Hey! That's My Bike!

Hola!
An enormous pink cloud came up in the east last night, over the Mirador. The wind roared and we thought something big would happen. The wind kept up, but the pink cloud stayed where it was and there was no storm. There was not really a sunset either. All the color was in this big pink cloud.
There was however, a rather large fiesta several blocks over: great bongos, tubas, clarinets, guitars...very nice stuff, but it when it stopped, the birds started chirping and the sun came up. So, at 5:15am, I got on my new old bike and left the building. I rode for an hour and forty-five minutes. I should have ridden for forty-five minutes. My legs are jello'd.

Below, I am parked alongside the barbed wire fence that surrounds the airport. The runway is directly behind the fence.

Last February, we had our garage sale back in the Snoqualmie Valley. I put my bike in the house, so I would not be tempted to sell it. I really liked that bike. It was very similar to the one above, but a twenty-two speed, big fat tires, a nice soft seat and I rode it all over the valley, stopping to pick blackberries, walk along the river, visit friends at the organic farm. I really wanted to take it to Mexico.

Day Two of the sale, it was slow and I started thinking about the six by twelve U-Haul we would be getting. We were giving up alot of things to make our move and by the end of the day I decided that the bike had to go. I would get a new one in Mexico.

It was almost dark when a Mexican family stopped by to see what we had left. We told them to take anything they wanted.............gratis. They said they could not do that....what did we want for the little table................nothing, take it........................no, please, a dollar.......................no, no, it is gratis.......................it is all gratis!....................call your friends..............

In the dark, we watched several familes load their trucks; the little table went, so did the big one covered with magic marker and easter egg dye, the odd sized leaded glass door went, the old computer went, the stereo with broken knobs went, the pingpong table that was never level went, a sturdy wood frame for a bed went, a few lamp shades followed, a good work bench was loaded up as was the big freezer, stocked full of food.

The mothers went downstairs with me and the rest of the size one prom dresses were packed in the front seat of several trucks, curtains and bedsheets were loaded. We let the men unscrew and load the shelves from the playroom wall, which we were planning to do ourselves, but toss in the junk pile. Pots and pans and dishes were placed along with detergents and half full cans of motor oil into the trucks. Finally they were ready to leave, in the dark, around ten o'clock, no tarps, no ropes holding anything in place and there, on the blue truck, was the cherry on top, my bike.

Those families could not stop saying................thank you, thank you, muchas gracias.........over and over again. They could hardly believe we had given them so many of our belongings for free. Of course, they also could not understand why in the world we wanted to move to Mexico...........

The biggest dilemna during this morning's ride was.................do I ride over the topes or try to go through the space between them. I almost crashed the first time I tried to go through and not over. I did not have my tires straight and the back one caught the tope and almost flipped me over.

I discovered that the topes are different in each barrio I rode through this morning. Some topes are a solid concrete line with no spaces between them, others are cobblestone. Some have spaces between them that not even a tricycle could get through. They are not always level. Sometimes they are cobblestone and concrete. Once in awhile there is a double tope. If the road is curving, the tope is curving.

In my barrio the topes are about four inches high and the spaces are about three inches wide. So, I decided to continue going over. But in Barrio de La Capilla, the topes are about six inches high and the cracks between them are about five inches wide. After going over a few of those, I chose the spaces. There are alot more topes over in La Capilla, too.

Fortunately topes do not come as a surprise, they are easy to see from a distance and after awhile, going over, in between them and even around them got easier.

Below, I am heading into Alexis's to look at bikes. The other day he only had guy bikes and as promised, Saturday, he had one for me. A quick test ride up to the soccer field and back and Hey! That's My Bike!

Alexis's is a huge complex of rooms. All kinds of bikes and tubes and wheels and frames hang from the walls and ceiling. It is nice and cool back here and I can tell it doubles as a good spot for a siesta. You can see the Sonoran cot on the right side of the photo below, folded up against a post. Many Mexicans do not sleep on beds, they sleep on the cot, which is generally covered with a fibre mulch and a blanket.

Farther back is the taller (workshop). Here I saw they not only work on bikes, they have a few remote airplanes and trucks and even farther back are some bigger trucks and ATV's and motorbikes.

So, it is Sunday afternoon now and time for my siesta. The weather underground says we will have a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. I am watching, but have yet to see a cloud over Mt. Alamos......que tengas buen dia! linda lou