I received an email earlier this week informing me that there would be a Wednesday evening meeting for the local bike club. I moved to town over a year ago and I'm pretty sure the last bike club meeting took place about 6 months before I arrived. Not the most organized group of riders around here.
So I cleared my Wednesday evening schedule, scarfed a quick dinner with my wife and hopped on my bike to the meeting. I was hoping to meet a few local riders, sign some folks up for a polo emailing list, and enjoy watching the dysfunction of the small town cycling scene. I made it to the meeting location on time only to find no-one there. I double checked the address, then called my wife and asked her to double check the date. . . . sure enough, the meeting is next week.
No big deal, I'm prone to missing little details like this, so I adapted my evening game plan. I rode a couple blocks over to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I managed to remember everything on my mental list, then I ADDed around the store for a few minutes and picked up a couple of impulsive things. I checked out and paid for the groceries and opened my messenger bag to load up. That's when I noticed my bike lock sitting in the bottom of my bag, my heart sank. I hastily loaded my bag (I didn't even break any of the eggs in the process) and walked out to the parking lot. Thankfully my bike was still there. I suppose that is yet another perk of winter riding. When it is snowing and sloppy out bike thieves are a little less inclined to notice or steal your ride.
The ride home was lovely, a fresh layer of snow coated the town and I was extremely relieved to have a bike to ride home on. The moral of the story I guess is double check the dates of club meetings, and don't forget to lock up your bike.
-bike wrider
