The Ride Report

It rained for about an hour Saturday night which thankfully removed a lot of the heat.  I went for a long slow ride today, exploring some roads I have not been down, and also picking up a smaller map to help me navigate downtown better.  I figure if I am going to try and get a job with a pedicab company I should at least know where things are.

The huumans were acting so strange today.  It was as if the sudden departure of the heat made their brains snap.  One rather rotund huuman was slapping a tree vigorously as if the tree had insulted his mother.  While others didn’t seem to know if they wanted to cross the street or stand in staring blankly at me as I rode past.  I  have never had so much trouble with the huumans before.  Usually it is the cars that try and get me.  Must have been that most cars were sleeping today, giving the huumans a lot of hiding spaces in between them.

I might need a different ride.  The one I have now has been so good to me for so long, but it has been pampered with smooth concrete, and level asphalt, two things Boston has little of.  My Giant Ocr3 has too many parts that rattle and creak when I hit bumps.  I am instead thinking of getting a strong steal framed fixed gear.  Or maybe because I am not so hot at fixy riding just yet, one with a flip/flop back hub so I can go single speed in a pinch.

I have been on my bike every day for several weeks now, and it has been great.  I yearn for the breeze in my hair, and the sound of my chain kissing the rings.   I wonder if Boston has a “bike culture” that I just haven’t found yet.  There just has to be some sort of group I haven’t tapped into yet.  When I find them, I hope they will like me.

Are you from Boston?  Do you know where the adventurers are? Do tell.

Imagine Hell. Imagine the devil in hell doing jumping jacks. Getting hot and sweaty in a lake of fire, now imagine his balls, even hotter and even sweatier in his demon boxers. Now imagine if you detonated a thermo nuclear device on his balls, and you will approximate just how hot it is right now.

I went for a slow rambling ride around town today, and the whole time was strictly BYOB (bring your own breeze). I saw some street shows, got some ice cream and saw a fellow adventurer (my old roommate )who was of all things working for a pedicab company. I asked him about getting a job at the place. Turns out that it would be completely feasible. I could adventure, and get paid for it at the same time! All while keeping my day job. Paid adventuring would be pretty sweet.

The herd is always thin on the weekends. Only the most ambitious cars are out on a Saturday morning, giving me plenty of room for adventuring. You still can’t let your guard down, you could still get hit by a door, or a huuman walking out between a car. But it is much nicer to have more of the road to yourself.

On the way home I had to stop at a pizza place and ask the huuman behind the counter for some water, it was a long hill and I just didn’t have the water to make it to the top. After a quick power-up I made it home and took a very cold shower. I will be pursuing employment as a pedicab driver tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. As always happy pedaling.

I thought it was going to be hot, boy was I right, it was and is very hot. I am still kind of sweaty (gross huh). The ride home was pretty easy. I wasn’t “feeling it” so I stopped in the commons and sat on the “industry bench.” There is a little plaza circle thing on treamont street and there are a bunch of benches eat with a statue of a guy doing something. I sat on the industry bench for a good half hour and just watched huumans walk past. There were many huumans and they were  all interesting. I also discovered that you can “see” the trains coming into the station below the commons. You can feel the vibrations of them coming and going. It is pretty neat. I don’t know if it works on the other benches, I didn’t try them.

My ride home was interesting as well, one of the more aggressive species of car, the taxi,  tried to eat me, lucky for me it was stalking huuman and was moving pretty slowly, so I easily avoided its gnashing bite. I almost made it through the rest of the ride without incident, but for one thing.

I am not sure if it was the heat, or me just being stupid, but as I was coming up a good size hill, I managed to get my front wheel stuck up against the curb. In a dazzling display of my lack of coordination, I flew off the bike and executed a rather graceful landing. Lucky for me my backpack absorbed most of the blow. The local cars looked concerned but when the herd was given the green light, they all left without so much as a “hey you ok?” That ok, I was fine, I even managed to avoid all but a tiny speck of road rash. The worst kind of rash.

I guess I will have to be more careful of those curbs, they can just jump right out at you. Thats the ride report, happy pedaling.

Every day is different. I have been finding that depending on when I leave my home the cars seem to act a bit different. This morning they seemed to calmly allow me to ride among them. These beasts of the road can be fickle but today the herd was passive. Met three fellow adventurers today.

Two guys on old mountain bikes, and a young lady on a hybrid. All seemed nice, and all responded with a smile when I said good morning. They all were on the correct side of the road, and all interested in riding in one direction, which is something that can not be said for all adventurers. I wish I knew more people in this giant brick forest, it would be nice to talk to another bike love, maybe I will meet some cool people on the road.

If you plan on adventuring, don’t ride down the wrong way on a busy street and suddenly dart out in front of me from behind a sleeping car. This makes me cranky and forces me to jump into the herds way which can get me killed. A no no for sure. The temperature has been steadily rising all day, it is nearing 90 degrees outside so the ride home should be a sweaty production, we will see. Till then, happy pedaling.

So I just moved to Boston, and being that I love to ride, I have started using my bike as my sole source of transportation. I go to work on my bike, get food on my bike, go out and have fun on my bike. I will be using this space to document my adventures in learning about Boston by bicycle.