Sunday, August 26, 2007

As you may have noticed, I'm not posting much lately and there's no particular reason for that. Quite frankly, I don't want to bore you all and I just don't have much on the go or to say.

I'm in a bit of a funk still...I know it has everything to do with Mom and the huge void that I'm feeling. As the season shifts and the nights are getting shorter, it's hitting home with me. These are the evenings that I'd be hanging out with her and I'm just kinda lost right now. It's normal and I accept it as that. It's been a little over four months now and I guess the inital shock is wearing off and reality is settling in its place.

Anyhoo...I've been doing all my usual things. I've been riding my trail (hard) and that always feels good and releases things for me. I'm getting in great "riding" shape, as I can fly through my route now without even tiring. When I started back into it, it was a real struggle. But I feel really good and one day I'd like to try some kind of race...I've been considering it for some time now. I've dreamed up a type of race (mountain bike) that I think would be so cool...when I ride I use visualization alot and I often pretend I'm in a race and that helps me push it to my limits. So my imaginary race would go like this ....

It would be held along winding trails for the first part, with the end of the race being on a very long straightaway (road?) that would be set up with piped in music. The trail part would be done first and then the racers would fly down a little hill into the straightaway and toward the finish. But the deal would be this - each racer would have some "music" selected pre race - good, high energy stuff that they like to ride to. Whoever would be leading coming into the straightaway would determine what music would be cranked for the final leg of the ride. And it would be played until the rider is passed, at which time the music of the new leader would be pumped through. A neck and neck race would be tricky, then you'd have to let it play until someone pulled away. Kind of a battle of the tunes to the finish, determined by the race leader with spectators lined up along the final straightaway, cheering on the racers. Kind of an X-games type environment. That's my imaginary race that I have with myself on many of my bike rides. I know, I'm a little whacko.

Music always is a huge part of my ride, and this is just what I imagine sometimes as I'm biking, to keep the adrenalin up...that I'm the lead rider and I have to really "give 'er" to keep my tunes playing. Hey, rides get awfully stale if you don't do something...this works for me.

So back to today's ride - I encountered more than usual in the snobby fucks department - you know the ones...the women with the double wide asses Prego strollers, dog/leash combo stretched across the path who refuse to move over one inch so you can squeeze by on your bike. They always seem to be "looking" for something in the stroller and have it parked sideways across the entire path. I used to be so polite...but I'm afraid not so much anymore. Seriously, I used to smile and say hi, but usually got nothing back in return so now I just try and spew rocks at them from my tires. Today there was a "pack" of them...they saw me coming from up the trail. Now understand here, it's a walking/biking trail and leaves little on either side to manoeuvre around, therefore it must be "shared". And this pack saw me coming. It was a woman in front with a kidmobile, and trailing behind was her whiny toddler on this bike and the fed up father behind him. Now that would've worked...single file is good. But at the last moment, just as I approached them, the fucknutted husband pulls around the son and alongside the wife to make the red rover game even more interesting. Again, the cheery Deb would've probably worked it out somehow, but not today. As the guy pulled up beside her and was head on smack dab in my path I veered around him and said "for fuck's sake" so that his prissy wife and kid heard. I know, so wrong of me (but it felt good). It was the second incident like this in a matter of about 45 minutes so I wasn't amused. The people here can be so trendy and rude. They looked shocked and the guy stopped on his bike and glared at me - for a split second I thought he might've turned around and chased me down. I wasn't worried, I would've left him in my dust.

This is how it is now in Steveston. The snobs who can afford the places here think that they're special and they seriously lack in any manners or courtesy. And they're newcomers and treat the people who've been here for decades this way. Over time, they've eroded my patience and I'm not very friendly at all anymore when I ride. It's sad, because it's not what I'm all about. But it is a dog eat dog world and damn it, I've had enough. And it's not just me feeling this way...I bump into old friends who also ride (that have been here for years as well) and they say they're experiencing the same arrogance.

Steveston was a very "neighbourly" community when I grew up there. Everyone knew everybody else and that doesn't happen by accident - you say "hello" when you pass and, over time, friendships develop. These "noobs" better get their act together or we'll have to oust them.

Anyhow, some pics from Friday's ride.....





Uh, looks like somebody needs to learn the rules. Deb's rock, remember?

8 Comments:

Blogger Gledwood said...

Deb's rock? Yeah I remember well..!

I feel sorry for those mothers with pushchairs... 1. I get the feeling most of those lazy kids could bloody walk themselves if only they were pushed into doing so; 2. those wheeled contraptions annoy the hell out of me when I'm trying to get on/off/past them on buses... but it must be hell having to negotiate one... in my childhood ALL pushchairs seemed to be white and blue striped and nowhere near as elaborate as today's monstrosities... (e.g. 3 wheelers with double-decker pram compartments, secret shoplifted goods compartments and room for about ten lazy nine year olds (because, to be quite frank, that's how old a lot of them pushchair kids look to me)

7:40 AM  
Blogger Gledwood said...

ps I heard about that baloon accident what a nightmare! That has to be the 3rd time I've seen/heard about flaming baloons going down on the news... maybe they should ban them... why don't they just use gas baloons instead, aren't they safer? Helium is nonexplosive.... I don't know I'm no balooning expert but it hardly seems worth it if stuff like that is going to happen

7:42 AM  
Blogger Deb said...

gled...as someone who used to push one of those contraptions, it's actually not that hard to move them around....the wheels go around in any direction and the new models are a breeze.

On a bus it might be different and a bit harder. But these women were out on a trail that allows for two way traffic and they stretched sideways across the whole thing with their units. If they had them pointing forward, there'd be no problem. But both of the women I encountered seemed frustrated and didn't seem to care that they were taking up all the space.

The balloon accident was quite horrific...it was in Surrey, which is where Fiona lives. They have had a few problems lately with those balloons.

There was also a bad accident over the weekend where a wedding procession (of 30 or so East Indians) was parading down the street at 11 pm when they were run into by a pickup truck with no lights on. Some of them were killed and it was really bad.

11:59 AM  
Blogger junky said...

I feel the same way a lot of the time here as well, it's really strange isn't it I've been around the whole damn world (just about), spent years living other places and then wind up back where I started to find the community is filled with the nose in the air types. You end up looking at them and think "jeez I remember when where your McMansion is used to be a swamp." I guess in our old age we have become "townies" never thought that would happen, how about you?

4:31 PM  
Blogger Deb said...

junky....yep, I feel exactly the same.

I honestly do get so upset that sometimes I feel like stopping them and saying stuff like that...."I was here when...."

I feel a sense of seniority, like they should step into line and give us our due respect.

11:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree about the rude yuppies, who are breeding like rats, running loose all over Steveston. My ex over 15 yrs, though never a yuppie, could never get it thru her thick head that parking a shopping cart across or in the middle of an aisle was not polite or considerate, then along come the self-centered yuppies. Of course, should you voice your frustration of their rudeness, they would come back with "how dare you talk to me this way." All I have to say is, who the hell do they think they are... The Queen!

Should you wish to republish the last three paras on my website, go to my guestbook at:
http://www.stevestonivillage.com/stevestonguestbook.html

10:54 AM  
Blogger Whitenoise said...

Wow, I'll be sure to get out of your way! ;-)

7:29 AM  
Blogger tkkerouac said...

you want to know snobs Deb, move to Oakville
I kind of had the imagery in my head of you "leaving the abnoxious guy in the dust, Deb riding, picking up speed....You can have me if you catch me bud
Eat my dust!

3:49 PM  

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