Cycling, birds, harbingers, Shimano, and DEATH ......

[Mark Freedman]

Harbingers of good will. luck and peace, eh?

Inspired by the following article ....
=============================================
From: Eric S. Sande ([email protected]) Subject: Re: Water Bottles--ugh! Newsgroups:
rec.bicycles.misc Date: 2003-04-11 18:58:00 PST

>Migrating Canadas don't make a " flitter-flatter ", they honk their brains out night and day. Quite
>exciting really. Especially down on the St. Lawrence flyway, where they gather and call by the
>hundreds of thousands.

Birds are often seen as harbingers of good will, luck and peace.

===================================================================

Cycling, birds, harbingers, Shimano,

and Death .....

by Mark Freedman

Once upon a bikeride dreary While I pedalled weak and weary Heading towards a nearby shore With
just one pannier. Nothing more. There came a rapping on my noggin From a bird whose head was
bobbin' Perched upon my leeward shoulder Words which made my heart grow colder Quoth that raven,
"hmmph. Deore."

It spread its wings, a meter wide Inspired thoughts of ornicide. Then fluttered to my forward rack
And perched there so it could look back. It fixed upon my front derailleur Glare which hinted
pending failure. A look which chilled me to the core So many miles from any store. Quoth that Raven,
"hmmmph. Deore."

How I longed for Campagnolo When out riding, riding solo. But my bike came with Shimano. It's not
even "Italiano." Still, you do the best you can. It's not the grupo, it's the man. I touched the
brakes, I slowed my pace. I held on harder, just in case. Quoth that Raven, "hmmmph. Deore."

I shifted to the middle chainring Spun those pedals like a mad thing Gave my bike a sudden lurch The
bird fell from its forward perch Its head caught in a front wheel spoke I heard the snap as its neck
broke I managed to avoid a crash I'd had enough of pavement rash.

It will suffice, my "hmmmph, Deore."

 

[David Kerber]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...

...

> It will suffice, my "hmmmph, Deore."

LOL! That's great! You should send this to Shimano!

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

That's tto funny! How long did it take you to re-write Poe? ROTFL!

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (mark
freedman) writes:

> Cycling, birds, harbingers, Shimano,
>
> and Death .....
>
> by Mark Freedman

Excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Can ya do one about ExAge? (Just kidding. You've done very well already.)

I just browsed through my cycling journal. Last June 9th I wrote: "There was a notable number of
dead, run-over crows lying in the middles of the streets." Late May/Early June is when they brood. I
guess they get hit as they swoop groundward to collect nest-building materials, or food for their
offspring.

In Stanley Park, the crows have this cute method of cracking open mussels, by dropping them
from great height onto the seawall below. The pedestrians along there should be compelled to
wear helmets.

At the TV repair shop where I used to work, one day I was hanging around out back with the techs
during a coffee break. A seagull and a crow were noisily squabbling over some discarded KFC chicken
bones in the dumpster. One of the techs sneeringly muttered, "F*** off" at them. The crow
immediately took notice, and performed a skillfully-executed low-altitude bombing run, and continued
on his way. Got the tech square on the crown of his head.

cheers, Tom

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