no kansas trip for this bike

In a couple of weeks I'll be heading to a monthlong musical residency in Kansas. It had been in my contract that I was supposed to be able to bring a bicycle with me but now they don't want to pay for the shipping (it would've been one-way and I would've left the bike there), so I've been asked to accept the loan of a bike from someone there. I made it clear that the bike would have to fit me or else there would be problems. Bikes are not one-size-fits-all like cars, after all; and the loaner they provided me with last summer was so small it hurt my knees for weeks after I came home.
I have been assured that this year they will get me a bike that fits. I have decided that, with everything else going on with this gig, this is not the hill I need to die on. So the blue bike is staying in Portland.

I don't know if I will keep it or sell it.

Also, I have decided to sell my BStone racing bike. I don't race anymore, and getting out to the woods to go off-roading without a car is impossible. I haven't ridden it since the snowstorm in February, and while that was fun, it was also dicey going and not something I'm likely to repeat. So I need to sell it. So far, no bites on craigslist. I may put it on eBay this week and see what happens. If it sells I'd have time to ship it before I leave for Kansas.

Riding has been challenging this spring. The medication the doctor switched me to (for Crohn's) is not working. They don't make the stuff I used to take anymore. So now I am waiting to see what other options I have that the state insurance plan will pay for. (OHP doesn't like helping people like me with chronic, incurable conditions.) Meanwhile, I am getting up in the middle of the night to move my bowels because the meds aren't working to manage my symptoms enough for me to sleep through the night. So I have less energy and am relying on the bus more and more. That gets expensive as well as demoralizing. Yesterday I rode to all of my lessons and errands, and I enjoyed the warm wather and sunshine but by the time I got home I was pretty tired. I slept badly and this morning I didn't feel rested when I woke up. I hope something changes soon.