Day 2 – 1/24/09
I totally got lost today and it was FREAKING COLD!!! I decided at around 4 pm to take my adventures to this bike shop in Jamaica Plain called “Bikes not Bombs” (pretty amazing name right?!?, 18 Bartlett Square, Boston, MA 02130) I needed a helmet and some more information. So I printed out my directions from Google maps (walking directions) and went on my way. I left at about 4:30pm and I really wanted to beat the sun setting (RIIIIGHT MARK). I road south on Harvard St towards Brookline Village and then went down S. Huntington Ave. This was not the best biking rout but it was much better than that dastardly Beacon street. I got on to centre street in JP, which takes you through the center of the town. (I saw the original J.P. Licks and really wanted to stop by and get some Ice cream because it is the best in the world, but I was on a mission.) JP Licks must have distracted me because I blew right past Greene st. and kept going down Centre till I came to a Highway and felt as though I should turn around. Once I got back to where JP licks was I pulled into a store called “Gadgets”( 671 Centre Street) I met a wonderful person whom I presume is the owner (I want to call her Sherrill so I will) I met Sherrill a lovely short woman with great thick black rimed glasses that made her look like a owl and a great smile that makes you feel warm inside, and she pointed me in the right direction (across the street!!!) so I said thank you and left to get back on my icy journey. I don’t want to say that pulling into Bikes Not Bombs was sketchy….but…well when you are hidden in an alley, behind a tall broken down warehouse with a hand written sign, I would have to say that falls under the sketchy category. Once I stepped into the shop it felt as though I was thrust into the world of the Biker. There were all sorts of refurbished bikes mounted on the walls and the floor was made of wood planks that seemed to have the dirt of thousands of bikes rubbed into it, there must be so many stories that have been told in this place. Behind two bikes suspended from mechanic stands comes the voices of two Bikers. /////I would like to take a moment to describe that to me, the description of a “biker” falls into two categories, 1. The purely athletic toned bikers that do triathlons and crazy things like that (think Armstrong) and 2. The punk underground biker that rides single speed bikes that have been put together through dumpster diving for parts. They have short hair and often a piercing or two and for some reason there is a handkerchief hanging out of their back pockets.///// The two at “Bikes Not Bombs” were of the latter type of bikers and I felt kind of like an outsider because I am wearing four layers of sweatshirts and riding a schwinn female intended bike (total outsider, right?)….but as I started to unravel my story I felt more and more at home. I asked some questions about locks and Helmets, lights, and tour bikes (still looking for one if you got one) and then talked about classes that they offer for people like me that need to learn allot about their bike and want to do it ASAP. Not much info was gathered but I signed up for their mailing list and will post that when I get it. I left that little paradise of a bike shop with a brand new helmet and some lights ($35-Helmet $25- Lights + $3-tax = $63.00) for my trip back to my apartment IN THE DARK!!! I was given directions to take the Jamaica Bike path back to Brookline village and did. It was amazing and I will be going back to take pictures of the pond and ride the hills in which I flew down. In total I was gone from 4:30pm to 6:30pm and probably spent about an hour riding. My fingers did freeze but I will survive to ride again!!!!
TOTAL DISTANCE FOR DAY (TDD) : 6 miles
TOTAL TIME FOR THE DAY (TTD) : 1 hr
TOTAL TIME TRAINING: 1.3 hrs
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED: 8.6 miles
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