Mostly bleh, but one good thing

Look away, I am hideous. Seriously.

My doom and gloom attitude continues (oh leaden January skies, how you suck my will to live) and I really have little to report except how very low my morale is. I mean I've DONE stuff, but... well look, I've:

1. Done two spin classes this week, and am very much improving even though I still loathe it.
2. Ordered a pair of so-ugly-they-rival-Crocs cycling sandals (which are on super sale at Sierra Trading Post, btw) which will help with spin class and with summer cycling in general, especially if I get those clip-in pedals everyone keeps telling me are sooooooooo important. But I cannot be happy about ugly shoes, and I deeply resent making a non-thrilling shoe purchase. Because shoes should always be joyful, dammit.
3. Sent out updates to donors to remind everyone I'm still doing this, and to anyone I know who hasn't donated to remind them I am still fundraising and please donate. This part sucks even more than the ugly sandals thing, because asking people for money is very unpleasant and not very easy. Though it was fun to put the update together. 
4. Oh! Since last I mentioned, I DID take the bike out (Monday) and practiced starting and stopping and NEWSFLASH: I am no longer thrown into a panic when it's time to apply the brakes. Huzzah! Okay, that's the one genuinely bit of purely happy news.

About starting and stopping: the little demo video from LGRAB was really the trick. Shocking how something so basic can be so hard to intuitively grasp, and how I could WATCH someone start/stop over and over but still not understand it without the verbal breakdown. The fact that you shouldn't be sitting on the saddle was quite a revelation, and the key to my getting anywhere. The other tip I'd throw in, in case you're thinking of getting on a bike and (like me) are pretty clueless, is that you're not going to immediately fall over when the bike stops. Weirdly enough, gravity isn't lying in wait, eager to grab your ankles and drag you down the moment it gets a chance. There's no need to panic, because you get this nice slow couple of seconds where you can lean slightly to one side and put your foot down, and it's all okay. 

Don't do it without watching the demo first, though. That was really the biggest takeaway. I need to practice more, because my starting is still pretty awkward - and I need to turn some corners and such. I'll do it if the temps climb above freezing this weekend. But let's not hold our breath on that. It is January in Chicago, after all. 

Bleh. Stupid winter doldrums. No matter the weather, though, I will take the pictures of the bike (despite the crappiness of my camera) and talk a bit about it, as promised. It's good to have a goal, you understand, because otherwise I'll just stay under the comforter all weekend, dreaming of Tulum.  So even though a bike report is not a beach cabana, it's something to do. 

Now I'll just go to bed dreaming of riding a bike around Tulum.

That should help with morale.