a separate note, new items in my shop!