violet

RIP Violet

September 10th, 2009 |

OK so this bicycling thing is not working out. I scheduled a lunch meeting for 1 p.m. today at CityPlace with the lovely (and Toyota Prius-driving) Daphne Nikolopoulos of Palm Beach Illustrated. I thought, “Great! I’ll ride the bike!” It is a distance I can manage while still wearing a work-appropriate ensemble (everyone knows I’m not a power-suit kind of gal, so a sleeveless Lilly polo and Bermuda shorts would do) and staying reasonably sweat-free.

But at 12 p.m. I realized I needed air in my tires. Fine. So my fabulous, fuel-guzzling husband drove Violet in his SUV to pump air into her tires. He had to go to four gas stations before finding a working air-compressor, and when he arrived home with Violet, her pedal promptly fell off (she’s done that to me before – not sure I’d go with a Schwinn again).

Imagine if I had biked to four gas stations before finding air? And then been stranded up a creek without a pedal? I would have missed my meeting completely — and too drenched and stinky to head to her office instead. My schedule is only going to get busier as my work season progresses, and I can’t afford to let my work suffer in the name of earth love.

Time to shop for a Hybrid.