It's stuff like this that makes commuting on a bike tough.
I rode over to school yesterday to do a couple of things on the computer that are impossible at home with my dial up and to get a little exercise. The weather man said rain in the afternoon but didn't say a word about the rain in the morning, thunderstorms or hail. I managed to get wet going over and coming back. Fortunately, I made it home about ten minutes before the hail came down. The top photo shows three of those little darlings with a penny on the plate to give you a size comparison. Rode the bike uptown today and managed to get dive bombed by a redwing blackbird and chased by two big dogs. The lead dog chased me when I was running the other day as well. Today he got a nice little dose of pepper spray. Usually a couple of doses and they leave you alone. I did save about five bucks worth of gas, though.
Surly came down yesterday and gave me a copy of Urban Velo. It's got a lot of fixed gear stuff and a lot of advertisements for bike related stuff that's not exactly mainstream. I haven't been able to see the attraction of a fixed gear bike - the older I get the more coasting seems to appeal to me. I could see having a single speed, especially out here in the flat land or if I lived in a city. It was nice yesterday having a few gears to choose from when I started getting wet. I averaged about 19 miles per hour for about six miles trying to get home before the rain hit. I couldn't have done that with a single speed or a fixie. Old men need to be at least somewhat realistic about what they're capable of handling. Anyway, if you're at all interested in bicycles you might want to check out Urban Velo. Lots of interesting stuff there.
2 comments:
I keep getting dive bombed by a redwing blackbird as well! It lives between my parents' driveway and Aunt Carol's. Everytime I go by, it comes after me. One day I was walking and it would not stop. Auntie said it's hit her in the head twice. Perhaps we could ship redwing blackbirds over to Iraq and bring the boys home.
I think the males get real protective when it's nesting time. Usually you just see them sitting all alone on a fence or cattail. I know I don't need any more road hazards. The dogs and potholes are bad enough.
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