My fixed-gear is a bad influence.
Last weekend I pulled the fattie 38c tires off, replacing them with
GRS 25's. Man. That bike goes like a bat out of hell now. The
fixie is my commuter, and I head off to work, clothes and a sandwich
for lunch stowed in my Timbuk2 bag. It's a perfect morning, temperature
in the low 60's, sunny and slightly breezy. I spin along the street,
and
my bike starts to speak to me. It tells me I feel too good to go sit
in my office right away. It tells me I need to just add a few miles
onto
the trip this morning. Just a couple. Whatever feels good. So I head
over to the bike path that runs along Ellicott and Tonawana creek,
headed
south and west toward the Niagara River. The path runs through pretty
fields out in the burbs, but down here in the city, past Tonawanda, it
starts to run along the old Erie Canal route, through the industrial
heart
of Buffalo. I spin through the factories, refineries, toxic waste
dumps,
and power plants, the fix whispering in my ear, "just a little
further..."
The normally seven-mile commute to my office turns into 36. I'm smiling
the
whole way. A few photos from the ride:
A cool old railroad drawbridge, with an enormous concrete
counterweight:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/drawbridge.jpg>
The Tonawanda bike tree:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/biketree.jpg>
Cousin Vinny's Doghouse, which serves the magnificent Wardynski's
hot dogs, which are neck and neck with Hebrew National kosher dogs
for my favorite hot dog in the world:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/doghouse.jpg>
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/wardynskis.jpg>
Past the oil refinery:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/noco.jpg>
Past the bridge to Grand Island over the Niagara River:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/gibridge.jpg>
Past the Niagara Mohawk power plant:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/nimo.jpg>
The Buffalo Literacy Project has clearly been hard at work:
<http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/corvuscorvax/Industry/bikeonly.jpg>
CC