On the Title

First and foremost, I suppose I should explain the title of this blog.  Blue Beauty, as you may have guessed, is the name of my bike.  It’s nothing particularly fancy – a (blue) Specialized Globe – but I love it nonetheless.  It’s comfortable, reliable, and sturdy.  My amazing Specialized Allez Elite road bike is my first love but I am quickly growing to love Blue Beauty too.  When I first bought her (yes, I do assign gender to my bikes but before you judge this as sexist, know that I think of my bikes as ass kicking ladies so I don’t think my feminist credentials should be rescinded for such an assignment) I tried calling her Blue Bullet, a compliment to my red road bike which I instantly named Red Rocket.  But “Bullet” just didn’t fit.  She was not, in fact, a bullet.  Beauty, however, met my affinity for alliteration (get it?) while more accurately describing the bike.  And she is, in fact a beauty (particularly when you also take into account her accessories - but those will be explained in a later posting). 
As for the “ups and downs” part, the double entendre is indeed intended.  I love biking to work.  It is a perfect excuse to be on my bike, it’s my daily exercise, it’s faster than driving and it’s a stress relief.  The environmental implications are a nice added bonus!  But there are parts of my commute – rude drivers, pedestrians and other bikers as well as potholes, hail storms and bus exhaust – that are less enjoyable.  So those are the figurative “ups and downs”.  The literal “ups and downs” are the hills that make up my ride from Glover Park to Capitol Hill. It is really hilly!