Bicycle Pants Are Black

We had the envious position of being able to choose to move anywhere we wanted. One of the main reasons we chose to move to Colorado was that we thought it would be healthier place to live - a place that might foster a more healthy lifestyle for us.

Since I hurt my back, I have not wanted to try to use the workout room here at the condo complex. But I have discovered that we have miles and miles of paths that meander through parks and open spaces to walk on. It's really wonderful not to have to walk next to the traffic.

I've been trying to walk six miles every day until my back is healed enough to use the machines at the gym. During my walks, I noticed all these people on bicylcles. At first, I thought it was a fluke. Then I thought that maybe their cars had broken down. As more and more little Lance Armstrongs whizzed past me this week, I realized they were doing it on purpose! Can you believe that? Riding a bike on purpose? Toto, I don't think we're in Vegas anymore.

You just have to laugh at some of the bicycle people. They think they look so cool and of course they are very aerodynamic. Apparently, the more angles your helmet has on the back of it, the faster you can go. If the back of your bicycle helmet looks like the bridge of a Klingon's nose, you are especially speedy.

And the outfits - they look so ridiculous. They are all stuffed into those shiny bicycle pants we all thought were cool way back when. And of course, there's the brightly colored shirt made entirely of some unnatural fiber and sporting an advertisement for something Italian. They all look like Cinzano umbrellas zipping around on two wheels.

One thing I have noticed is that apparently, there is an unwritten code that while your shirt can be any color of the rainbow (as long as it says something Italian), your shiny little shorts must be black. Bright yellow shiny shirt? Cool. Bright yellow shiny shorts? Not so much.