Up on a Tightrope

My bike has been making these weird creaking noises for much longer than I care to admit. It mostly happens while climbing. Since I've been doing that a lot lately (go figure), I've been hearing a lot of creaking. At last, it came to the point that I thought my handlebars may end up in my hands, detached from the stem, on this or the next climb. Time to call my friends at Freewheel.

I called. I think it's the headset. Lots of creaking, blah blah blah.

Bring it in, we'll take a look.

I trolled for parking and got lucky. Only a block away from Nina's! (what happened to the tree?!). I left the She-Divvil in the car and rode (helmetless!) the block and a half to the bike store. Weird riding in jeans and sneakers on my pedal-stumps, with no helmet. I was without armor! Without anchor!

All the same, I rolled in. Buddy the dog greeted me. He is a black and white pit mix with a very sweet disposition and icy blue eyes. Buddy was very interested in whatever had been in the plastic bag in my jacket pocket. We'd met before, he and I. The folks at Freewheel are lucky he hasn't gone home with me. Yet.

Travis looked at my bike. I described the symptoms again. He leaned on the handlebars and reenacted the creaking sound. Not the headset. The stem bolts need to be regreased and tightened and if that doesn't work we'll look further. Come back in 45 minutes.

Back to the car. Retrieve the She-Divvil. Off to the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park for a poopwalk and who knows what else.

Today was Bike to Work Day. I enjoyed the sheer volume of bicycles on Market Street as I commuted to work this morning. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition counted over 1000 bicycles in one hour on Market Street. Whoo Hoo! Even if many of them coasted down the last gasp of a hill before the flats of downtown. Like 4 mph. Downhill. (I will not be an ass I will not be an ass I will not be an ass Oh My Fucking God I Have To Pass These People!!! which I did mostly politely, calling out as I passed and anticipated that not all of them would be familiar with the traffic flows of Market Street.)

Over all, it was lovely. I did overhear one woman say how much she loved her bike and how this Bike to Work day helped her remember that. I hope we get more bike commuters out of it. Even though it will probably be a Muni rider giving up her spot in the sardine can for fresh air and endorphins, vs giving up a car, maybe that free spot will enable someone who once drove downtown to take Muni instead. The trickle up effect. And at least one more person will arrive at work in a good mood.

But I've digressed. She-Divvil and I were at the park. She, lunging from tree to tree to read the news. Me, lurching after her. She, investigating gopher holes. Me, checking out the bicycles that travel by. She, inquiring after a puppy. Me, WHAT?

Imagine two trees about 50 feet apart. Between them is a taughtly stretched royal blue ribbon. I look more closely. The blue ribbon is ratcheted down to the tree with a moving strap type apparatus. The tension is enough to keep the ribbon taught, but not pulling the trees in any way. Not like these are saplings, but physics is physics. The ends of the ribbon are about 4 feet from the ground. A young man straddles the ribbon and then climbs onto it. From thin air, there's a mini-circus going on in Golden Gate Park. I watch as he practices, balancing, working with the give of the tape, managing the sway. A woman in black sits on the grass about 100 feet away and watches. I look around. Does anyone else see this? I watch some of the passing bike commuters. One has noticed and I watch him watching. I appreciate observant people and wish I could somehow make the connection: Yes! I see it too!

How can I ride through the Panhandle every day and never have seen this?

She-Divvil and I walked a few blocks west and circled back to the tight-rope. A companion has joined him and they are busy hanging another tape to form a right angle with the original one. I am out of time to watch that unfold.

I love this town.