New Commute

Last weekend I bought a bike. I've been wanting a set of wheels for a while now. We looked into shipping our bikes from home over here, but it would have cost several hundred dollars and just didn't seem worth it. Matt's been saying for a while now that I should get a scooter, but I'm not convinced I really need that much power to get me where I'm going. Besides, I like being a passenger rather than a driver on his hog.

The main reason for getting a bike is so I can commute to and from work. I also like the idea of getting a little workout in without having to spend time in the gym. I don't have a gym membership because I don't see myself making time to go, yet I sure would love to lose the last of this post-baby blubbery roll lingering around my middle section.

The bike is plain white and lacking gears, but that's ok, because it's really flat here. Unlike Atlanta, there are no hills between my house and the office. I bought the cheapest one available at Decathlon, a 2-story French sporting goods store that's very similar to Sports Authority. It cost about $80, and is identical to at least a third of the bikes parked beneath our building.

When I told my coworkers about the purchase, they were surprised and worried. "It's not safe to ride a bike in Shenzhen!" Roger exclaimed. "It will get stolen if you leave it in the car garage!" Mavis lamented. "Your face is SO red." Kathy stated the first day I rode it to work.

While I won't deny any of the above, I'm not discouraged. My first day riding the approximately 4 miles to the office it took about 35 minutes to get there. I passed a woman selling grey chickens (live and flopping on the sidewalk with their feet bound), an elderly Asian man playing a flute under a tree, and a fleet of middle school aged boys in blue school uniforms. It was exhilarating!

We will never truly fit in here, even if we learn fluent Mandarin. Our eyes and skin scream foreigner and elicit impromptu chirps of "Hello! Hello!" whenever we go out in public. But riding this bike, I'm able to blend just a little into the masses, which in my book is pretty darn cool.