The Shredded Schrader

It’s true; the laughter begins before I hit the ground and the smile doesn’t leave until long after that. My levity is not always shared by everyone in these cases, unfortunately. Such was the case when I stumbled up to the head of my department, dirty and bleeding. Some time in the sink, a trip to the first aid kit, and some scotch tape (freshly stolen from Yossi’s desk, thank you) later and I’m blogging about how truly awesome Bike Path Cyclo-Cross is.

My damage:
The back of my wrist was scraped up.
2.5 knuckles were bleeding.
2 cuts between my fingers were bleeding
My teeth hurt
A large chunk of my right palm was shredded and bleeding.
I tore my pants
My right knee is scuffed up.
General aches and pains
Subsequent problems with breathing.
A plenty of dirt lodged into my wounds.
The horrified looks of several witnesses.

Kallisti’s damage:
Chain fell off its rocker
The right hood (remember this is a road bike) is bent far inwards now
Negligible damage to the hull
Dirt, dirt, dirt.

I love this stuff. I hope I get into more crashes!

Hail Eris!
Danimal.

I recently decided to start training for Cyclo-Cross. Not the “urban-cross” of the past (this was an invention of mine that combined parkour with cycling and, uh… trespassing), but actual sanctioned Cyclo-Cross. Five problems immediately come to light;

1. I don’t have a Cyclo-Cross bike
5. I have no place to practice

The solution to number 1 is to suck it up, up my ability to repair bikes, and just use Kallisti (my LeMond). Kallisti is already a bit dinged up from the fun I’ve put her through (okay maybe abuse is a better term. ), and the prospect of more interesting repairs excites me.

The solution to number 5? Get creative. While there is (to my knowledge) no all-season track close by for me to practice on and my Kallisti doesn’t care for mud, I am rather imaginative. At last we come to the title of this blog post; Cyclo-Cross on the bike path.

Here are the rules I’ve generated so far;

1. The patches of brickwork are areas where it is infeasible to cross while on my bike.
2. The hills have to be ridden to the top and then ridden down again.
3. Don’t endanger the other travelers.

Solidarity and fun!
Danimal… grarr.

When I have a chance I’ll play with the new feature. Feel free to go ahead and play with it yourself!

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/biking-directions-added-to-google-maps.html

UPDATE:

The option seems to be available to everyone but me…

The following was submitted via the MBTA’s support form.

Hello,

At around 8:45am today (March 9), bus number 0199 came to an abrupt halt in the street, next to (but not in) the Dawes Island Park bus stop. The driver then negligently let the passengers off while parked in the street (again, outside the bus stop; in the middle of the lane). This caused the passengers to almost collide into several cyclists who were (legally) passing to the side of the bus as the law permits given a single lane and adequate room.

I have been assured that the MBTA cares about the safety of its passengers. I look forward to seeing this promise put into motion.

I sincerely thank you for your time. We have a mutual interest here and I am glad we can work together for it.

I hope to hear from you in regards to this incident,
[Danimal]

I encourage readers to visit and comment on the MBTA’s response to recent accusations regarding safety (see last post).

Don’t do what I did and fail to take a deep breath before commenting the first time. Remember, the comments will need to be approved first.

Solidarity!
Danimal.

This is one of those special (and far between) moments when I am actually… speechless…

“Hi [Grimlocke…] The actual story airs tonight at 11pm [on WBZ-TV]. The MBTA actually gave me video from inside the bus of your second incident. You can see the bus going through the red light.. and you can see you on your bike.”

Solidarity!
Danimal.