yellow springs

in a few hours
my road trip begins

tonight is my last evening in yellow springs ohio
last night in the dorms of antioch

i don't know if i'm ready to go
not ready for chicago
not ready to leave ohio

but i guess i'll see what happens

i didn't take advantage of the bike trails
as i would have liked

i had dropped out of school about a week ago and
i honestly don't know how my time passed so quickly

i went on a few rides
((yesterday a few of us rode to xenia for mexican food!))

but for the time i had and the trails they have i should have done more

and i have to say i am very ashamed
. . . . my chain has rust . . .
i feel horrible'

every since i moved into that awful awful dorm
i couldn't bring my bike upstairs anymore
so i had to leave it out
to collect rain and dew and fallen leaves


it's almost time that i should be taking off the wheels and packing it into the green car
and off onto the roads of chicacgo

fantastic sight

just outside my school is the
most wonderful bike trail in ohio

for a short time i was enrolled in a bicycle class
what could be better
getting credit for riding my bike for a few hours
last class we rode about 45 minutes to springfield and then we rode back
i talked with liam
about cities and city riding ((he's from boston))
i miss dodging car doors, riding betweeen taxies, the constant awareness. . . .
trail riding is beautiful and nice
but its a different kind of riding


but in a city you can't find something like this::
larissa and i went on a bike ride a few days ago
she told me she had found the most fantastic sight

i followed her as
we left the path and
started down the corn stalk lined streets

as we got to a park
i was waiting for an amazing view

we jumped off our bikes
and headed towards the weeping willow

the weeping willow sat next to a little pond
i looked up and
saw an old yellow crusier wrapped around the branches
it looked as if the cruiser was laying on the ground
and then the tree began to grow and grow
and the bike just sat in the branches and went along for the ride
as the tree grew

it was the most fanstatic sight i have seen in a while.

the death of CILO

"what kind of bike is that? wait, don't tell me..."

my scavenged bicycle served me well for over two years, taking abuse and rolling for thousands of miles. the frame had a bend and a crack in it's downtube after too many front-end collisions, but this crack was not the cause of the bicycle's demise. after such a strong and lasting friendship, this frail old bike gave up and let go. its seat post is what finally cracked--the support that holds the rails of the saddle, to be exact. i was riding through the park, no-hands breezy and rolling smooth, when the seat gave out from under me and i fell backwards, the seat post impaling me in the lower back. i fell backwards and the bike kept rolling foward. i finally toppled back-first onto the ground. unluckily (and after all that), i was wearing my kryptonite NYC chain--the rediculously huge chain--around my waist like a belt, and this chain is what cushioned my fall. i couldn't walk for a few minutes. i just lay there on the ground, not sure how badly i was hurt and not even sure what the hell had happened to the bicycle. i had heard a snap of metal, but what?

the swelling has gone down now after two days. i rode my blue bike today, my first ride since the accident. my body proceeded with caution, but was happy to once again be on a bicycle.