free at last, free at last

OK, this is IT. You saw the "before" picure, here's the "after". The miraculously empty unit. And now, the promised photo of my new zen minimalist self. It's a birthday present, it's a Christmas present, it's a storage unit vacating award, it's all of the above. Yes, friends, as openly pined for on several occasions on my blog, I now own a BROMPTON FOLDABLE BIKE!!! And in the nick of time! If you read bikePortland, you know that just in the last week, Trimet has begun resorting to the drastic measures of kicking bikers off the trains because of perceived overcrowding! Really. This is of course totally unacceptable for any serious person using the public transportation to get to work.

No one can kick me off with this wee thing. I've already tried it out. Stay tuned for my new life on the max with this fabulous disappearing bicycle.

Where in Pedalpalooza have I been?

Not, I'm sorry to say, at that fantasmagorical Portland bike festival, of which there is no equal in all the world. I regret to inform you that I missed every single event. I've felt extremely deprived, but I'm putting it on my calendar NOW to make up for it in a very big way next year. Best I can do is link you to my coverage of it from two years back, and refer you to bikeportland, where you can vicariously experience every inch of this year's festival in lurid detail.

My big fat sorry excuse is that I've been spending every available moment for the last three weeks twirling in my own personal time machine -- whole chunks of my past brought to life by all the possessions and artworks and writing that accompanied them. "My name is Kate and I am a packrat." I've saved almost everything I've ever owned since birth.
Here's the view of my storage unit one year ago, almost to the day. Lindi and I have pecked away at it over time, taking away a car-load now and then to weed through, give away, or incorporate into the household. But it's been like the magic pitcher in the fairy tale -- no matter how much poured out of it, the inside remained full.

The latest rent increase finally did it. Here's how the storage business works: They get you in there on a deal, then as your stuff becomes this inert pile of fossilization, they ratchet up the rate, knowing full you're entrenched for life.
I could tell you a thing or two about getting rid of junk -- I could write the book. It's been excruciatingly difficult. I've even gotten rid of my trunks. I've still got a ways to go though. Does anyone want my tennis racket from when I was nine? And where am I going to keep my typewriter collection? Some questions remain unanswered, but I'm working on them. I've become an adoption agency for inanimate objects.

Upcoming Photo Exclusive: first image of self on blog EVER. The new minimalist ME. The birthday me. ...if you get my meaning. I've pared down to the sparest form of cycling. You'll be amazed.

One less item in the storage unit

Here's
Moto
posing
in the
corridor
of the
storage unit.

I finally did it – took my 1975 Motobecane Grand Touring over to Sellwood Cycles for them to sell for me. I could sell it myself, but I don’t feel like it. Besides, I’d heard that these guys are connected to all kinds of collector people, that’s why I took it there. I didn’t want to sell it to just anybody. Not that it’s a rare and sought-after collector’s piece, but it’s got some beautiful points, as you can see in the photos. For example, look at the way the tubing meets together, and look at the top of the forks.

This is the bike I rode from Eugene to Seattle on. I went by myself on an unplanned, ride-as-you-go, just-head-north ride for the solitary lunatic. I don’t regret it, but I would do it much differently today.

I also went on some other dumb rides – some dumb and bad, some dumb but good anyway. The bike never did fit me quite right, so I’m ready to let go of it.

Goodbye Moto.

Coming Soon: Compelling new blog about inner demons

I told you I’d tell you about my dark side, so here I am. It’s time to act.You know what they say – the first step is to tell someone. But I plan to go further than that. So disturbing is my compulsion that I’m taking the bull by the horns and – wait! oh NO! They snapped off! The horns! They snapped off right in my hands! Now the bull is running around without horns – and boy is he mad!

Oh well.

Anyway, to put it in other words, I’m diving in to attack the problem with everything I’ve got. The problem I speak of? I am driven to collect things. Driven. And as a result of it, I am so burdened by too much stuff that I have decided to launch a whole separate blog just about that - about junk and clutter and the process of freeing myself of it.

Sound boring? It won’t be. Don’t forget that each one of us is just one loose screw away from mental illness. And you never know when that one screw is going to loosen, or why. As for me, if I had just one more screw loose, I’d fit right into the “hoarder” category of the mental health textbooks. Already I look at some of the stuff I’ve saved and I shake my head and say “I’m one sick puppy.” But it’s not too late. If I work on it now, I can prevent an avalanche.

To that end, I’m going to be taking some time away from my bike blog. Some. Don’t worry, I’ll pop back into ridemyhandlebars with progress reports as I go. I hope you will join me as I embark on this new, much more difficult (than bicycling) journey – that of uncluttering my life. I’ll post the link to it here as soon as I get the first thing up.