Mr. Ride... er, Right

On my last post, I told you all about this lumpish guy:

That would be my beach cruiser, who is kinda the sports equipment version of the "can't-we-just-be-friends?" date. You know, he's sweet and means well, but he's not athletic and wheezes when going up a simple hill and makes girls want to have a friend call with a fake emergency to rescue them because they are just... well... bored.

Then, I met Schwinn.
Schwinn is slickster meets granola-crunchy. He's smooth and fun and is up for sight-seeing and off-road romps and adventure. He swaggers like Hansel from the movie Zoolander, sharing the mantra: "The way I live my life: I grip it and I rip it!" I was smitten.

Okay, I think this metaphor has officially worn out its welcome, so I'm going to stop before I include some unintentional innuendos, like "taking a ride". *wink *wink *nudge *nudge*. YUCK.

Bottom line, after one hellish ride on my beach cruiser where the wheels were already squeaking and my foot pedal brakes barely worked, I had had enough. It was him, not me. I talked to Customer Service at Walmart about the fact that it was so squeaky, and they let me return it for a full refund! Then, I happily skipped to Target, bought Schwinn, and we rode off into the sunset together.

Literally.

You see, as part of my "fun list" for summer, I decided to go on Anthem's Moonlight Ride, an eight mile bike ride for charity that starts at sunset and ends with a community party. My friend Mali and her hubby, who are always up for something new, joined us!

Here are us girls gearing up to start. No incredibly lame bike pun intended.

The other bicyclists were pretty whimsical. They blinged out their bikes with X-mas lights and flourescent bands. Some people even dressed up for the costume contest: from matadors to a bride to a whole team in hazmat suits!

At around 8:15, about 600 other bike enthusiasts joined Schwinn and me on the eight mile ride. I loved riding around at night because of the constant breeze and magical atmosphere. The organizers lined the road in the local park with tiny lights and it was all very midsummer-night-dreamy, which isn't an adjective but should be. When we got back, we enjoyed listening the music, people-watching and cashing in our tickets for pizza, ice cream, and beer (where I made a mental note that I need to stop rewarding myself for exercising with food, specically of the more-calories-than-I-just-burned variety.)

I've already taken Schwinn out on two other rides since then.

I think we're gonna be very happy together.

Pictures from here and here.