GETTING CLIPPED
This report marks the first of some tales where the Ruptured Duck is a bicycle rather than a plane. The view is now from about 5 feet above ground level, rsther than 1,000-2,000 feet up in the air. And, speeds dropped from an aversge of 110 mph, to something more like 9-10 mph. That's about 0.012 Mach, or 1.2% the speed of sound. A real turtle chaser.
It seems to be common street knowledge that "the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about two weeks". It seems to work out about the same, no matter which way you're going in the transition phase. Being an undapper gent (lacking in both koothe and swave), I push it out an extra week. A couple of days ago, it was THE day!
Getting the bike ready took LOTS of extra strokes on the tire pump. (Early onset of physical conditioning here). A long winter was deleterious to tire pressure. Riding the 2.3 miles to the barbershop is easy. Particularly that day, because the tailwind component was 8-10 mph. Coasting gaily along, feet spread wide to show the world that I'm not overworking myself, I went on my way. Whoops! Some darned fool put a hill here - and it goes in the wrong direction! Pre-breathe. Breathe deeply BEFORE I get to the hill, flush out as much nasty old CO2 as I can, gear it down, pedal in a dignified manner cause passing motorists are watching.
Pausing in the parking lot of the hardware, a block before the barbershop, I catch my breath. OK, now I'll finish up, and can walk serenely into the barbershop. "Hi, Jon. How ya doing?" Closely followed by the standard greetings used when guys enter a barbershop. HINT: if this puzzles you, rewatch Clint Eastwood in the "Gran Torino."
Julie was out running errands, so stopped to pick me up to go to lunch. We have lots of restaurants nearby, and a few favorites. T&D Coney is one of them. Their salads are always good. (HINT: the secret to good salads is good greens. If you have good greens - clean, and FRESH - a 3rd grader can easily make a good salad. However, if the greens are old or soggy or not clean, then God Herself couldn't mske a good salad!)
T&D has good stuff. A favorite of ours is served in a large bowl. The size you'd set on the table to serve a family. Stips of fried chicken, sections of hard boiled egg, and chunks of tomato adorn this creation, along with assorted other salad accessories. We split this thing, and I get the warm pita bread. JARVIS good eatin! burp
Back at the barbershop, I tecover the bike, and saddle up to ride home. Right away, I notice that now, there is a head wind, and - it's blowing in my face! And temptations border the route - ice cream shops, coffee shops, pizza joints. And a taco shop. But doggedly, I press on. Reviewing the record on my FitBit, it indicated that it took only one minute longer to get home, than it took to reach the barbershop. I might have to get this thing recalibrated.
Cheated death again.