Alternative Transportation

Okay, I will admit something.  I am a woman who loves to drive.  I got my driver's license the minute I turned 16 and never looked back.  My first car was a Mustang, I grew up with Corvettes, and my dad owned a dragster, so it kinda came naturally.  I even did a short stint as a semi driver.  Yup, I was a truckin' mama.

However, as much as I love my car (I now have a Mini), I realize no matter how fun I find it, driving does not really support my lifestyle.  Our dependence on foreign oil and the oil industry itself definitely do not support my lifestyle.  I know, blasphemy where I live right now.

Will I give my car?  Umm.  No.  I live in Oklahoma and between blistering hot summers and freezing winters, it is a nice luxury.  What I can do is decrease how often I use my car.

Enter my first 'driving' obsession...the bicycle!  I learned to ride on gravel roads and have the scars to prove it.  When I moved to 'the city' (population 365), I enjoyed blacktop roads and the company of a fellow bike-a-holic.  We rode for miles, exploring the surrounding countryside, visiting old, deserted graveyards, and generally having a ball.  To this day we still giggle over the grave marker that scared the dickens out of us.  It said 'absent but not dead', which our young minds took to mean UN-dead.  EEK! Zombies!  Yes, those bikes, and us, got around.

So remembering the fun of my youth, my Hubby (sweet guy that he is) took me shopping and I ended up with this:

My new wheels!  Nope, it's not fancy.  No extra gears.  No hand brakes.  Simple but definitely not plain.  There is a bell, a cup holder and a cargo rack.  It even has a bottle opener. 

My plan is to use this to make short trips.  Things like picking up a few things at the grocery store or heading to a friend's house.  Not only am I saving hard-earned money but I'm getting some exercise to boot, which I can absolutely use. 

I'm really curious to see how many miles I put on this baby.  Pedal power!