Bicycle Blues!

Today, Ayiko and I were supposed to go on a bike ride with an L.A. group called Black Kids On Bikes. Having used a bicycle as my primary form of transportation up until I had kids, I was excited to gather with a group of bicycle loving folk. I rode my bike until I was 6 months pregnant with Charlie, and I learned to drive a little while after that. I got my first driver's license at the ripe old age of 31, a rare occurrence for a California native. I really did do it for the environment, but any carbon points I may have gotten for not driving for 30 years, I have used up by having 3 kids.

Now, not using my bicycle as often as I would like means that I was not fully prepared for the ride today. My bike clearly had some issues, so I decided to use Richard's, which we shared for commuting to and from work for a while. I would ride to Santa Monica, leave the bike at his office, pick up the car and the kids, and he would ride the bike home. It was great fun and exercise, but it was nipped in the bud when I got a bronchial infection, and then, soon after my illness, I discovered I was pregnant.

Ayiko, was also not aware of the fact that she had a bad inner tube, so, once we were finally ready to cycle off into the sun, we realized we were not going very far. We called the skate shop Planet Maple where the black kids were meeting and they referred us to a place called Mike's Bike Shop. I had never been there, and I figured it would be a good idea to support a local business. It's a cute little shop and the owner Mike really knows his stuff. I learned this when I watched him discuss how he figured out that the bike a guy brought in to have serviced was a pre-war Schwinn from Ace Hardware in Chicago. Mike also told the man that there were no bicycle shops back then, people got their bikes at the hardware store. Interestingly, the man who brought in the special bike was the awesome photographer William Hawkes.

Since we couldn't ride, we decided to partake in one of our other favorite pastimes: Eating. We walked to the corner to chow at the ever-satisfying CJ's Cafe. It was perfect and Ayiko bumped into someone she knew. I also bumped into someone I knew as we were walking. At times, L.A. can be very a very small city!

Outfit:

I actually changed my pants from my bike riding pants because I didn't want to "waste" a biking outfit. As far as outfits go, this is pretty lame, but I added the necklace so I wouldn't feel so gauche. However, it is Sunday, which is the day of rest. On Sunday I give myself permission to take a break from fashions' rule, while still not repeating any outfits!

Tank: Champion. Target.

Pants: From Cousin. Old Navy.

Shoes: Fit Flops.