almost like flying


i slingshot myself into a sharp right hand turn, knowing that if i take too long, the blind curve uphill from me might emit a car moving faster than the reasonable 25 mph speed limit. and still, i have to throttle my legs until i'm flying faster than i can pedal, unbuttoned shirt streaming behind me like a cape, having faith that no cars will pull out in front of me while i race to the stoplight at the bottom, half a mile away.

trees and signs blur together, but i see a group of people waiting for a bus, and an old man in the crowd makes eye contact with me and smiles. i'm already smiling, a manic grin of adrenaline that can't stretch any wider.

my brakes sing even if i feather them carefully, vulcanized rubber buzzing against dished rims. i know i should replace my front wheel. i know i should replace my brake pads. i know i should tighten my headset.

one more day, one more commute that didn't end in catastrophe.

30 August 2018 20:24


Creative
  Commons License this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. for more details, please see my license information.
valid?