How can I tell that Old Man Winter is waiting in the wings and is all fucking antsy to make his grand entrance? What’s the tip off that this harshest season is not going to wait for the orchestra to break into his theme song before leaping into the spotlight?
A) Coco spends her nights (and much of her days) in her fleece lined, high castle aerie instead of those chilly first floor window perches.
B) My feet are so damn cold at night despite wearing these colorful and oh-so-sexy socks to bed. Yes, the duvet is now in place. It’s official — winter is on us.
C) Rocco has been coming upstairs into the warm kitchen from his relatively frosty basement lair. In my efforts to tempt him out of the cellar rafters, I’ve made a couple different beds from old blankets and such. No dice. The boy takes his own damnably long time with any and all changes — even good ones. Perhaps I can tempt him with a tiny bit of baked chicken placed in the middle of one of the potential cribs. (Cat Doormat — yes, that is my official title)Yes, yes, yezzzz, I know it's just mid-November, the solstice isn’t until December 21st but, here in New England, we don’t dilly dally. We like to get a jump on the frozen season.
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I had my first So Now You Have A Trike With Gears lesson yesterday. Hillel, Distance Cycling King, came over, gave me the cog and sprocket spiel with demos and illustrations and then we took off for a short ride. More accurately, we went for what’s been, pre-gears, an average length trip for me and a minikin one for him. Six miles. It was amazing— what a difference those derailleur babes make! My trike universe has just gone all Big Bang-y.
Learning and adjusting will take some time which, doubtlessly, will be slowed by the coming ice and snows BUT, like our former fierce warrior feral Rocco, I’ll get there. Still and all, wouldn’t it be awesome if my trike just knew we’re going up a hill now, I’ll shift to make this easier on the old girl's knees. A Smart Trike!
Back to the upcoming, trike prohibiting snow and ice covered roads though — my thought, so I can maintain and build strength, is to take one of those spinning classes I’ve heard about. I’m gonna stop by the Y this week and find out if they can make some kind of accommodation so this fab deafie can play too.
Hazy Shae of Winter — Simon and Garfunkel
Spend a little time getting used to those gears and you’ll be flying along with the best of them. The late Sheldon Brown was a gearhead’s gearhead. He was the owner of the bike shop down the street from me in oh-so-charming-but-gastronomically-impaired West Newton Square and was known around the country for his bike advocacy, sharp wit, and warmth to bikers of every level. His article on how gear shifting works is at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html. Read and learn.
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