Too much in common

 News flash: this past Saturday I took a look at a used bike. Ok, nothing exceptional there, but it was eighteen times more expensive than the $25 bike I rode there, so it would've broken my trend of ever decreasingly pricey bikes. It is a neat design, sold as a flat bar gravel bike, and after I stopped vomiting at use of the term gravel bike, I realized it was pretty much a modern rigid mountain bike. Cool!

I took it for a test ride, and while I was amazed to find the owner's saddle height was only maybe an 1/8" low for me, the wheelbase of the size large felt shorter than I wanted, so even though the price for a bike with four rides on it was reasonable, and the color was an unreasonably awesome pink, I'll wait to see if an extra large comes my way. Meanwhile, I tried to convince the seller that before selling it, try airing the tires down from 80 to 30, or even 25 psi. A litany of old swimming injuries would cause discomfort for her on the harsh ride, and for reference, I mentioned the smaller volume tires on my bike were at 45psi.

We kept chatting and found that in addition to very similar leg length, we had both been hit from behind by a driver who then left and was not found. I suspect some of the attraction of a trail worthy bike was to avoid cars because her road bike didn't bother an old knee injury like the bike for sale did. I really hope she manages to make it work for her. It's a nice one.

Then Sunday morning I ran the Seven Sisters course with my friend Matt, except we used Brian's preferred modification before the turn around, and then I mountain biked most of my way home from the notch. Then last night, a friend let me know Matt had been hit by a car, and left, on a morning run. [Insert explicative here!] I do believe that most drivers are reasonable and responsible, but the 15% that aren't, why do we insist on keeping them licensed? Oh, right, we designed transportation infrastructure were a car is seen as a necessity.

I've been in touch with Matt, and I really, really, really a lot appreciate his attitude on this as well as so many things. The accident was near downtown Springfield, and police are confident that with so many surveillance cameras in the area, the vehicle and driver will be found, but Matt understands that fleeing an accident doesn't automatically make the person evil. Yes, it's irresponsible, and it would be better if those people weren't licensed to drive, but humans evolved to have a fight or flight response to danger, and the threat of law enforcement can be scary. I get it.

Matt sounds like he's managing ok, and despite a concussion, his plan is to return to work tomorrow. Yup, we now have brain trauma in common as well. This past Sunday I also learned we're both old Minor Threat/Fugazi fans who met Ian Mackaye once. Gee, I wonder what his saddle height is. Well, his bike is stashed under the overhang of my house, so I could go check!