Bikes In Town

I work next to the main arterial road between downtown and the east part of town between Grass Valley and Nevada City. I'm a block from the Post Office downtown, but thanks to geography, Main Street narrows to barely two lanes. So, everyone going back and forth to the Nevada City or Burger Basin (nickname, obviously) goes past me when I'm at work. I've got a big window to stand in front of, and the traffic noise is dominating at times. The upside to this is I see the bikes going by. Sometimes this is race bicycles, more often mountain bikes ridden by hobos. There's a local school run charity that fixes up bikes for the "homeless" so they can get around.

Its been warm this week. Even with the very brief rain, it mostly just made the pollen stick to my car paint. I'm hoping that the rain today will wash it off again. I got sweaty, working this week. It was that warm. Trees are starting to leaf out. I realized my polo shirts, while being very nice looking, are actually a little bit too warm. So I ordered a couple Aloha (Hawaiian) shirts and a pair of shorts. Should help lighten the mood. I feel kinda grim when I am working so very hard to catch up. I wish they'd warn me there's a sale coming. Might be a good idea to come in early to catch up on the orders. The good news is sales at work is way up. Bad news is we're still playing catch up far too much of the time. Inventory on Monday. That will likely be a long and hard day, but we'll finally know what we've got.

At least I've got Pandora music channels to relax myself to. Lots of Portishead, Nouvelle Vague, and now Hot Buttered Rum.

I've also got windows to glance out when I hear interesting traffic noises. There's a young man who cruises by on a restored vintage green 110cc 2-stroke. A nice looking bike, no obvious blue smoke so the engine was done properly and it has rings. Not exactly sure what make and model. I didn't see the expansion chamber but it sounds like a 2-stroke. Anyway, its restored and he goes by every day, back and forth to school.

There's also a couple of different old geezers with those 80cc engines mounted on their bicycle, which is barely legal way to get up the hill. Since I've seen him going ALL the way to Nevada City, which is about 800 foot climb from Grass Valley, I have to admit I'm rather impressed. And he's been using this since I moved up here last Fall.

I happen to know these are illegal unless registered and plated, but I guess the police don't care so he keeps riding anyway.

My bicycle is in surprisingly good shape having been kept under the house for the winter. Even the tires have more pressure than I thought they would. Want to ride it soon. My Dad thinks I should ride to work. Maybe I will, once I'm stronger and more used to the workload. Right now that's iffy. I'm standing for hours every day. It was hurting my back Thursday and Friday but I'm better now. If I do ride to and from work I'll get hella strong. It will be excellent endurance exercise and strengthen my heart. Maybe get me more fit for when I start dating again. If I start dating again. The nice lady at my work wants to hike and bike. This would be a good day for it, but she hasn't called or emailed me so maybe she's busy. Or maybe her offer wasn't serious. I learned long ago not to get worked up over promises broken. Sometimes people say things because they're being polite.

I suppose I should say I'm seeing patterns in traffic. I'm seeing a few scooters. I'm seeing lots of Harley tourists coming through town. I am seeing Rice Rockets, mostly 600cc Ninjas. I'm seeing very few Enduro bikes. I'm seeing a few vintage old bikes like the young man rides. I'm seeing geezer/hobos on mountain bikes, some pushing them, some riding very fast. I'm seeing a few bikes converted to mopeds like the one above.

Traffic is still mostly work trucks and a few cars, some nice, some beaten up, not much in between. I've driven home up Alta Street most days now, thanks to dropping stuff off at the UPS Store in town. Its a few block away from work. Every customer wants their packages right away, which means I go there before I go home. Oh well. It's the job. Just like standing for hours with a sore back, or the hangnails I get from stuffing boxes. Its a little bit of bad and a lot of good. I deal with it. For a 5 minute commute with a fairly late start time that allows a slow morning cup of joe, its pretty okay. If I can get strong enough to bicycle to and fro, maybe I'll trim down that much more. We'll see.