journal features

bicycle thieves

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2012.08.14

Yesterday I went to the bike shop to have a small bolt repaired.

The bolt was inside the clamp that keeps the seat post in place, and as such is fairly vital. The bike works without it, but is very difficult to ride.

But I had it easy. The young man in front of me with a single-speed "26er" was there to have a stolen front wheel replaced. Also present was a fellow who was having his bike frame checked for damage after a failed attempt to steal it outright had left the frame scratched and the lock a warped wreck.

Toronto I love you but your cycling scene's a mess.

rand()m quote

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

—Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.