January 8, 2009

Shiny metal things

Yesterday on my way home--besides forgetting to go to the grocery store--I stopped at the Westerville Bike Shop to pick up some supplies and gawk at beautiful things I can't afford and wouldn't buy new (like a $165 Brooks Professional leather saddle). I did end up spending a lot of money on a few things I needed though: a new set of metal Soma toe cages & leather straps to replace the plastic set I shattered last week, as well as a pair of "Power Grips" toe straps for winter riding on the mountain bike. I eagerly installed the metal cages and had the pleasure of testing 'em this morning. Perfect. And shiny.

I opted for the single-strap cages over the double-strap cages--not sure why; I suppose I didn't want to appear too gaudy or something, as if being flashier was stepping outside of the boundaries of the tacit mores of a sub-culture of Biking of which I'm not even a part (read: self-inflicted paranoia); as if a tricked-out bike should only be backed up by experience and abilities (of which I have none). Perhaps I was attempting to appear modest (in my self-contained world) by resisting the urge to "pimp" out a mid-90's touring bike-turned-beater-fixie. Sorry Xzibit. Damn, I need to get away from the internet and meet some friends. Haha

Sub-cultures are so interesting to me. Thoughts?
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3 comments:

  1. brandi lee!January 13, 2009 at 2:06 AM

    i get the same type of paranoia. i get so paranoid that i automatically assume everyone who is really into bikes are bike jocks and i'm just not one. haha. i think it's from being in punk and hardcore so long, for both of us. maybe not. i don't know where i am going with this, really.

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  2. beeJanuary 13, 2009 at 2:07 AM

    you are cool though
    and so is carlyn.
    does she have a blog?

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  3. DSTRONGJanuary 13, 2009 at 2:28 PM

    Yeah, it really does have to do with punk/hardcore communities. They are microcosms--such a cliche--but so true. Politics and drama, hierarchies, rituals, cliques, organizers, followers, mores & norms, old school, toys, etc...
    = Little, self-contained cultures.

    Don't step, get respect. Shit like that. Haha. Kinda goofy in many ways, but you might agree sometimes it makes sense to respect it--and sometimes it's comforting

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