I was worried I wouldn’t be able to hula-hoop and bike at the same time

But actually it turned out to be no problem. All I really had to do was carry it – transport it, from the park to my home, a distance of about two miles, most of it on quiet back streets. So I sort of wore it, hanging on my shoulder like a satchel, with my left hand holding both the handlebar and the hoop to keep it from sliding down. I bought a big one, so it was a little tricky.

I was so torn between hula hooping class and the car free day festivities that I tried to do both. The hula class? Wow. I’m converted. I might have to start a hula blog. The car free day? I sailed in toward the end of it, but I could see it had been well-attended and a festive atmosphere still lingered in the alley. And they’re right, it’s not a street, it’s an alley, much too small for cars anyway, so why not give it over permanently to footies and wheelies?

Getting back to carrying things by bicycle, a lot of people who had set up booths there had schlepped everything by bicycle – which of course shouldn’t surprise me, but it never fails to amaze me what can be done. After they collapsed everything up again I got a couple of photos (which I will insert as soon as Blogger is feeling more cooperative).

As for hula-hooping: Sunday at noon in Laurelhurst park by the duck pond. It’s free. But take money because you won’t want to leave there without a hoop of your own. The woman who leads it says it’s not really a class, but I somehow managed to increase my hooping skills about 500%. She played great music and it was like a big party with people standing around talking but instead of the usual drink-in-hand party pose, they swayed gently back and forth with hoops traveling around them like rings around cartoon planets. Next Sunday may be the last day of it, I’m not sure, but you can get more information at her website. www.hoopshine.com.

Finally I’ve found something I like as much as biking that I can cross-train with. That way my body will be doing something besides moving my legs in the exact same circle day in and day out. With hula-hooping, I’ll still be moving in circles, but in a horizontal plane instead of a vertical one.