OY!
'Twas not soon after departing the house that the fun began. Less then a mile out the "My legs are tired" started with Rozy. Then came Owens inability to ride in formation or in a straight line. Of course the girls in the carriage whom are normally no problem, discovered that if enough pressure is applied to the lower half of the screen, the snaps and Velcro will give way. Unimpeded by the restraints it made for a new and exciting twist to the pick up game! Anything they could grab from the cart became a projectile for Daddy to have to retrieve! Of course, once on the trail headed North, attempting to get the children to comprehend the necessity for not only staying to the middle/right of the path but also LOOKING FORWARD when they rode, quickly proved a lesson in futility! Angela and Logan, both prone to speed would jet ahead and await us at the next cross walk. This alone led to the inconvenience of having to recap just WHY it took me so long to get there! At one point taking quite sometime to untangle Rozy's rear derailleur from one of the concrete posts that border the intersections! To top it off, as it has been sometime since any of us has rode so far on the trail, I was unaware that it had been descended upon and overtaken by such a large group of excessively RUDE people!!! Out of all the people we encountered, only ONE knew the proper etiquette when approaching a slower moving rider was to announce "On Your Left". No, apparently that has been replaced with the more direct statements such as "GET OUT OF THE WAY!' and/or "MOVE IT! YOUR HOLDING EVERYONE UP!"
WOW!
Look, I realize we are not spandex clad, middle aged marathon wanna-be's but we have JUST as much right to be there as anyone else! If you want to ride your overpriced carbon fiber, mortgage defaulter fast, go to a bloody track! We came up on an intersection (clearly marked with a strange hexagonal, red and white sign with the letters S...T...O...P on it) and quick wittingly realized that perhaps it was signifying the necessity of pausing. Just then a gentleman was crossing over from the other side. He was riding a very unique two seater , three wheeler. We commented on how interesting it was and initiated a pleasant conversation. Mind you, we were all clustered to the right center and he was to the far left with a gap of about 10 feet between us. As we were chatting, an aspiring Lance Armstrongish gentlemen came flying up behind us, decelerating to a drastic halt, expressing his displeasure with our presence impeding his progression and loudly expressed it with a "Get out of the F$%#ing way!" Apparently the constriction of the ill fitting spandex limited his range of movement, or perhaps it was all the sponsor emblems emblazoned about the width and breadth of his attire that made him to important to partake in the ample space we had provided for other riders! He wanted to proceed in straight line, and we were shamefully blocking his path! How DARE we!
Pheh!
NEEDLESS TO SAY! If I ever have the bright idea of taking a long, leisurely ride down the trail....I'm putting in a movie!
ANYWHO!
As mentioned, Elijah had the helm yesterday, and did a surprisingly good job. To his credit, a customer we had serviced a couple days of go, apparently came in, rather ticked off, expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that after having it tuned up, the front derailleur was making a LOT of noise. As it turns out, the bike in question was one he bought used, and was unfamiliar with. Elijah had to explain, as it was a grip shift, he would have to readjust the front derailleur either back and forth a lick, depending upon which gear the rear was in, in order for the chain not to hit the front cage. Also, that the setting on the brakes was set tight, purposefully but should he prefer we could loosen them up. This gent went from disgruntled to a repeat customer because of Elijah's patience and professionalism, as he informed me when I called on a QC this morning, that he would be bringing two other bikes to us for service!
We did manage to put out a few new rides on Saturday, even got ourselves ANOTHER recumbent!! SO check 'em out below, and now I gotta get my Daylight Savings Time befuddled but to work!
See ya soon!
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| Classic Schwinn Cross! Converted to 5 Speed! ONLY $85.00!! |
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| THE ELUSIVE LADIES 3-SPEED!!! ONLY $80.00!!! |
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| LIKE NEW DAHON BOARDWALK FOLDING BIKE!! ONLY $160.00!!! |
Welcome to my world, Kimosabe. Spandex Cowboys, aka "Bike Bullies" are a constant annoyance on the trail. Any trail. Every trail. To me, the trails are social things, and I delight in meeting people along the way. Sure, yeah, I put in the miles, I'm just not a jerk about it. I smile, wave, ring my bell, stop and talk, pet ze pooch, whatever. You just have to alllow for the jerks. (Weekdays are usually a little better.)
ReplyDeleteDo keep at it. Do keep your family familiar with the idea that you can get there by bike and have fun doing it. You and I both know how important that is. As for the jerks, I have basic philosphy: I plan to outlive 'em. (Should be pretty easy to do, considering the way they ride.)