I’m getting closer to my dream. You see, when I moved to Chicago I started having pretty vivid dreams of what I wanted from the city. For the most part, they are snapshots. One of them that has lingered with me, and remained foremost in my mind as we looked for an apartment.

I see myself, on a retro bicycle with a basket on the front, riding around Lake Michigan.

There’s something really freeing and magical about riding a bike. And seeing the world from that eye-view is thrilling.

Besides the fun of the wind blowing through your hair and whizzing past slow-moving cars and people, there’s the exercise factor — a huge part of the 50 Million Pound Challenge involves just motivating yourself to get up, get out, and do something to get yourself moving. It helps to do something you like, and to make it a regular part of your daily routine.

So the action plan is, when I am established in the heart of the city, get a bike. It’s free, fun, easy transportation from point A to B, I can run errands when the weather isn’t too bad, and the whole time I’ll be getting in that precious exercise time I so often convince myself isn’t completely available.

But ay, here’s the rub. Nice bikes can be crazy expensive!

I fell head over heels for some of the models featured in this post on Re-Nest — slender, retro, highly functional, outfitted with chic baskets for the items you procure along the way. But for example, the Gary Fisher bike I admired enough to post a pic of at the top here, costs a cool $969.99.

Wow.

I’ve been trying to convince myself to settle for something more um, reasonable. Schwinn Bikes have a fine made in America, founded in Chicago tradition, and huzzah — the bikes I want are under $500. The 2009 Searcher looks good, right?

Although I would love a new bike, I’m probably going to go vintage. Emily Siegler, co-founder of the absolutely adorbs bike bag brand Po Campo, suggested simply — Craigslist. Duh! So I’m going to look there, as well as through local niche bike shops around town like Shining Bikes.

Are you a city girl bike rider? Have you lost weight because of it? Tell me about it!