I've felt, BEEN so guilty because of my changing gender and for that reason it seemed that the only way to avoid even more condemning guilt was to refrain from any relationship with a man whatsoever. This is a hard, lonely road, as some of you well know.
Tonight I was out on my bike and stopped to call in a broken electrical box. When I finished and went to move on, I forgot to secure my purse to the back of my bike with the elastic sproingy. It promptly wrapped up in my rear sprocket cassette, and threw debris at me.
I stopped and turned my bike on its back and began to pick at the errant elastic pieces, not sure what I was going to do. At home, with tools it would have been no problem.
Without warning a man, YES A MAN, was talking to me and sort of took charge, after a few mumbled protests, I stepped back and let him go to it. It felt much better to simply relax and let it happen. He soon had it fixed and the bike was back together.
He was gone as quickly as he came. I stood there befuddled and wishing he was still there.....
Yes, I could like totally be a slut...
Gwen
Comments
LOL
I can so relate to this, Gwen. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Living Like A Nun
Thank you. I have been trying to be oh so perfect, and saying that I had no attraction to men... I'll have to admit to it now. :)
Gwen
rule #1
When carrying stuff on a bike - bungees are useless! You already have a rack so either add a basket or better still a proper pannier bag et voila, no stuff dangling into wheels!
Hope it didn't spoil the rest of your ride!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Bent Wheel
My bike was custom built by a friend who had his own bike store, and the wheels have always been completely straight. I notice that my back wheel now has a bit of a wobble in it. In the far distant past, I put my own rims on and did all that, but more than 50 years later I don't know if I wish to get the spoke tool and the wheel vice and do it myself? I also don't know if I can find someone that will do it to my standards?
I had stupidly taken my paniers off for this ride because they are not 'pretty'. :)
wheel building
Is one of my least favourite bits of bike maintenance, I can do it and I don't mind the fine truing. Often i've had someone else do the grunt bit then finished them off.
Luggage on bikes is never pretty but i've got a couple of sets which sort of match my bikes! I can get a bit fixated on having everything matching - bar tape, bags, even bolts and that's without co-ordinating what i'm wearing! Lol
Mads
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Bike Riders Across The Pond
Non-American, and most American riders must be cut from a different cloth than I am. I've got rather limited lung capacity due to congenital issues I suppose. I was strong as hell when I was young, but always ran short of air. I used to talk regularly with some UK riders who thought nothing of riding 60 or more miles in a day. Since I had my 'front bottom' done, 10-20 miles is all I can manage, and that not every day.
Here, where I live, there are just lots of off street bike routes that come in very handy. Oddly, I've been struck off my bike by other riders twice now. At my age, kissing the pavement is bloody awful.
Gwen
er
Erm, 'bout 70 very hilly miles today. Had a bit of a deflation thing, my first for @ a year, it was dry, not too windy and I got back in one piece which is always a bonus!
As far as i'm concerned how far I ride is up to me, I don't judge others riding by my own. It's the stick that I measure my own efforts against, after a smashed knee cap and the DVT scare a couple of years ago, the fact I can ride at all is a constant miracle, that I can ride far and relatively quickly at this point in my life is a bonus.
If 20 miles is what you can do, that's great, that's 20 more than most people do. Anyone on a bike, regardless of where or how far is a plus as far as i'm concerned.
The biggest part of my working life has been spent selling / servicing bikes, its ingrained in me (i'm the third generation of racers!), many of those bikes never got beyond the back yard, a few may have clocked up a bit of mileage but you have to be a special kind of idiot to do the amount I do!
Take care and enjoy your rides
Mads
Ps, my sig pic is me at the end of a 100 mile plus event in the Austrian Salzkammergut last year.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Coincidentally (!) be at the same place same time ...
... for the next few days. Be prepared to apologize for being tongue tied and not thanking him adequately. Then ask to treat him to coffee, etc. Use the time to build an acquaintance.
Remember: A lady is never too old to flirt. Even if this does not work out, it will be good practice for your next opportunity!
Go, Girl!
Sara
Between the wrinkles, the orthopedic shoes, and nine decades of gravity, it is really hard to be alluring. My icon, you ask? It is the last picture I allowed to escape the camera ... back before most BC authors were born.