Taking shortcuts

If there's one benefit of using a mountain bike for transportation that can possibly make up for all the drawbacks, it's the ability to take shortcuts. By in large, I tend to ride like a little bit of a jackass when I'm on a mountain bike. I don't precisely mean I cause trouble, cut cars off, or make people's lives hell. I do mean that I will hop curbs or medians to make a left turn that a car couldn't make (Not sure if that's "breakin' the law" per-se), I'll dart through hazard-ridden back alleys, bomb through closed roads and maybe ride the short way through a series of parking lots up to and including riding through grass, shallow streams or gulleys, or pretty much anything that is remotely navigable.

I left home this morning knowing that I'd do a round trip on the express bus, but I got out of work late and missed my homeward trip by about 5 minutes. I got permission from the workers to ride through the construction on the Baltimore bridge (thanks, guys!) and zipped through there, hopping over tetanus-infested rebar grid, gently tackling pneumatic hoses, and crawling up and down the huge, sharp-edged craters in the cement work. I made my way down to the crossroads and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually, my bus showed up. The same bus I was 5 minutes late catching. I was so early, that I could have just gone with the traffic jams and made it there on time. This was much more fun.

I had some errands to run this evening in the dark. The mountain bike shone not only with the bright headlight, but in plenty more tests of agility and stoutness.

All in all, I had a great time today. I didn't log many miles, but sometimes, turning the urban streets and suburban scenery into your personal obstacle course can be just as fun as flying between narrowly spaced trees on some rocky, remote singletrack.

Random Tunage:
White Zombie - More human than human
Tool - The pot