I rode my old Marin Nail Trail up to the shop and had new tires put on. Instead of the off-road trail tires that I had worn down smooth by riding mostly on roads, I had them put on some hybrid tires, ones that can go off-road when needed but will function much better for street riding, which is what I mostly do. The difference was immediately recognizable.
They also lubed the chain, which was new not so long ago but has sat outside in the humidity and occasional rain and developed a layer of surface rust. The spiders and their webs scattered with all the new activity. They will have to find another home.
So, now I don't have to buy a new bike at $1500+, I can start riding my familiar old bike and see where that takes me.
For those who tired of me writing about the gym... they will have bike adventures to look forward to now.
I do worry about my asshole, much more than most. It has a terrible tear of some sort inside it, one that is deadly painful. I can't see it, but I have paid people to inspect it and report back to me.
My general physician asked how it happened and I swore - perhaps more often than necessary to convince - that I really had no idea. None. It's a mystery that just appeared.
Or, it didn't appear to me, but it developed unexpectedly. I emphasized that it was through no intentional act, no sudden shift in behavioral impulse, etc.
He said: Well, these things can also happen naturally through age, though that is much, much less likely.
He asked again how old I was. I recited the number, trying to emphasize its weight in years. He shook his head and took his glasses of and looked intently at me again.
And you say there were no witnesses there when it happened? None that might have had a better perspective on the incident than you?
I swear it. I just woke up one day and it was like that.
He asked me which was my favorite of all the Richard Gere movies.
"Days of Heaven"
You sure you're not more of an "American Gigolo" fan? Or, are you "An Officer and a Gentleman" type?
I swear it, Doc. This thing just happened to me. Well, I don't mean it happened "to me" but it just happened, through not fault of my own.
Okay, it seems awfully strange that such a significant tear would just appear there one day. We have to depend on the owner's version of the story in a situation like this. If assholes could only talk....
He gave me a pamphlet on how to take care of it. It was titled "The Only One You'll Ever Have..."
I read it carefully.
The insurance company called later also, with more questions of their own. They threatened to drop me if anything like this ever happened again, muttering about the evils of Obamacare and the good old days....
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