23 hours ago I woke up in Londonderry, NH at 2am and suited up to ride my bicycle. My intermittent reliance on the bicycle as a primary means of transportation has continued for a couple extra unexpected days. Reduced mobility left me with extra down time at home and I rewarded my bicycle for its efforts with the maintenance promised in my previous post. In the photo here, the installed replacement cassette and chain illustrate textbook shiny newness. Overall, swapping these components was a quick job. Shifts are a bit snappier and there’s noticeably less play in the pedal stroke.
Luggage On Bike At Gym
Wasting no time putting my handiwork to the test, my challenge for the weekend was to deliver myself and a week’s worth of luggage the 12+ miles to work to catch a 4am airport shuttle. Benefiting again from seasonally advanced warmth, I opted two trips, a daytime one to deliver the bulk of my luggage and the early morning one for the primary purpose of delivering myself. The first truly warm saturday of the spring brought out many lightweight road bikers on the winding rural roads of Londonderry and I couldn’t help but laugh at my own image grinding through town with a suitcase tied to my rack. :) Truth be told, it was a very pleasant ride. I enjoyed the luxury of comfortable riding in my short sleeved jersey at least as much my streamlined comrades. Further, the 2am ride in reminded me of the great peace in rural summer nighttime riding.
Birthday Cake
I finished today here in Santa Cruz as Fin’s Coffee’s lone customer at 10pm local time, with a slice of carrot confection to suffice as birthday cake. Here I’ve seen more bikes at night with proper headlights than I do in a month in NH. It’s perhaps the most hours I’ll ever spend awake in one birthday. Unusual, but certainly memorable!