"i want to ride my bicycle."

For the rest of my life... looooong after this slice in Spain is completed... I will think back about my time here, and a few things will stand out.

The heat.
The ham.
The hair-styles.
My bicycle (hereby referred to as my bici... as in bicicleta.)

My bici has been an integral part of my life here ever since I purchased it (oh that glorious day in September 2007). It goes where I go and sleeps where I sleep.

Ok... I know I may seem a little obsessed, but you've got to try to understand.
Think about often you're in your car in a normal suburban town. You and your car spend a lot of time together. It's a pretty big part of your life. That's me and my bici. We're best buds, amigos íntimos.

Of course, our relationship is not perfect. There exist pros and cons.

Let's discuss, shall we?

Pros:

My bici gives me exercise (yuhu.)
My bici give me money... ha... or well it's at least economically smart and easier on my bank account (no paying for gas OR bus passes.)

My bici gives me time. It allows me to be in control of my life. I know how important this is... because I suffered my first year here living with the other option... which is living at the mercy of public transportation (aka the bus - pronounced boose in Spanish... that just makes it better when you say it like that.)

For a whole year I based my life around that durn schedule of the boose. They stop running at 11:30pm... therefore I had to plan nightly transportation accordingly. I had to calculate and allot time for the boose journey (plus traffic), PLUS the wait time for the boose to arrive at the boose stop, PLUS the walking time to my final destination. (Are you tired yet? Oh the joy of not having a car.) It's a miracle I ever went anywhere. So basically, my bici gave me my life back. I know exactly how much time it takes me to get somewhere, and I control whether it is more or less time. AND can leave when I want. I dictate my life. Not that stupid boose. Eat my dust, boose.

My bici gives me a free pass that would be the equivalent of passing GO, collecting $200, then taking a short cut to turn around and do it again collecting $200 more. That is to say that I have the freedom to ride on any and every type of foundation Sevilla throws my way. I explain.

First of all... we have these awesome green bike lanes (el carril bici) all to ourselves. They are pretty well laid out all over the city, and you can get almost anywhere on them. For instance, I ride on one all the way from my house to work everyday.

No carril bici? No problem, just ride in the regular road. We cyclers are not pedestrians, so we are more than capable of then riding in the road with all the smart cars.

Too much traffic on the road? Red light? No problem, just bump up to the sidewalk. We cyclers don't use any type of motorized transportation (ie a moped, motorcycle or car), so we can maneuver on the sidewalks or pedestrian streets alongside around the plebeians. (Side note... riding on the pedestrian streets is SUPER fun because it's like this huge, life-size version of "fording the river" on the Oregon Trail with obstacles that move and everything.)

Too many people crowding the sidewalk? No problem, just jump back down to the street.

Uh oh... confusing labyrinth-like one way streets? (and you're going the opposite direction) No problem, just ride to the side. The cars have no option but to go super slow (or else they would literally loose their side mirrors on these tight hallways they call streets.) If need be... just jump up onto the 15 centimeter space created by two side-by-side tiles that serve as the excuse for a sidewalk on these particular streets (more like side-I-will-put-my-body-flush-against-the-graffiti-decorated-wall-and-suck-in-my-stomach-as-much-as-physically-possible-walk.)

Sometimes I just marvel at the opportunities the bici gives. The possibilities are endless.
Freedom, I tell you. Complete freedom.

*Side note: no, I do not know if all of these actions are what one might actually call "legal," but I do know that I only repeat what I see the people here doing. "When in Rome..." Right?


Ok, so I won't claim that life with my bici is entirely perfect.

Cons:

My bici makes me arrive everywhere I go (in the summer) sweating like a fat man in a sauna on the surface of the sun.

My bici is concern when left in any place that isn't inside my house or work. Attached to my bici, I have no less than four locks with which to chain it to appropriate "parkings" such as a bike rack, or more likely a tree or sign. SOME people in Sevilla are real jackals and are super into stealing bikes, so bike theft is HUGE. My friends Beth, Raquel, Loyda, Dany, and most recently Ashley have each been made victims within the last year... and considering that I don't know all that many people here... this is a pretty large percentage. PLUS, Dany has actually had TWO bikes stolen from his PISO.

Actually, a few days ago... I was the victim of an attempted theft during PLAIN DAYLIGHT in the middle of a centro comercial (a mall) that has freaking (useless) security dudes! I knew this because when I got to my bici, the lock was all contorted (and now the plastic covering is jagged and torn,) and the quick release device for the bike seat had been pried off and discarded to the side. (Luckily, I am anal about locking my bike, so the seat was locked to the back wheel, and they were unable to take it.) And luckily, I'm also some sort of genius and was able to fix it that night. Uf. The whole situation has left me feeling such hostility towards these burglarious scoundrels. Yep, I'm pissed.

No, seriously... what is it that makes these vile crooks think that it is honestly OK and valid to take something from someone else? How do they sleep at night?

Also... come to look at it... these cons are not a fault of my precious bici, but rather outside factors of the cruel, heated (temperately speaking) world in which we live.

¡Viva la bici!



PS... I paid my debt at the cafe.