I’ll get back to you in a few years on whether I’ve become a Serious Urban Cyclist. :)

You’ll get a much better bike, put together by a professional, much more fun to ride, easier to ride, longer lasting, etc, etc, by buying your bike at a bike shop. And Chicago has some really kickass awesome bike shops, like Rapid Transit on North and Damen or Boulevard Bikes in Logan Square. Or my own local bike shop- Dan’s on Roosevelt Road in Berwyn. They’ve got some really pretty cruisers at Dan’s for not too much more than you’d pay at the Target.

Just to warn you, ten-twelve years ago, I was like you. I thought I’d buy myself a little bike to do some cruising around the neighborhood. Take some side streets. Maybe tool down the bike path. Now, I’m one of those serious lifestyle carfree environmental crusader urban cyclist types. I don’t have to bike 15 miles to work, but I bike through the whole winter. Dunno about the fantastic calves though. But, what happens is that as you start to ride, you love it so much and you have such fun, that you start thinking up reasons to cycle some place. You get reluctant to put the bike away in the winter. And one day you wake up to find you haven’t driven to work in months, its snowing out and you’re looking forward to an awesome ride. Or maybe you think fifteen miles isn’t really that far after all. ‘Cause cycling, even when you’re a serious urban cyclist, is about the best fun you can have.

And my feelings about the color pink are complicated, as I have documented here and in the opening to this one. :)

(not into pink accessories, though do wear pinkish blouses because the shade flatters my complexion)

Be warned that if you get it from Target, you have to put it together yourself. I’m probably going to go to a bike shop, actually, and might very well just get anything used that fits my short legs. But I really, really WANT a pink cruiser!