Aqua Mouse took a huge crap the other day. A violent eruption of boiling toxic green and choking clouds of smoke made me want to cry. I think my sister made a record for the most lightening quick move by a pregnant lady when she jumped out of her seat and out of the garage in under 3 seconds. Of course my reaction was slightly different. I just sat in my seat and thought,'damn, I think my car is on fire'. Sigh.

The official bike riding commute was established as a result of this unpleasantry. I knew I needed to start riding because I can't afford gasoline to feed Aqua Mouse, but this was the foot in the ass I needed.

So (e:Nejifer) agreed to make a test run out to Canisius with me yesterday. I wanted to see how long it would take me and what my best route would be. I have a pump for my tires but Limey Mouse, my old skool retro Schwinn of equal squeakiness, requires 90psi and I simply don't have the muscle to reach those numbers.

First, a walk to A Plus to use the air pump. I really don't like walking my bike. It's a strange contradiction. We get to A Plus only to find the air pump is out of order. So I had to walk a few more blocks down to Mobil. I'm sorry but I think 75 cents for 2 minutes of air is absurd. Whatever happened to the days of free air?

Even with the air pump reaching 90psi was tough, so it cost me $1.50 worth of air to get there. I'm not bold enough to just let it fill. I keep stopping to check the pressure because I don't fancy a tire blowing up in my face.

All squared away, we cruise down to Delevan and head to school. Limey Mouse isn't made for potholes and gravel. It was a tricky ride. We cut through Forrest Lawn at the corner to enjoy a change of scenery and a few hills.

Took a break and had some water, then set the compass for home. Half-way through Forrest Lawn I realized I was putting out too much effort. I looked down to find a flat rear tire. Karumba! Crossed Deleware and dropped more change to re-inflate the rear tire. Made it home on cranky breaks and a continuous leak.

Aqua Mouse is broken. Limey Mouse is broken. I seem to have a thing for squeaky modes of transportation that don't work so well. What's a girl to do? I would drop a lot of money to fix up Limey Mouse. Aqua Mouse is out of the question. So...I had to buy a new bike. While I enjoyed Limey Mouse's look, I've always been a mountain biking kind of girl.

Essentially, I combined the two. I got a Schwinn Jaguar with incredibly high handle bars and super fat (or phat) tires. At least now I can go up and down curbs and over trails.

So, if you see a girl in black with a black helmet, don't run me over.
Ciao.