Biking Frenzy

Aug 17, 2008 11:43




Tour de Fat
Originally uploaded by Pierre Phaneuf. After my recent trip to San Francisco, which included attending Tour de Fat (I won't say "participate", because neither morethanreal or I could wake up early enough for the ride proper), I've been re-energized about cycling. Going up the Wiggle in the middle of a foggy night, and still having other people riding the same route, seeing all of those fixies and also the pretty city bikes, it's quite the sight.

So when I came back, I decided to reconfigure my bike slightly, to make it more practical. I got safety skewers to replace the quick-release ones, so that I wouldn't have to disassemble my bike anymore, got myself a mini U-lock that is just enough, small enough to easily fit in my bag, and lighter than my big one. I want to get fenders, but apparently, that's rather tricky for my bike. In any case, the point is that I want to remove any friction to my bike being a day-to-day vehicle. And I think it's going well.

I did get a flat by accidentally riding on broken glass on Ste-Catherine Friday, which I got fixed at Belleville Cycle Co-op, and after getting that fixed, I figured that I'd go check out Revolution Montréal. On my way there, on Maisonneuve at the corner of Aylmer, a mother and her daughter were crossing on a red, not paying attention to either cars nor bikes, while I was going on a streak of green lights at 40 kph. I braked hard enough that my rear brake cable snapped (I think it was iffy already), after having left a good deal of rubber on the pavement already. Stopping about six inches from the daughter, the only casualties were thankfully only my right ring finger and the cable, of course.

I should get myself a cycling icon... :-)

And, finally but not least, we celebrated ayria's birthday and triumphant return to Montreal! It was quite fun, although it is weird observing my own behaviour. I seem to be much less expressive about my feelings (not just with ayria, but in general) than I used to be. I think I might have said this before, but being away for a while seems to have hardened me in a way that I don't really like. Maybe I was too expressive before, I don't know, but this is certainly too much the other way. In any case, I did enjoy myself a great deal, even if someone's definition of "footsie" seems to be "stomping on my toes vigorously"!

biking, booze, decline of civilization, fun, psyche, photo

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