Okay, everyone. A few changes since my last entry:
1) I have a new group of roommates who are even less hygienic than the previous group (how is that even possible?)
2) I am working all summer without a real break. Plenty of money in the bank; nowhere to spend it wisely (buying my own private island in the South Pacific would be a good investment now).
3) I have a bike.
Now, that last point needs some clarifying. A private student's ex-husband mentioned an old bike that he was no longer using. He let me pick it up at their last session for free and I have spent much time and some money fixing it up to some sort of standard of use. New chain, seat, gear wires, tires, tubes, derailleurs and the like have helped. But there was one thing that I did not count on: I need to (re)train myself to learn how to ride the thing.
I do know how to ride a bike, but I think that it is a skill that you can develop beyond a certain point (there must be some reason why people in Europe would actually take part in a six-day race). And the tired simile about how certain things in life are so easy that they resemble riding a bike just does not work. I found the seat too high, yet it cannot be lowered without cutting the tubes about two inches; the helmet I bought is ugly enough and ventilated enough to allow the air to pretend to cool my head (all the other head protection out there made me resemble a soldier about to invade Poland or Super Mario Land); and the lock is a production in itself (another expense that is tempting fate).
I say all of this after a long night-ride on a bike trail from my place on the Plateau to the mountain that gave MTL its name. Still hoping that I will feel things below the waist before I wake up in the morning. I have discovered that it is also a workout worthy of any run I have made in any park or track. No complaints, but I have another skill to relearn.
More to come after another tour of the city. This could be a theme...
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