1. The prime acquisition. Ever since I moved to Brooklyn, I've wanted a bike. I come from the bike capital of the country, bikes make the world feel smaller, and all cool girls have bikes. However, I'd made very little headway in terms of putting my money where my mouth is. Majken, who is more of a doer, bought a cute little vintage silver bike on Craig's List that turned out to be a few inches too small for her. So, although I feel guilty, I got a sweet bike by doing absolutely nothing. Rest easy: Majken got a matching blue one from a man in Queens the next day AND I paid her back.
2. It has those cool vintage gears and curved handlebars.
3. I have a new friend at the Bike Shop on Atlantic Ave: a short guy with a buzz cut in grimy jeans who knows about gears and brakes and that I'd want a helmet to match my bike.
4. I biked around Prospect Park in February with a boy who also has a bike and, even though my hands were freezing, my body got a little sweaty.
5. My bike turns 45-minute sedentary subway rides into 20-minute bursts of exercise.
6. I like my bike because I know that once I get a white basket, a bell and a clip-on light, it's going to be that much cooler.
7. My bike cost only $100, which is an amount of money I have also thrown down for less useful things like designer jeans, an impromptu trip to Target, an overpriced dinner in Manhattan and red shoes I never wore.
8. I can bike across bridges, which reminds me of the Portland Bridge Pedal, the Willamette River and my family.
9. I can run red lights on my bike and sometimes even go faster than cars, but I'm outside and haven't spent any money on gas.
10. When I put my bike in my living room, It transforms the space into instant urban-cool.
