Back in the saddle again?

So.... Three months into my injury and getting better, though slowly, I, dear friends, am going out of my mind. I had my yoga class yesterday, which has been a constant bright spot at the beginning of all of my weeks for the past eight months. I had some time to kill between work and class, so I decided to grab a cup of tea at Gallery Espresso. (The staff can be a little uppity, and the clientele a little dirty/pretentious, but I guess we are talking about a locally run coffee shop that serves quality products so I guess I'll give them a little slack because it is after all to be expected.) (Oh yeah, and they serve Mariage Fréres Tea which is freaking phenominal.) So after my Baroness Grey (of course) I noticed a little bike shop next to the coffee shop and I walked in, because I have been looking for an alternative to running.

I would like to say that I have taken my own advise and followed the octopus' wisdom and started swimming regularly, but I regret to inform you that I haven't. I miss the accessibility of running where I'm out the door and on my way. I know I'm being very anti-inspirational about it, but when I planned a run in the morning, I was always excited enough about it to actually get up out of my bed in the morning and go outside and into the world to go run. It was great. Swimming, on the other hand, isn't so simple. I have to have my bag packed with two towels, all of my clothing to wear for the day, shampoo, conditioner, soap plus a baggie to put the soggy mess into afterwards, shoes. Strap myself into my bathing suit (a tumultuous task) in a groggy stupor, and get out my door with at least two hours to spare before work. Oh yeah, and I have to worry about waiting for a lane to open up, keep my eyes peeled for the naked cyclops in the dressing room. (Seriously, nothing against the one-eyed population but when she is naked and waving at a 5 year old girl, it's a lot to handle at 8:30-am.) So anyway, it's just difficult. I can't get my head around being that prepared all the time.

So, back to the bike shop at hand-- Perry Rubber. Replace those b's with n's and what do you have? Runner. (Sorry, sometimes I become a little involved with silly word play.) Anyway, I talked to this very nice guy about biking and how foreign it is to me (well. I know how to ride a bike, but that's pretty much the extent of my cycling knowledge... I guess I have that going for me at least). He thought it would be a great alternative to running. He actually had a similar injury that cause him to get into biking. He showed me some bikes and what their advantages are-- the accessibility, the fun, the social aspect... all things I'm looking for. We had a long conversation. Trouble is, when you are talking about biking, you are talking about some serious dollars. So even though I'm totally hooked on the concept. I now have another dilemma, lack of funds. Any of you out there know how to gain funds for such an endeavor?