Bicycle Blues

I love my truck (Dougie the Dodge) but in the interest of "living green" I use my feet and my bicycle to go most places during the warmer months. Like the girl above (who looks remarkably like me when I was about 8 years old - minus the sunglasses and helmet of course!) I experience such a sense of FREEDOM when I'm whizzing along on my bike.

Unlike my former child self I tend to engage the brakes when I get zooming too quickly down a hill and NOWADAYS I wear a helmet! Touch wood (my head!) I haven't had any falls so far this year but if I do I'm more likely to break something than when I was 8.

Back when I was a kid riding freely around the village I grew up in it was no problem to leave one's bike propped up against a tree while you went into a friend's house or a store or got involved in a game of softball. Every kid had a bike and had no reason to steal someone else's. The only problem I encountered was the time a bully threw my bike into the sandbox at the nearby park and for the rest of my years using that bike the chain made a loud grinding noise from the sand. Phooey!

This past week I've encountered some vandalism that made me feel like that 8 year old kid again. After riding my bike to my brother's house, then to yoga, then back home again I discovered someone had snapped my front light right off. Not to use mind you but just as an act of vandalism because there were a few little broken pieces on the ground. The rest of it they must have thrown in the bushes or somewhere.

As if that wasn't bad enough I then noticed the rear view mirror from my helmet was missing!

That little mirror pops into the arm and swivels for a good view behind me - it pops out from the arm rather easily I'm afraid. I do lock my helmet to my bike for safekeeping but never thought someone would pull the mirror off...until someone did. Again they didn't take the whole thing so they could use it, just the mirror! Sigh.....

I now have a nice new rechargeable light which I can easily detach and keep in my backpack when not in use and I have a "parts kit" coming with a new mirror. Until it arrives I'll just have to crank my head around and look over my shoulder to check for traffic behind me. I can do that. And lesson learned - I keep my bike locked with TWO locks when it's not in use but it's still open season on accessories so keep 'em safe! Darn bullies!