Weekend Warrior

So, thanks to the Charleston Bike Co-op, my weekend was full of adventures. Friday night I went on the Midnight Mystery ride downtown... what an awesome time. We all met up at Vickery's and then headed off on our two wheeled journey in the dark. There were about 20-ish people, all young and outgoing. The ride took us through historic neighborhoods, down hidden cobblestone alleys, and ended overlooking the water by the aquarium. Bloc Party, Minus the Bear, Band of Horses, Portishead, Helio Sequence and others quietly hummed on my i-pod speakers, filling the silence between conversations. We ended the evening overlooking the bridge- sharing drinks, telling stories, and watching shooting stars. And even though I thought I couldn't top that, the next day was just as rockin! For those of you that are not familiar with alleycat races, it is kind of like a scavenger hunt on a bike, and in this case, for girls only. Here is a better description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleycat_races

If you do read that link, just keep in mind that this race was much more laid back. Our checkpoints included: Finding two cobblestone streets, getting a sweet mustache at the battery (thank you Art for my amazing twisted stache pictured here), completing a pencil rubbing, going through a bike obstacle thingy, getting info off two signs, answering a trivia question about women's history (I sucked at this), having our picture taken (see Ryun's skills below), and doing a lap in a graveyard.

Including the ride home we definitely covered well over 10 miles and I was sweating like a bug at an exterminator convention the whole time.....part of the problem was that my dress-tights combo was like a sauna... if only biking naked wasn't so awkward/illegal. So anyway- we kept motivated by our soundtrack that included Prince, The Hush Sound, Jurassic 5, Cake, Santana, The Beatles, MGMT, and The Cure. Although we definitely did not win, we were also not DFL (Julia-nothing but love here). Afterwards we hit up Santi's for some food, the nectar of life, and some giggles. I was sooooooo tired after my bike-a-palooza weekend (and my 4:30 a.m. bedtime) that I fell asleep at 8:30 Saturday night, sitting up, on the couch, with my computer in my lap and a dog on either side of me. Goodtimes had by all.