2 breakfast with 2 wheels in 2 days...

...with 3 speeds!

I usually eat breakfast, and riding a bike is nothing out of the ordinary, but May is bike month, so that meant opportunities to combine the two, two days in a row, at the Greenfield and Northampton bicycle breakfasts. I don't live in either town, but have connections, beyond just riding bikes and eating, with both. I completed my student teacher internship for a teaching certificate at the Greenfield High School, and while I started shopping for my first house there, I wound up buying in Northampton. Truly though, people on bikes, or food alone, would be sufficient nudge for me to pedal to either of the two towns I enjoy.

Well, pedal most-of-the-way is more accurate for Greenfield. The breakfast started at 8am, and while I biked the full distance last year, catching a FRTA bus in South Deerfield meant I could leave my house in full light. I still wore my hi-viz jacket, and it came in handy when I had to flag down the passing FRTA shuttle and the apologetically multitasking driver. All's well that ends well, and after the extra fifty yard walk, I loaded my bike on the van's front rack. Unlike PVTA, FRTA has bike racks on ALL their vehicles, even the vans!

Also convenient, the bicycle breakfast took place at the combined train and bus transit center in Greenfield, so upon arrival, I unloaded my bike, walked another fifty yards, and arrived early enough to offer help with set-up. "Were you here last year?" was the reply. I hope that means I was memorable in a good way, especially since another person asked the same thing the next day in Northampton.

Ever since my semester teaching there, I've liked Greenfield, and some day I may even figure out living there again. It's the kind of town where I might not just greet someone passing on the sidewalk, but even receive a reply, sometimes even share a quick conversation. I appreciate humans who believe in humanity as a shared experience. Also, I love how quickly the town ends. Back during my teaching stint, I could bike ten minutes out of town and then not see a car for two hours. The roads are damn good.

How could I not like a town 

that has singlespeed conversion gems

 like this parked?

I do question the backward seatpost though.

Surprise, surprise, I like bike people. I openly eavesdropped on a Greenfield Recoder interview of a devout bicycle lover, and had my own conversation with a member of the parking and traffic commission, who introduced me to the idea that small goals make great baby steps for bike infrastructure projects, not just because they accumulate over time, but also because they help advocates believe in themselves! People can get lost in grand visions and give up before they have any success.

Fed and watered, I wandered, and Greenfield is a great place for that. I headed to Highland Park, which the friend who remembered me from last year included in a listing of where people ride mountain bikes near town. I'd never explored that area much when I was living a short walk from the high school on the opposite side of town, but I've since taken to the forested ridgeline as an amazing sylvan escape within the bounds of town.

Unlike DCR, 

the Greenfield has their benches face the view, 

not the trail!

Another perk of a breakfast trip to Greenfield: even after some meandering in town, I was leaving early enough to enjoy more meandering on my ride home. I headed up, using backroads past a vineyard and down to Stillwater Bridge, which was a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the lunch I'd found in town. Even with the relaxed and rambling route, I was still home in time to befender the de-e'd three speed for Wednesday's Northampton breakfast and the forecast precipitation.

Alexis, the former owner who gave my the remains of the bike after it separated from a bike rack at 60mph, twice, works for MassBike, and I expected she'd be on hand for the bicycle event in the town next to where she lives. I wanted to share with her that the bike had found new life as more than just spare parts, but I preferred not wearing a rooster tail of spray up my back to prove it. Yes, the bike did come with full fenders, but I've offered those to Adele. I also prefer how a stay-less front fender and a piece of automotive plastic fender liner (readily available from any autobody shop dumpster as they often bend along with the fender) extending the rear rack survive my not rare trips onto trails.

This liner has a stiffening rib 

which is ruining the usual graceful arc.

I'll have to do better, 

someday.

For now, it works!

Well, Wednesday morning, I did get to test my fender work, although most of the day's rain didn't arrive until after I was at the breakfast and could shelter under the more than half dozen pop-up tents. Bonus, with the belt drive, the bike had one less part, or many, many little plates and bushings less, to rust in the rain. With the event winding down, I looked at the weather radar and saw patches of yellow headed my way with clear, dry air to follow, so I walked up the hill, past Forbes Library, to the dry Smith College parking garage next door where I lock my bike in such conditions.

Bicycle breafasts are early, makes sense, and that was why the library didn't open for another half hour, so I walked, looping through the adjoining neighborhood, no fenders required. I do like to walk too. The rain, however, was increasing and I returned to the library in time for the door to unlock without having to break my stride. Inside, sheltered, I looked up the card catalog number for Divided Highways, the book with the same title as the documentary I'd just viewed, and settled into a comfy chair to read the preface and part of chapter one.

Once again, it was a good day. As for more fully testing the effectiveness of my rain guards on the three speed (Alexis was pleased to see it rolling again!), that will wait until the trip to my last scheduled physical therapy (yay!) midday today. My butt's optimistic.