An Almost Perfect Day

We’ve been having perfect weather here—dry and sunny in the 70’s—so Sarah and I took advantage of it by riding over the river to Southside on our bikes.  We locked them near the bridge, then hiked along the river and up through Forest Hill Park to a new Mexican restaurant on Forest Hill, then to a used book store close by.  Then we hiked back to our bikes.  The river was running high, and the views were spectacular with all the leaves off the trees.  It was perfect until we returned to our bikes to find that someone had snapped off the valve stems on our front tires.  We were 3 miles from home, we’d already walked 4.  We hoofed it home, returned with the car, got new tubes for the bikes.  It’s sad someone would do something like that just for the sheer assholery of it, but we didn’t let it spoil our good time.  After dinner we went to see “Deja Vu” at the Byrd, and it was a good Byrd movie ($1.99 a ticket in a gorgeous vintage movie palace is tough to complain about).  The plot is loaded with holes, but it’s a good ride, and we both like Denzel Washington in just about anything.

4 thoughts on “An Almost Perfect Day

  1. As far as vandals go, this one was considerate. If s/he’d really wanted to give you a hard time s/he would’ve gone for the back wheels.

    When Amy told me this story the other day, my first guess was that the culprit probably is a teenager trying make a very bad pipe.

  2. My own theory is that by disabling the bikes, the vandals increased the chances that the bikes would still be there by nightfall when they could go after them with tools. As for the age of the miscreants, it remains uncertain. Don’t teenagers take the blame for enough? I’m still trying to figure out how to make even a bad pipe out of the pilfered parts.

  3. This is why you should carry a spare tube or three on your person at all times when you’re on the bike. But it’s still a weird thing to do, one that I’d never heard of. It could have been almost anyone. I think your theory about leaving them until dark might be a decent one, but I never underestimate the potential of humans to do petty, hurtful things for no good reason.

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