the utilitarian concept

I had a nice "taste" of utility cycling this weekend, for almost the first time. I am committed to biking to and from work almost daily, but for things such as grocery shopping, I drive my car. But this past weekend showed us such beautiful weather that I made my best effort to be outside as much as possible, and use my bike as much as I could to get where I needed to go.

On Saturday morning, I decided to go to the Phoenix Public Market, which is a normal Saturday market that features a mix of artisans and local farmer's produce. Unfortunately, since it IS Arizona, the local produce did not offer much. There were two or three stands that had natural produce of any kind - the rest of the vendors were either selling eggs, breads, jams, honeys, prepared food or other artisan products like blankets, ceramic thingies, etc. This was my first time going to this market, so I really did not know what to expect. It was nice, but disappointing. As I mentioned, Arizona just does not offer much in the way of locally grown produce. I envy those who live someplace where they can go to a farmer's market and buy fresh, local produce. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I did buy some fresh veggies, some strawberry-amaretto jam, and a loaf of all-natural bread. So far, I have been extremely pleased with what I purchased. But it was the experience of riding my bike to the market on a gorgeous Saturday morning, and bringing the stuff home in my backpack that makes it taste so good!

Unfortunately, the ride TO the market was a little rough - and by that I mean almost the entire trip was on a construction zone. For those of you in Phoenix, don't take Washington St.! It is still under much construction. I had heard speculation that the construction was completed, but that is a negatory - they have a long way to go until that road is finished.

Granted, I could have turned and gone around the construction, but I was in an unfamiliar part of town, and honestly did not know if any of the other streets nearby would be any better. So I stayed the course...slowed down, stayed alert for potholes, and eventually made it to my destination. Too bad I forgot my camera...

All in all, I had a refreshing taste of how great it is to explore a new area by bike. I got to see another side of Phoenix, get some fresh air and just really enjoy the day. Hooray for that...