Crap Weather, Awesome Ride
By some magical stroke of luck, I got the afternoon off. They were cutting off power to my building & there’s not a lot I can do at my job that doesn’t involve a computer. Also I have no window in my office and there’s not a lot I can do in total darkness. After going for a walk to our woods with Brian I decided to bike to the post office to send my defective monkeylectric light back to get a replacement. I got two for xmas from Brian’s folks. I installed one Sunday and the other has a short.
It was raining a little bit when I took off but the wind was at my back. I was a little overdressed until I got rid of my hat. It turned out the lady who helped me at the post office is also is a bike commuter. We exchanged route information. I played monkeylectric salesperson.
I cut through Perkins Park to get to Wegmans. I’m not sure that biking past the junior high school soon after it lets out is the… um… most fun route to take. Kids today…
While I was shopping I was trying to calculate the volume of stuff I could fit into my pannier and messenger bag. I calculated juuuust right.
Ok… the downside of the monkeylectric is that it gives the semi-creepy guy outside the store something to chat to you about while you try to fit your groceries in your bags. He said he liked my smile. I’m not saying people shouldn’t talk to me & maybe it’s unfair of me to call him creepy. I just don’t know how to handle that kind of situation gracefully. You’re a person. I’m a person. I like you, but not that much.
I cut through Silverhill on the way back and the trail was really really soft. To get my bike to stay upright in the photo above I had to rest the kickstand on a twig. Without the twig, it would have sunk in and tipped over. I was pedaling straight in to the wind and through the mud. I think I was going slower than I could have walked. I did feel a bit lame getting off my bike to walk it on flat ground but in the end, I had to do it.
I spotted a bike corpse that had been hidden by weeds and then snow for the whole winter.
The wind was really pushing me around for the last 3 miles of my ride and the rain was getting heavy. Still, I was having a blast. I’m sure I looked like a total loon pedaling through the crap weather with a giant grin on my face. I can’t explain why it makes me happy. I’m just going to go with it.