When one owns a “fancy bike” such as Belle, one begins to imagine ways in which to completely avoid the possibility of locking up said fancy bike at all costs.  As I have previously mentioned, I have been known to take the bicycle directly into the establishment in question.  It is not a frequent occurrence, but it certainly does happen.

If I am not traveling for work, then I am at home without a car, as the dude takes our only car to work each day.  USPS has been known to have very 9-to-5-ish hours, so when I need to mail a package, I usually find myself bicycling to the local post office.  For example, the last time I sold something on ebay, I just took Belle right into the post office and dropped off the package. (Aside: Man, those rack straps are handy!)

Lately, I have realized that I can actually pre-pay for my packages online and print the shipping labels right on my home printer.

This little convenience allows me to completely avoid the necessity to even enter the Post Office, which also helps me avoid the strange seriously? you brought your bike in here? glances.  Oh! The wonders of technology…

Therefore, on my most recent mailing run, I biked straight to the drop off box outside the post office, avoiding locking up, weirding people out by bringing the bike inside, and (sadly) human interaction, altogether.

Why did I even bother to bring my lock?  I know not…