Day 17 - 30 Days of Biking

I’ve played softball all my life and am playing in  rec league “for fun” (I put that in quotes because I always take softball seriously and play hard no matter what), so I was all pumped up for our first softball practice as a team.  Even more though, I was excited to ride my bike to practice for Day 17 of 30 Days of Biking and save some gas money too!  Plus, a trip reduction on the bike earns me an extra point on the challenge for Team Loving the Bike!  Awesome-sauce!


My softball equipped bike


After work I got home and had to come up with the creative way to carry my bat while riding though….hmmm what to use….. I tried a couple of different possibilities and finally settled on using Velcro bands (one of which being an old Road ID Velcro bracelet I no longer wear) to secure my bat to the top tube of my bike.  It looked a little funny as the handle of my bat stuck our over my rear wheel like a custom fender, but it would suffice.  Dressed in my softball attire, sweatpants, loose shirt, and tall socks, I got buckled into my cycling shoes, threw on my helmet and zipped out the door to practice about 8 miles away.  I looked a little like a confused sports enthusiast to most I’m sure.  “What’s up with that chick?  Is she a cyclist or a softball player?”  LOL!  No matter to me though; I was “commuting!”  Straddling the softball bat was slightly awkward, but nothing that hindered my pedaling too much.  When I arrived at practice, my best friend, Courtney, was already there waiting for me and just kinda laughed at my bat fastened to my frame.  She thought it was cool though and helped me get my gear (glove, cap, batting gloves, and of course, softball cleats) out of my backpack for me. 

Ready for the "ride" home - always wear a helmet!

Practice was a lot of fun, but very cold as it was an unusually chilly night and extremely windy!  We mostly worked on our batting and fielding, but before I knew it, it was after 8:30pm and the sun was gone.  Not that I won’t ride at night, but being alone out on the road after dark always makes me a little nervous.  You never know who is out there, and I didn’t really want to take the risk of something going wrong when I was by myself.  Court said she would take my back to my place in her Jeep, and I immediately thought of my worry-wart mom who would have been relieved to know that I had accepted the ride from my friend.  Court is always hilarious and the two of us together always equals a lot of laughs, so of course me trying to stick my bike in the back of her Wrangler had us in stitches!  I ended up having to remove both wheels and hold them on my lap, but we finally made it work.  Court, who knows all about my 30 Days of Biking pledge, even said that she would take a picture of me wedged in the Jeep with my helmet on too!  LOL!  Great stuff!  It was a lot of fun playing softball while Loving the Bike!