Do Not Ride at Night - D'oh!

Well it happened again….Yesterday at the thrift shop I scored another bike for the bike gang. This one? Ladies and gentlemen please welcome in all of it’s slightly rusty, fading stickers, and 80’s paint job glory – none other than the slightly mean looking, but entirely running, welcome the “Next”, “Sheer Fun” bike! 20 inches of rolling glory probably sure to injure somebody before the summer’s out. It’s pedals are purple, there is a sticker that says “Splash” on the chain guard, the bell doesn’t work, and I can’t quite get the seat to go back quite far enough to be comfortable for a big person. Perfect!

It does have the warning sticker though – right there on the top tube:

“Wear a helmet. Obey all traffic laws. Do NOT ride at night.”

Ya, so last evening-before-last my friend Ms. A. and I took a couple of bikes out after dinner (after dinner and then laying about on the floor looking at picture books and me rolling records on the boom box).
It was dark but the moon was about somewhere. Somewhere out there. So we rolled off in the dark, without helmets, or lights, or really any of that nonsense, down the drive and then down the third Street hill from in front of the new house and we were gone. Up Second St., around, and then down First Street past the movie theater. Up the First Street hill until it was dodgy riding so we rolled back down. Then pushed back up Third, up and over, and 'round to Sixth, and then made the right turn up past the sheep and the cows until we got to Shanti’s house. Then back ‘round and hung out with the cows for a little while and watched the moon. Then farther back down Sixth, and made the Right up onto Al Anderson Road and then up the hill ‘till we got to the new unfinished housing development on the left and then yo, we fist bumped that the two of us were just about to be the very first two people to sneak though the housing project and bomb the new “Fairgrounds Road” that links the development with Langley Road down below, and we were, after we found it. It was SUPER dark. No lights, black asphalt. In the trees. Steep incline. But we did. Ms. A. and I were the first to bomb the hill on 20 inch kids bikes in the dark without helmets. Fuck ya we were. Then away through the Fairgrounds that had signs of late night life as the Fair is next weekend, then into the Middle School and out across the ball fields. Then over the parking lot where all the school busses line up and back down the hill above the boat marina. Second St. again. Lazy circles in the Star Store parking lot and back to the new digs. Finally something positive in 2008. We’ll put it back together. Something that just makes sense again. Ya. Fuck ya we will.