mileage? 3 miles per…biscuit

i get all hot and bothered when i hear of people who are in cushy jobs because of “connections.” when it comes to jobs and careers, i strongly believe in making it on your own steam.  i think this is the reason why i enjoy biking. there is something strangely satisfying about arriving somewhere using only your bike and the biscuit you had for breakfast. dang, there was a a lot of unintentional alliteration in that last sentence.

i had a mountain bike during my first few years in college but it was eventually stolen by some lowlife scalawag. i replaced it with a $10 road bike that i won at a police auction, but since i graduated the bike has been gathering dust and rust in my parents’ garage. i recently retrieved the bike and paid a hipster with many tattoos $100 to make the bike safe again and here it is in all its glory:

yeah i know i could have spent $100 on a shiny new bike from walmart but i sort of enjoy riding around on a 23 year old bike with a broken front deraileur, brakes with the stopping power of cheese, and a frame half made of rust. it is exciting when you are uncertain if you will make the journey without the bike disintegrating into a thousand pieces and leaving you a bloody mess on the side of the road. no worries though because i wear a helmet fashioned in the color “safety yellow.” here is my new gear cluster and chain:

here are the original MKS feather pedals in excellent shape:

and those are pretty much all the pictures i have because i’d rather ride around on my bike instead of taking pictures of it. i’ve been exploring hidden areas of northern liberties and will post some cool graffiti art i found, as well as other interesting things seen from my bike travels. in the meantime, watch out for any bikers you may see with bright yellow helmets.