almost!!!

Sunday I *did* do all the things on the bike. Some people did not grasp that the roads I chose were cleared “but what if you hit an ice patch?” Well, what if I ride right into a pothole or a car???? The sun was bright enough so “patches” were melted but it was mostly dry.

Mon and Tues tho’ I am on the bus b/c last night was chorus and I think I remember Country Fair being a nasty surprise once, as in everything else was fine but that half mile was icy and yes, I got through it but it is, simply, an unnecessary risk. Not quite in the “do not test the Lord” range but… Tuesdays I’m also going home at 6 and it is dark; now sunset’s at 5:10 so Wednesday when I leave at 5:00 I’ll have good visibility for that Country Fair stretch early on (unless today’s flurries accumulate ;)).

I really, really want a step through bike though.

riding between tornadoes

There were 13 in Illinois today.
I got in 1.9 miles at lunch as well as the sweaty ride in. I took the bus home; driver seemed a little of the “grumpy bus driver” sort who sort of looked askance at me when I boarded w/ the bike. I tucked it in best I could but yes, I take up two seats and the bike seat sticks out into the aisle a bit (but I rotate it to be parallel to the aisle). Bus never got crowded; it’s summer I guess and it was jus twindy, not wet, so people *could* walk around downtown. (A person boarded behind 2 others and when she asked about bus pass he wanted to know if she knew about his situation and when she said no, she didnt… bus pass? he got off and started walking… welp, less than half a mile would get him into “orange” zone where you don’t need a pass.)
I considered getting off the bus at University and sailing that west wind home but … getting off the bus was going to take thinking.
To my surprise when I got home and wheeled the thing inside I didn’t feel done for the day. I peeked at something on the computer, put on my helmet, got on the Xtracycle and rode to M’s for the 6:00 howdy (usually on my way home, but a bad weather bus day it’s a 1.5 mile round trip GOT SOME MILES IN trip 😛 ) and then … rode (sailed) east to Beloved Inclusive for an intro to contemplative prayer.

Should I be surprised that the emphasis was on finding even a tiny space of quiet to even start but that … yes, cycling can be physically active meditation/ contemplative prayer; attention to breathing, attention to the universe… attention being a totally different concept … of course, it can also be what it was this mornign: MUST GO FAST to beat the rain!!! What will STrava measure!!!!

And I had a reason to start this ? But also, it seems there is a bus stop or two *outside* the campus “no pass necessary” zone that .. you just get on board. People werenot aware of just how supportive MTD is of poor folks (and Geoff I KNOW they’re not saints!!!). I told the story of the driver workin’ with the ninth grader who’d said they hated snow days ’cause they couldn’t stay home … to figure out places to go in the “orange no bus fare needed” zone that were safe and interesting, spend an hour here… get a bus to there… (“why couldn’t he stay home?” “Hey, he wasn’t a real social worker, he didn’t need to ask! He could just respect that reality.”) I know they were aninth grader ’cause the driver asked about a program and the kid said that went to eighth grade and they were in ninth. The driver was building identity: you’re a person wanting to do interesting things, not a person falling into trouble.

LOL I remember thinking I could be a columnist a million years ago. Hmmm.

Bike Rack Rap

Let’s see, you think our locals would be up for staging a version of this? Perhaps a polka version?