Pedal Strike

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September 3rd, 2009

twilight zone

I thought it was hilarious when Representative Barney Frank asked a woman, who compared planned health care reforms to Nazi policies, “on what planet do you spend most of your time?”

In a way, that’s not such a rhetorical question when you’re in Massachusetts.

I was hoping the crazy was limited to the rare isolated instance that I was just unlucky enough to observe. But unlocking my bike today, I realized how very, very wrong I was. Either that or I’m in some twilight zone or simply going insane. It’s getting hard to tell.

Someone please confirm that it’s actually 2009. Because when I saw this helmet, I sort of looked around feeling slightly displaced, then had to look at the date stamped onto it one more time. I mean, I know vintage is in, but…really?

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I was sort of still trying to remember what I was doing back in ’94 when I ended up stumbling upon the laziest lock-up job I’ve seen in the past week. It actually made me do a double-take as I initially thought that the cable lock on the left was only looped around the brake cable [it was looped around the handlebars]. Granted, neither bike looked like it was worth stealing, but come on! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, or something [+100 points if you got that movie reference]!

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And while I’m really loving that stem on the left, that doesn’t mean I’m not a different planet. Because the other day, I also parked right next to what had to be E.T.’s new bike. With a seat that low, and upright positioning, the owner of this bike has the shortest legs and the longest torso currently known to man. I was tempted to wait around to see who owned it, but images of a glowing finger pointing at me were sufficient to scare me away [I never liked aliens, even friendly ones].

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It could be the schoolwork, and the hours spent in front of a glowing laptop screen. It could also be the copious amounts of hot water flavored with essence of coffee that I’ve been voluntarily buying and consuming at school. But this strikes normal, non-Bostonians as slightly fucking insane, right? I’m not the only one who thinks this…right???

Someone please let me know if I’m in some “I am Legend”-esque situation here. And yes I’m dead serious.

Tags:   · · · 10 Comments

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10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 jeff s Sep 3, 2009 at 9:00 am

    Zoolander.

  • 2 pedalstrike Sep 3, 2009 at 10:11 am

    jeff s — correct. best. movie. ever.

  • 3 christopher earl. Sep 3, 2009 at 11:31 am

    Maybe it’s.. maybe.. um..

    I have no fucking clue. Maybe their other bike is a chopper?

    With Indy being “non-Bostonian,” I can attest that this is, in fact, “slightly fucking insane.”

    -Christopher

    P.S. This is Christopher from indycog. Enjoying the rants and writings.

  • 4 Chris Sep 3, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    So often, when I see people tearing up their knees or rocking back and forth or wearing their helmet at a 45° degree angle, I really want to say something.

    I think people think they’ll be really uncomfortable “hunched over” like a roadie, so they adopt positions that are ridiculous for riding anything over a few miles. Seriously though: my back pain ended shortly after I started riding all hunched over…

  • 5 doniu Sep 4, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    I am somehow not surprised about the helmet, but then I’ve seen a guy commute on a reasonably new roadie (maybe 4 or 5 yrs old) wearing a one of these –

    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3290333824_7e1c6382d0.jpg

    For a timeline, these were conceived around the 80’s… and people wonder why kids never liked wearing helmets.

  • 6 jeff s Sep 4, 2009 at 11:25 pm

    “I think I got the black lung pop.” Also, am I the only person who wanted “I Am Legend” to be more awesome and less “moody”?

  • 7 jeff Sep 6, 2009 at 12:28 am

    people in toronto are slightly imbalanced as well. heres two examples.

  • 8 jeff Sep 6, 2009 at 12:32 am

    oh, no direct images, duh.
    nice helmet
    why yes, it is real lambskin

  • 9 doniu Sep 6, 2009 at 3:34 am

    Lambskin? Really? I don’t I could ride comfortably on the road perched upon what looks to me like a dead marsupial jammed into the top of a seat post. I’ll stick to my max flite thanks.

  • 10 Caroline Sep 9, 2009 at 12:35 am

    That helmet could be NOS, which of course would reset your zone — and mean it’s actually worth wearing around, too!

    And I bet had you hung around that locked up bike, someone would have shown up and blown your mind with sweet flatland bmx trix.

    You never know…