Sunday, May 18, 2008

Kennett. Laptop. Newspaper.

I'm sitting at the laptop that lives in the kitchen of my parents'es house in Kennett Square Pennsylvania. I'm trying to find out how many bicycle the Paris bicycle sharing program has. I'm doing that because I just read an article in the Daily Local about the effort to start a similar bicycle sharing program in Philadelphia. My folks kept the article for me.

I just ate chili with soup crackers, and explained to my parents how badass I am. I rode a 63mi cancer-benefit ride with Nat earlier, and I'm all pumped up and feeling great about it. I was worried that I'd fallen way out of shape, and I'm glad to know that that is not the case. I'm fine, and I'm decent on climbs sometimes. For this ride, I finished my KHS Professional 531 tubes & fork blades racing bicycle. It's a racing bicycle for sure, but a far cry from what 99% of the other riders were using. I was baggy shorts and a soccer jersey with wide 32c tires and convenient friction shifters. They were all expenso-carbon cycle spandexy clacking around with cleats and slim-tire-bumping trying to frustrate a derailer into position. In many ways, this is a rude and unfair characterization. Life continues. My bicycle is King of Bicycles.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i best heard this comparison in an old BMX magazine 'write in' column:

"they do bunnyhops and manuals in their Ninja Turtle outfits, we do bunnyhop truckdrivers in our ratty Poor Boy tshirts and ratty jean shorts". ~RideBMX circa '95

"ninja turtle outfits" continues to be my description of choice for the proto-carbon people that you speak of. pass it on.

Pixy Stoneskipper said...

I like this. Ninja Turtle outfits is easy to say, and abstract enough to amuse me. But yeah - that quote captures the spirit. I'll do a market test on "Ninja Turtle outfits" and see if that strikes a chord in conversation. I kinda thought it would be funny to show up to a ride in a diving suit. If you're in a diving suit, you're either stupid or you're mocking everybody there. Until I own a diving suit and get more mockery-balls, I'm going to stick to pseudo-baggy shorts and t's.

Thanks for the comment.