You never know what you'll see on a Crazy Bastard Urban Ride. We ran into these girls along the way last Thursday night. They were on their way to Margo's Birthday Party at the Winchester. I think the gal on the right is Sheri Versluis, the Farmer's Wife. Looks like she's buying her riding kit at the same place as Julie Boonen.
Too chicken for another soggy mud ride on Thursday, a few of us opted for an urban ride which essentially eliminates mud but keeps the potholes in the riding equation. It also adds pedestrians and cars, something that we rarely see in the dark woods along the usual Crazy Bastard route, so there's more fun and weirdness right there. So we met up at Founders and headed out, with Big Kahuna, Amy S, Steve B, Cupcake aka Laura M, and your faithful ride recorder, ont the dangerous and bizarre streets of our "bike friendly ....." excuse me I had to laugh, city, of Grand Rapids
Cupcake leads the cheering of the huge crowds that greeted us as our Crazy Bastard Urban Ride rolled through town.
Cheering for us? Not really, nobody cared about us, actually. They just wanted us out of the way most of the time. What you're seeing above was the Chicken Dance (some contest to see how many people can be made to look ridiculous at once), and we just happened to be riding by. It was a great way for Amy S and Cupcake to warm up. As you can see ...
A little chicken wiggle to the left.
A little chicken to the right.
A little get-down chicken wiggle, tonight, and you'll feel real nice!
After the Chicken Dance we again had to stop, this time to wish Margo Burian a happy birthday. she was celebrating at the Winchester with some of those friends that we ran into on our way.
Margo celebrates her birthday with members of the Crazy Bastard Urban Ride™. I think she said she was 26 or 27, but I can't be sure. Post your best guess in the comments below.
While the ride was a lot of fun, it's sure not like having the whole road to yourself, as we do all fall and winter long on the usual CB routes out of Townsend. As the ride progressed, and the vehicles came closer and closer, as the lights flashed and the horns honked, I had horrible visions that looked a lot like these old bicycling cartoons ...
The lesson here – Grata buses and bus drivers ... approach with extreme caution. They are not your friend when you're on a bicycle.
Okay, same thing goes for grabbing a car, truck or bus for an easy ride. Don't do it - unless you're a hipster, and then it's okay. It's not like you're an endangered species or anything like that, right?
Oh yeah, look out for that truck, dumbass.
I don't know about the transcendence part, but I'll like to learn enough to not-get-mowed-down by that family from Kentwood that's looking for a parking spot.
Bike Snob NYC has another book on the way. This one looks like it was made for anyone that wants to go on an Urban Crazy Bastard Ride - like that's ever going to happen again. Anyway I don't think we should go on another ride until everyone has read this book, studied the "danger cartoons" and is prepared to take a three-hour test on urban riding skills. If we all pass then we'll be riding like these super-cool hipsters from Norway on fixies in the video below. Notice near the end of the video they leave town and head out into the countryside. Good idea. And great soundtrack and video. Watch it an learn watcher and learners - with the rain coming down right now, another ride on the hard stuff might be in order.
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