A New Strike Routine

As most of you know I have given up picketing at CBS/Radford. I did so for a number of reasons, one of them being I was sick of driving to the Valley everyday. It's about twenty miles each way. Although our car isn't a gas guzzler, filling up for gas every week and a half when there is no money coming in seemed senseless, especially when I had other options. (No, spending money on food and booze every night doesn't seem senseless to me. But thanks for asking.)

Sam had been riding his bike down to Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios for the first few weeks of the strike. Once all productions shut down there he was reassigned to Sony. My strike Captain gave me her blessing to picket with my husband. Being that Sony is only about 7 miles from our house, I knew Sam would insist we bike there so over the Thanksgiving Picket Break I turned my road/racing bike into a commuter bike.

A few years back I was really into racing triathlons. When you get into a sport like that, you suddenly find yourself getting all the tricked out gear so you can be faster: aero-bars, clip-in pedals, granny gears (for hills), computer for measuring your RPMs. (For maximum efficiency, one is supposed to pedal 90 rotations per minute -- apparently that's what Lance Armstrong did to revolutionize bike racing.) Guess what? I ain't no Lance Armstrong and I was never going to be faster. My ass is just too big. I could fit Lance's head inside one of my butt cheeks.
So I got rid of the aero-bars and exchanged them for uprights and had my pedals changed back into a pedal with a clip-in option (for when I need the extra pull going up hill. Sometimes pushing down isn't enough). When I picked the bike up from the lovely people at Bike Attack, I fell in love. My bike was perfect! I could pedal home without those stupid shoes and I wasn't hunched over the bike like one of those cartoon characters from the Triplets of Belleville.
So yesterday, Sam and I took our inaugural ride to our shift at Sony. The only problem was our shift started at 6am. SIX IN THE MORNING!!! This meant getting up at 5am so we could leave by 5:30am. I was successful at getting up but I'm not sure I actually woke up until I was about halfway there. It was at that point that I started to sweat, then I started to enjoy the ride and then I stopped and picked up a Starbucks and the whole day turn a turn for the better.

It's fun riding around the dark and cold city streets with my husband. We are sweaty and wide awake by the time we put our bikes away and pick up our signs. Before you know it, our three hours are over and we're headed home.

I never thought I'd say this but I like getting up that early. Now the only problem is when I get home the minute I step in the door I fall asleep for an hour. Maybe a little more. I'm working on that.

Oh and if you haven't seen the Triplets of Belleville, you have to rent it. It's whole family friendly and just about the sweetest movie in the world. Here's a picture of two of the characters who are so cute, you'll run out and rent it tonight.