My beloved Fisher ProCaliber is dead! Yep, the frame's bent beyond repair. Know what one of those puppies costs these days? 'Way, 'way more than I can afford. Gary, if you're out there, I loved that bike, man. It was my first taste of what a "good" bike really was.

Nope. Not my home and not my bike. Looks nice though, doesn't it? Peaceful? Even a tad quaint? It's a great neighbourhood - colourful (wait till tomorrow), vibrant, evidently filled with creative people. Unfortunately, it's also a neighbourhood with a break-in rate that's astronomical. Kinda close to the not-so-nice Downtown Eastside. Too close, really.

But, the point of the photo (at least for now, and, again, by sheer coincidence) is the bike. Friends of mine (you know who you are) are now living deep in the heart of New York City. Talk about vibrant and full of creative people! Zowee! Their car got towed today. Retrieving it cost waaaaayyyy too much money. But, then again, owning a car costs way too much money. Why do people buy these things? I'm riding the same bicycle I bought in 1986. It was pretty pricey at that time - about $1,500.00. A couple of weeks ago I had it serviced. Cost me $200.00. Over the 22 years that I've owned it, that brings the grand total I've spent to maintain it to...ummmmm.....$400.00? Which means it's cost me......holey moley!.....$18.00 a year to own. I ride it to work every day - summer, fall, winter, spring. Sun, rain, snow. I ride it to go grocery shopping. I ride it to go visit friends. I ride it for fun. Tell me again. Why do people buy cars?

And this concludes "Bike Week" here at Shaggy Dog Pix. This guy won the men's "Real Good Riders" class race. Well, "won" is actually a tad weak. He obliterated the competition. He was the only rider in his lap. He'd passed everyone else in the race. I suspect he could have passed them all twice, but didn't want to seem like a show-off.

Yeah, O.K., it's "Bike Race Week" here at Shaggy Dog Pix. Sue me.

Now, that's aerodynamic riding!

Say, speaking of Chinatown (that's where this was taken), next week begins the year of the Rat in the Chinese calendar. Now, I was going to make a joke about how it's also Dumbya's last year in office, so, just for a little information on what, exactly, the year of the Rat might involve, I decided I'd better check Wikipedia. Honest, I ain't makin' this up. Here's a direct quote: "Rat is associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities." Gees! Maybe there's something to this Chinese horoscope stuff after all!