Since it is a well known fact that global warming is caused by historical decrease in the number of pirates, you all would do well to put on an eye patch, and ask someone to shiver your timbers.
This morning’s ride in was very nice. At 6:00, it was still dark out, but the moon was bright enough that I barely needed my headlight.
Just when I was all zoning out, feeling all zen about my moonlight ride and my oneness with nature, the horrid stench of a freshly dead skunk bitchslapped me out of my trance. In a car, you are somewhat insulated from the foul odors of the road, and even those that aren’t completely filtered out are quickly far enough behind you that it’s no big deal.
Not so on the bike. The faster you try to pedal away, the harder you breathe, and the deeper you inhale in the stink. Ugh.
In happier news, I was not the only bicycle commuter in the locker room this morning. One of my coworkers has decided to start riding in, too. He lives 2.5 miles away.
So, out of my office of 500 people. 2 of us are bicycling.
It’s a start.
I came home via my new and improved route today. It’s about a mile longer and has a few more hills than my regular route, but there was very little traffic, and the scenery was a bit better. I almost ran over a groundhog, and I had fun ringing my bell and watching the squirrels run around.
In the morning, my normal route works just fine, as most of the car people are still in bed at 6:00AM. When I leave the office at 4:00 however, Simpson St. gets pretty busy. I’d like to avoid it if I can. I can’t avoid it entirely, because my office is on Simpson St.
This is what I’ve been able to come up with. It’s kind of convoluted, and it’s a mile longer than usual, but I think I’ll give it a go tommorow afternoon.
It keeps me off the collectors (in yellow) as much as possible, and it keeps me off Simpson Street for all but about 100 yards.
We ought to be making riding a bicycle the most macho possible thing you can do right now. It’s the only thing that George Bush is doing right now that I actually support, is riding a bike. Because It’s the most patriotic thing you can do right now is to get our country out of Saudi Arabia’s pants so we can deal with something other than our energy crisis.
Today, I am macho, I am patriotic, and I am helping us to ride out of Saudi Arabia’s stinky britches!
Jihad!
If you want to hear it for yourself, you can download the mp3. Be aware, it’s about 26MB. The quoted part starts at 61:55 and ends at 62:12. Any errors in transcription are my fault.
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper