Paralympic Patch Job

Hi. Remember me? I'm the one who hasn't been able to blog in almost two weeks. Like the rest of the city, up until yesterday we were all suffering from a bit of post-Olympic depression. Luckily for us though, the Paralympics kicked off yesterday so that should help most of us ease back into normality.

Over the past couple weeks I have managed to photograph a couple interesting bikes that I have noticed on my lunch breaks. They aren't the sort of bike I want to own or anything like that - I just think they are interesting for one reason or another. Sometimes it's the rusty-yet-functional aspect of an antique ride, or in the case of the second example, something unusual. Either way, I thought they were interesting enough to take pictures. The fellow riding on the tall bike happened to have a camera crew following him too. Some guys are popular I guess.

As mentioned, the Paralympics are underway and on my way into the office on Friday I stumbled across the torch relay. The biggest difference between this time and the first time was the lack of a crowd. Look at the picture, I think I captured just about everybody who was interested in following it. Also keep in mind that most of these people are related in some way to the guy carrying the torch. Here you can see that his grandson ran with him and his son is the man in the foreground. I get the impression that the Paralympics are going to be a much more intimate event, which could be nice although it is still a shame that it isn't promoted like the main Olympic event.

So - the real reason I am blogging this morning is because I am drying out a little bit. My bike had a flat tire and I wanted to ride it this morning. I inflated it enough to ride into the office, using a hand pump and rode in the rain to get here. Once here I made use of the office bike pump, which is much easier to use. I also figured I would dry out a little bit before heading back out. Pictured is the fixed tire and tube. I noted that there is a definite hole in the tire now, so I will probably have to replace it soon. That's ok though, my tires are pretty cheap - less than twenty bucks. I won't do it today though because I have wasted enough time as it is and would like to get some actual riding in. Later!