the Trip 11.11.06

11.11.2006

I left the house with a modicum of damage after last night’s City expedition. The trip on the Dahon, has yet to be matched in my bike riding experience. The rain was coming down so hard that I felt as if it combined with the wind was working to push me backwards.

The night was fun, punctuated by a Delerium tremens and a couple of Laguenista Bruns.

I fell asleep on the train ride home however, and I had to walk 5 miles to the Dahon that was parked at the Depot in the middle of the night. That was a lot of fun.

Today, I worked on getting packed and took a jaunt to the city. I checked out some folding bikes at Rapid Transit, I rode an aluminum framed five speed internal shifting beast called the Vitesse. It was noticeable more stiff than the Picolo that I am currently riding. It seemed a bit lighter, too. The 20 inch wheels seemed to allow a better coasting experience as well.

The flight was an experience, I watched part of that Nascar movie that Will Farrell put out, it sucked, but what stopped me from watching it was the person that went face down in the aisle in 1st class.


I rented a mighty Chevy Cobalt from Avis, the drive from PHX to Flagstaff was different for me. First of all, I 17 seems to be in great shape, I also was not piloting a broken down car. I felt naked as I did not have a weapon on board.

I abused the stereo by playing Wyld Canada v.1n at top volume.

Two typical AZ events unfolded on my journey. North of PHX, I got caught in a pack of 6-8 Civics. They were going pretty fast and after they surrounded me, they slowed down. It was a bit of a white knuckle, but they got off at Deer Valley.

South of Prescott (”Presskit”), I 17 is a 4 lane divided highway, that is 2 lanes of traffic, going in the same direction are separated by a large stone and tree median. I was shocked to see a set of high beams coming right at me. Some tweaker was heading south in the slow north-bound lane. The limit is 75 mph there, and I was struggling to keep the mighty Cobalt under 90. If I didn’t swerve onto the shoulder, I shudder to think what may have happened.