went to nyc this weekend, and i found that there is something that comes close to my utter disdain for hot and muggy summers in dc. that would be the first nice day of the year. in nyc. in soho. and especially in chinatown.

too. many. people. it’s as if there were never going to be another nice day in the world ever. if i were at home, i’d have stayed inside, or at least found me an abandoned section of grass. why would you ruin a perfectly nice day with so many god-forsaken people? got me.

for the record, the ideal day would be 45 degrees, no wind. warm enough to get away with cheap gloves and a nice coat, but cold enough to keep the streets clear. for biking on crowded trails, it has to be even colder. those power walkers are a hearty bunch. takes a bit more to get them out of the way.

in the middle of a completely insane busy day saturday, i squeezed in a brief white house tour. the tour itself was totally lame, i suspect because the president was in town and i think someone important from ghana is around, but OMG the secret service wanted to blow up my bike.

apparently i parked it a little too close to the white house (about a half block away), and my little basket in the back was filled with dirty clothes, which understandably looked bomb-like. by the time i got back to my bike after the too-short tour, some security guard warned me that my bike was very suspicious-looking and because a bomb threat had been called into the white house (which i assume is a common occurrence), they were about to cut my lock and blow up my bike.

blow it up? that is so cool. HOW? and WHERE? i actually already accept the “why,” but i want to understand the logistics of this. and how many bikes do they blow up a year? and would you ever find out if your bike was blown up? explain!

however, if my bike had to go, it’d be pretty sweet if that’s how it went. very literally in a blaze of glory.

at both conventions, attendees will have access to freedom bikes. i don’t see helmets, but let’s be honest, we could use fewer delegates anyway.

methinks the bikes will be used way more in denver than the twin cities. just a hunch.