I gave those babies the old chop and flop, and I am much happier with them now. Also, I added a brake. I was going to go on a long diatribe about having a brake vs. not having a brake and how everybody should shut the fuck up about it especially when they don't even ride bikes blah blah blah. I don't think I am up for it now. I like the brake, and I feel more comfortable riding a lot faster with it. For me, it works. It is kind of a bummer aesthetically, but it isn't like I have the prettiest color-coded bike anyway.
I went for a long ride tonight. I was by myself since I don't have anyone to ride with right now. I jumped on the PATH in Downtown Decatur and headed for Atlanta. The PATH is kind of a joke since it doesn't seem to go too far in any one direction before it runs out and you are back on the street, which is fine by me but the city likes to think it is some kind of answer to a real commuter-style cycle path from the outlying areas to Downtown Atlanta. It would be if it was one continuous "path". Instead, it goes for a few miles and then abruptly ends with no real signs telling you which way to go to get back on it at any point. Anyway, I took the PATH till it ran out and then took a ride through the Kirkwood neighborhood, which is full of beautiful, old houses. But since I am not too familiar with that area, I rode for a while till I thought I was going to get lost and got back on Decatur to head into the city. Riding on Decatur, I was passed by an ambulance, and I got a good look at the patient in the back. She was an older woman with an oxygen mask over her face. A trip in an ambulance anywhere on a Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. isn't going to end up very good. There was a car tailing the ambulance pretty close. I wonder if it was the woman' family or just some asshole. I hope it was her family or at least someone who cared.
I was going to go over to Octane Coffee, but I managed to get downtown right when some kind of doings was getting over at the arena or whatever is right downtown by the CNN Center. It was a mess of cops, cars, and horse shit (literally). Of course Edgewood, which turns into Marietta and the direction I needed to go, was closed down and the cops were being dicks and yelling at me for trying to ride on the road past their motorcycles. Well, I tried an alternate route, zipping between cars for a few blocks, which was a blast. I ended up going in a big circle and right back to the same intersection, so I just headed back to Midtown where I stopped by the Majestic and said hi to Shawn for a minute then headed back to Decatur. All in all, a night out on my bike is as good as it gets. Hopefully, I can get Lori on a better bike soon, and we can ride together. Then everything would be perfect.
My goal was to take a bunch of pictures, but the ones I took didn't turn out. Maybe when it's less hectic.
