The High Museum is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from where I live.  On the first Saturday of every month, the local residents have the ability to go to any exhibit in the museum for free.  The current visiting exhibit contains art from fourteen 20th century modern artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Warhol, and contains over 100 pieces brought over from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC.  This sounded like the prime opportunity for a bike date with the dude!

We set out with our bikes, and before I even made it out the door, I noticed a strange oscillating rubbing sensation between the rear tire and fender.  This put a damper in our date plans, but the dude  insisted that we go back to the LBS to get it fixed right away.  We carefully walked the bike back to Skate Escape, and by we, I mean he, as I was in a generally pouty mood with my bicycle being in an ‘unrideable’ state yet again.  To improve my mood, he bought me pretzel M&Ms on the way — what a guy!

Once we arrived at the LBS, we spoke with the bike shop owner, who had initially given me the usual “hey there little lady” bit, but eventually realized that I was a smart cookie with my bicycle and component choices.  The head mechanic took a look at the bike, and noticed that the axle of the rear wheel was not completely aligned inside the horizontal dropouts.  He also adjusted the rear fender stays, as the clearance was previously rather tight.

Once he was done with the adjustments, I was a happy camper!

I rode back on the sidewalk (!) at a snails pace, as the dude followed along on foot.  We headed back home to pick up his bike, so that we could officially commence our bike date.

(Aside:  I like how my hair looks so brown in the sunlight!  Almost reddish…)

Usually, I stay away from riding on sidewalks, but with the lack of helmet, lack of the dude’s bicycle, and the fact that we were heading in the opposite direction on a one way street, the choice was obvious this time around.

Eventually, we made it to the museum!

And took some obligatory photos outside.

And inside…

We enjoyed the art

And the views…

At the end of the exhibit, we proceeded to the gift shop, and I spotted several bags by the Seattle based company, Alchemy Goods.  These bags are made primarily of recycled bicycle inner tubes and car seat belts.

Contrary to my expectation and experience with bike inner tubes, the feel of the exterior was soft and supple, much like a rubbery lambskin.  I was intrigued, yet could not justify yet another purchase of an upcycled bag manufacturer.  I already own four bags by the Swiss company, Freitag!

This just goes to show that bicycle culture is infiltrating the fashion industry just as much as fashion is influencing bike culture (ex. the Cycle Chic movement).

A visit to the bike shop, pretzel M&Ms, a bike ride to the museum, and a run-in with bike-themed bags.  Overall, I would call that an eventful bikey date!