strange news from afar

things are quiet lately.
i haven't been to critical mass in many, many months.
bicycle riding is a lonely affair, a silent journey from here to there.
futhermore, i am thinking about my future and where i will travel to. will i take my bicycle(s) with me? will i ride from state to state? i used to think of my blue cannondale as such a precious, fragile peice. my deluxe ride. i wouldn't want to damage it, i thought. but then i realized it is a solid frame and set of wheels, ready to see the country with me, through rain and sun and slipping in gravel parking lots. so now i don't think of my blue bicycle as such a precious jewel but rather a sturdy machine willing to ride. and ride. and ride.

miles and miles ahead. the chinook, the cannondale, lots of books, and the boundless moment, living in the now.

minneapolis critcal mass

i arrived a few hours early with a horrible craving for french fries
i searched the town
but could not find any place for cheap fries
only pubs

heading down oak street i found a grocery store in the basement of an old building
i walked around for a good twenty mintues around that
tiny grocery store.
picked up some masking tape
and then the perfect chips
i asked how much the were.
he told me and
muttered in a southern accent something about there being some many things he can't remember

i have absoulty no idea what he was talking about
but the way he said it under his breath made me laugh

so i grabbed a banana to add to my nutritional dinner of chips
and headed back toward the bench where i wait for the rest of the critical mass bikers to arrive

as i sat watching the park
i had vistors
squirrels!
so all you guys who know me, know i am scared! of squirrels
this was not exciting to have them come closer and closer
so they can jump on my head and suction cup to my brain

so i decided to make up the courage to sit with the guys at the top of the hill
who started the gathering for critical mass
i went and asked if this was critcal mass

i was EXTREMLY shy

i sat on the bench just watching
the pink flimengo, zombie for bush, and the cool ranch dorrito slowly join the group

we waited until about 5:45
just as i put my foot on the petal
i felt rain
i would have never expected it because today was the nicest day
i couldn't believe it, hardly long sleeve weather and the sun! the sun was out! ((this is rare))

it was perfect
costumes and warm rain!

it was a small group, compared to chicago, about 50 tops

it began to pour

it was amazing

i look behind me
a girl with bat wings is hunched close to her handle bars to keep the rain away
the light
dark clouds with the sun setting

the rain let up every now and then
but always came back stronger than the last time
we rode around soaked

i then broke away from the group when we passed a cafe i go to
i sat there
wet, sticking to the seat drinking coffe and reading my book

and the only thing that makes this night more perfect

is that tomorrow is candy shopping for the trick-or-treaters and i am going to wear a costume!

minneapolis

today i found out why i
was never
comfortable on my blue bike


even though i took it across the midwest i never felt like it was my bike



__it was living in the wrong city.

its seems happy here.


yeah! throat burns from the cold, that make me spit!
yeah! cold fingers!
yeah to the red, cold faces!