Yesterday I took my new bike out to Pottstown for some adjusting and whatnot at Joey's via SEPTA. The train ride was fairly average and made almost cheerful by the courteous conductor who showed me where to stow my bike and wished me a great day. Already my low expectations have been exceeded! We stopped at he Norristown Transportation Center to catch the 93 bus and i asked the driver to show me how to use the bike rack. I know it's not rocket science, but my bike isn't some Huffy POS shit and I was nervous. She just pointed and said to follow the directions on the rack. Gee, thanks! I lowered the rack, loaded my bike and raised the handle over the front tire and that was all that was holding my bike to the bus. A little scary? You bet! As we started on the journey to Pottstown, I could see my bike teetering back and forth in the rack and I shuddered every time the driver hit the break too hard (which was every 15 seconds) and imagined my bike flying off and subsequently being run over by the bus.
Luckily, that didn't happen and me and my bike made it safely to Pottstown, 2 hours after leaving Philly. Joey met up with me and plopped some clip-in pedals to my bike and we rode to his house up the street. He attempted to hit the bike to me, but low and behold there were no adjustments that needed to be adjusted. It was perfect, which surprised the hell out of both of us. Joey and I went for a spin and he showed me how to use my shifters and just caught up on life in general. We then pedaled back to the bus stop and when the bus arrived I demonstrated how to use the bike rack to Joey and laughed at his look of horror about me putting my trust in it.
Now, I should have never mentioned wheelchairs in my last post because the bus was late picking me up due to the loading of a wheelchair bound passenger. I only had a layover at the Norristown Trans Center for 10 minutes until the R6 left for Philly so I was hoping I wouldn't miss it. We had to stop and unload the wheelchair bound person and it was official that I wouldn't make the train. As we pulled up the the station, I watched the R6 pull away and cursed my life. Now it's an hour wait until the next train. Or is it?
Right next to the station is the sign for the Schuylkill River Trail. I could always start biking to Philly and if I get tired, I can hop on the train since it runs along the R6 route anyway, right? I start my trek back to my hose in the city, which will be about 17/18 miles. The trail is mostly flat so I was able to keep a decent pace and enjoy my ride back to civilization. I thought my legs would start crapping out after the first few miles, but it was my hands that started to get rubbed raw from my handlebars and blisters soon appeared. Around Manayunk is where my ass started aching from my saddle and I was happy about being close to home so I could plop some frozen peas on it. I bit off a bit more than I was prepared for, but I guess you have to start somewhere. Amazingly my legs felt fine today, but my bum and hands tell a different story!
1 comment:
well done, good for you!
Post a Comment