Obsession with sports

As many of you are aware, my bike is pretty old. I bought it for $40 at a garage sale down the street. It’s an old women’s one-speed Huffy with a chain guard and basket on the front (which my mum gave me). It squeaks when I ride and doesn’t go up hills. The tires go flat quickly. Sometimes it makes weird metal clanking noises.

It’s not a perfect bike but it does the job and I use it to ride to school almost every morning. I used to take a shuttle to school but they’re not just crowded, they’re usually full. I’m getting to the point where I can’t wait to get out of school, and so I’m rather jaded to being cram packed into a bus with a million other university students, most of which are on their cell phones and none of which will give up their seat for someone who needs it more, like a person juggling five bags and a musical instrument.

But that’s a different complaint. So, my bike is great and I ride it everywhere. Did I mention it’s slow? My bike is so heavy I can’t lift it more than a couple inches off the ground, and I’m not exactly petite. So it’s really slow, because it’s so heavy. If I get a good speed going and then stop pedalling, it’ll roll to a stop really quickly. It’s ridiculous.

Anyway, so, I’m not the sort of person who rushes around anyway so it suits me fine. I tend to be late to class and late to dates and appointments, so a slow bike is perfect. I’ll be riding along, keeping up a decent pace, and all of the sudden, some douche on a mountain bike or racer bike, wearing a helmet and shorts, will go whizzing by me, his backpack tight against his back and no trace of a bag or basket.

Which is fine. You know, if he wants to get out of breath, that’s his business. But he’s GOING TO SCHOOL. Not biking in a marathon. Where’s the fire?

I’ve been reading Copenhagen Cycle Chic and it exactly talks about how I feel. Americans have turned cycling into a sport, just as they’ve turned running into a sport, walking into a sport, and every other thing they can possibly turn into a sport… into a sport.

Now people feel like you can’t just bike to work or school without having the Right Gear or the Right Bike. I see clones… ahem, sorry, I mean girls at my university wearing running shorts all day. Running shorts? What, do they expect they’re going to suddenly have to race each other? Or do they think by wearing athletic clothes to history class they’re going to look skinnier and more toned?

My point is exercising is such a big deal here! Everyone goes to the gym, buys fancy clothes and equipment, and then wears their running shorts to go grocery shopping. People give me weird looks because I bike in a skirt. To school. Without a helmet. Without any “bike equipment.” Wearing gold flats or Converse with no arch support. Oh no!

Like, I said, I’m always late. Sometimes it’s a big deal. So I run. Seems like a good idea to me, but I get stares because I am the one of the few people I have ever seen running on campus. Everyone else walks briskly. Wearing running shorts.

You don’t need fancy equipment to ride your bike to school or work and you definitely don’t need to dress funny. You just need to do it. Or, just go for a walk in whatever you’ve got on. I see these ladies walking in gym bras, shorts, and caps, and it just looks funny to me. I think if you’re spending that much time looking athletic you’re missing the point of just going for a walk. Or riding your bike. Or even swimming or hiking or camping or whatever.

Trust me on this - if you go in what you’ve got on, you’ll be fine. Unless you’re seriously jogging for sport or running a marathon or whatever. I’m just saying that if you want to walk you don’t need to wear something special. If you want to bike to work just enjoy the ride and don’t worry about the difference between spandex and nylon and chamois or whatever the heck. Unless you are planning on participating in a marathon or you take it VERY seriously, if you don’t have the gear, don’t WORRY about it. Just get out there and do it anyway.

Too long didn’t read:

Dear America,
Stop turning every single way I get from one place to another into a sport. I can’t afford spandex.
Thank you.

October 19, 2008 @ 9:55 am . Comments (6)

Culture — Tags: annoyance, fashion, trends

High heels

This post is about fashion and clothes. Readers who do not care, you may excuse yourself now.

This isn’t something I’m particularly proud of or particularly open about, but I’m a huge fashion addict. I love runways and tracking the latest trends. I don’t love shopping but I do love buying clothes (does that even make sense?). My style is … I don’t even know right now. All over the place.

But here’s my thing. Shoes. I hate shopping for shoes because everything that’s cute has a really high heel. This is a problem for two reasons - first, I’m uncomfortable in high heels. I don’t know how girls walk in them on a daily basis. That’s a whole ‘nother story, though. Second, and more importantly, I’m fairly tall. Not super huge tall, but tall, especially for a girl. I’m five foot eight with really, really long legs, so heels just make me seem HUGE. I took a poll of several of my male friends (redundant, as I hardly have any female friends), and they said that heels on tall girls are fine, even “hot,” as they put it.

But it still makes me uncomfortable to walk around in heels of any size larger than the teeny tiny kitten ones. A regular heel can pull me to six feet tall easy, which is just … scary. I mean, I get unnerved when I see a six foot tall girl walking toward me sometimes. I don’t think I have a good reason for this, but it still happens.

So, how tall is tall? I hate towering over everyone, and it doesn’t help that J is exactly my height. He doesn’t care at all if I wear heels - in fact, he encourages it - but still! I’m so jealous of these cute small girls in nice heels, continuing to be cute and small even with the heels on. I just feel like an elephant. Or a giraffe.

Not that giraffes are bad, but I prefer not to be one. Any suggestions or ideas? The worst part is I bought a pair of high heeled boots (they’re not as ugly as they sound, I promise) recently and I haven’t worn them once. Granted, it’s summer and over 100F, but I’m afraid they’re going to go completely unworn. Is tall-girls-in-heels a really scary concept, or is it just me?

August 9, 2008 @ 8:52 pm . Comments (3)

General — Tags: fashion