I bought a nice foldable bike to help my wallet from being thinned out by the gas pump.

It was nice, but it had limitations. Apparently crime is alive and well here in Castro Valley. I went to check out Formula 1 race in San Francisco with San Francisco Formula 1 Group at Overtime Bar & Grill, parked the bike, locked it, and went on my way.

Watching the Montreal Grand Prix with about 40 other F1 fans was fun!

I got to the bar just as the starting lights were set to flash. 10 flat screens all featuring Formula 1! That was cool!

The race itself was very eventful and a delight to watch. I also won one of the raffle prizes, Lewis Hamilton’s picture celebrating his win at Monaco.

Thieves don’t take weekends off!

As I got back to Castro Valley and went to retrieve my bike, I found my lock cut in half but not much else.

Apparently I need to do something more like this to ensure it still being there…

New toy on my list

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180252574572

It satisfies the following parameters:

• Still looks like a bike, so I can avoid the motorcycle stigma and treat it as a bike.
• Red! They have other colors, but red is what I want.
• The seller is local in San Jose, CA, so I can skip the pricey shipping
• It appears to be fairly well equipped with accessories (trunk, basket… those are not cheap extras when you go to shop for them)
• @$4.60/gal (my BMW M3 convertible that I parked drinks premium and that price keeps rising), it works out to about 6 tanks of gas before it pays for itself.
• Uses NiMh vs. lead-acid, so the batteries are lighter. According to seller, they actually are lead acid batteries, but I suppose that means I have room to upgrade to better stuff.
• I can use the pedals when I don’t feel lazy, which is whenever I am on a flat surface.

There is actually a foldable electric bike with 20″ wheels that might also work, but its initial costs + shipping will make it nearly 2x more expensive. There is no question that it is amazing.

If this latest toy won’t work for me, then I’ll look into the foldable electrics. And this time I am looking into motorcycle-grade antitheft equipment.

I am determined to stop driving at least for the period while the weather cooperates.