Check out my new ride! To the uninitiated, this might come across as a cheap ah pek bicycle(which it is). However, it has a proper name. This is an example of what is called a Gentleman’s Bicycle-no bluff! I dunno what on earth I was thinking. Jeez, even the auntie at the shop was against me getting it. But I listened to my heart and haven’t looked back. She rides like a(rattly, creaky) dream! Been whizzing around on it to and from work. And Zipping around the corners for munches and stuff, and somehow it just feels right. Working in a shophouse in an old school area and a bakery neighbour and sleepy mum-n-pop stores dotted all around, this is THE mode of transport man. In my gatsby caps, and Shanghai jazz, I feel like I’m living in the 50’s man. The free bell comes in very, very handy too!
So far everyone just thinks I’m flippin’ nuts to get it. But I say she’s a beauty, and that’s all that matters
Check out the set-up I got from the doc’s today! I feel like Murphy ala Robocop. This labyrinthine series of brightly coloured wires are connected to the transmitter thingamajig in the little pouch is apparently reading the ins and outs of my heart’s activities. And what’s more, I get to bring it home. How cool is that? (please pardon the condition of the body in the pic, thanks)
I sit opposite an elderly woman in red. Shades of grey pepper the woman’s hair. The woman is nursing an almost-empty glass. We share a table outside an old record shop. We are in Chinatown. Vintage tunes blare from a large wooden speaker. A faint yellow glow from the neon tube above. A steady flicker from a fluorescent sign. The woman empties her cup. She stands and leaves. Seconds pass. A pair of large chatty Indonesian women comes to join the table with food. Strong perfume. One has big hair. In Mandarin, they ask if they can sit. They continue their banter. Old folks sit scattered around producing occasional clinks from their coffee cups. A hum of conversation fills the air. The air smells faintly of rubber and food. The women move to another table after their fill. They join their friends. A man in white takes their place within minutes. A clinker. I shift in my seat and snap a picture of nothing in particular. The man makes small talk about photography. I look at the screen on my camera . I see a line of people on an escalator. I look at the escalator. I see a stream of people descending it. Prams. Kids. The old. A blind man. The Indonesian women stand to leave. Big Hair turns and smiles at me. I smile back and nod. There is a din between the women and an old man. It is about a blue plastic bag. New clinks arrive. I stand to leave. Man In White also. He smiles at me and leaves. I smile back and leave. Vintage music blaring from a large wooden speaker. A steady flicker from a fluorescent sign.
Check out the steps that lead to my office! 61 steps for breakfast. 61 Steps after lunch. What must have Anil been thinking when he got the place man. Maybe he thought the designers wouldn’t think about leaving the office for breaks when they thought about the stairs. Sneaky bugger.
Anyway work’s been fun so far. Let’s hope it stays that way…
Don’t fixies just look great? There’s an old run-down bike near my place that is available. With all that rusting and lack of some much needed TLC, I couldn’t help but check up on what kind of potential it has left within the pile. And inevitably – singlespeeders turned up!
Nevermind that the race-days of these machines are long over, some love and work thrown in will bring it back to it’s glory days. And since I’ve been thinking about cycling to work, and a fixie doesn’t have to cost a lot(but can), it looks like its the perfect solution.
Hurrah that I did recover in time for today. Bummer that it had to rain before the race… AGAIN. Leaving transition like a piece of swamp. Anyhoo, I’d say the race was pretty good, despite the cut-short in the swim(which I was pretty content with).
Quite a bit of kicking and tugging in the swim, but good thing the sea was kind. Bike was pretty alright, though I would prefer to have opted against a nasty cramp. Run as usual wrecked havoc on me, like a mental war against myself going on in tt cranium of mine. Mind Games.
And now I’m toying with the idea of a full tri, perhaps the next Osim. Interesting to think that just a couple years back I knew zip about the sport. Lets hope three times will be the charm.
Thanks Matt for your wheels. And thanks tia, nia and randy for comin’ down and the gorgeous company!
