Well, I worked late last night and rushed through the heat down to the bus stop hoping to catch the bus. At the last light I breathed a sigh of relief seeing as I had 5 minutes to go. The sigh abruptly stopped as I saw my bus enter the freeway entrance despite my wild gyrations. I had missed the last express bus of the day. My legs were tired since I had hammered the 33 miles in this morning pretty hard. I had just ridden 9 miles to the bus stop and was not in the mood to miss the bus.
First thing I did was head downtown to get a meal. I ended up at Baja Fresh as most other affordable places were lunch only apparently. I took my food over to the light rail stop to enjoy it but was annoyed to find a large chicken bone in my burrito. I elected to eat instead of getting on the first train which would have saved me a good evening ride if I had boarded the first train as I missed the 7:30 link by 5 minutes. I was hungry though so I guess it was the right call in the end, even if I did get an extra 12 miles of riding in (and about 15 minutes in the dark without a headlight).
On the train there was a college kid with a fixed gear, and then some big guy with his arms totally sleeved out with tattoos that came in with a k2 mountain bike with BMX handlebars. I couldn't quite figure that one out. The fixed gear was an old Nishiki with a lugged frame, the perfect candidate for a fixed gear modification.
After getting off the train I was again too late. Upon discovering I had missed yet another bus I elected to ride home as I would still beat the next bus home. I think this was the first time I had ridden through downtown Mesa at night. I pass the Mormon temple off to the right. There was no 'concerned Christians' there shouting obscenities at people trying to watch the Easter pageant like there were a few months ago (incidentally Mormons are Christians, they just don't believe in the Nicene creed which is a medieval document and not part of the New Testament). But now it is once again peaceful and a couple sits out front on the lawn.
Down the road I ride by Pat's Bike shop with its bright neon sign inviting folks to come in and get some wheels. Across the street, not to be outdone in their neon glow is the big apple (a barbecue place). It's a warm night. I begin to wish I had put my jersey and shorts back on before leaving work. Of course when I left work I didn't figure I would be riding 20 miles either.
Around 8:20 I finally arrive home in the dark. Fortunately I had left my taillight in my bag from a few days ago, so I at least was visible from behind. Interestingly enough I was not hungry at all when I got home so I gave what was left of my chips to the kids who descended on them like a pack of wolves.
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