The Grateful Red
Jul. 25th, 2022 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisnewdayA couple of days ago, after completing my 10-mile daily bike ride, I noticed that my flashing rear light was no longer working.
No problem, it has a rechargeable battery and came with a USB-compatible cable which plugs into any available phone charger or computer port for a relatively fast recharge.
Now, for safety's sake, I never ride without my flashing head- and tail lights. In fact, I have a second headlight which I always carry in the bag that attaches to the rack behind my seat. That way, if one quits on me, mid-ride, I can just hop off and replace it.
However, for whatever reason, I'd never gotten a second tail light and had to trust my memory to put it on the charger, as soon as I discovered it was dead, so it'd be ready for my next ride.
And this time, I hadn't.
Since it was still relatively early in the day, I decided to throw the light on the charger and, while it was charging, take a run into the city to pick up an identical light to carry with me in case the one on the bike ran out of juice while I was on the road.
The original light, which had turned out to be a really good one, is a Planet Bike brand "Grateful Red," a tongue-in-cheek homage, of course, to the iconic Grateful Dead rock band.
As I've mentioned in the past, my favorite bike shop here in The 'Cuse is the Mello Velo Bike Shop and Cafe, located between Canal Street and Erie Boulevard East, near the foot of the university hill.
Anyway, it's a really cool, laid-back place with great bikes and accessories and very knowledgeable and friendly staff. And the university area has always been one of my favorite places in the city.
Unfortunately, as so often happens these days, my light was not in stock, but the guys ordered one for me and said they'd call when it came in.
As I was heading back down Canal Street towards the highway on-ramp, I switched on the radio--which happened to be set to WAER, the Syracuse University FM station located in the Newhouse School of Communications.
And guess what? The song that was playing when I tuned in was a Grateful Dead number in honor of Jerry Garcia's 80th birthday.
I love it when something happens that allows me to think, for maybe a minute, that there's a synchronicity in the universe that my life might be part of.
If only for the last few lines of a rock 'n' roll anthem...
LPK
Dreamwidth
7.25.2022
No problem, it has a rechargeable battery and came with a USB-compatible cable which plugs into any available phone charger or computer port for a relatively fast recharge.
Now, for safety's sake, I never ride without my flashing head- and tail lights. In fact, I have a second headlight which I always carry in the bag that attaches to the rack behind my seat. That way, if one quits on me, mid-ride, I can just hop off and replace it.
However, for whatever reason, I'd never gotten a second tail light and had to trust my memory to put it on the charger, as soon as I discovered it was dead, so it'd be ready for my next ride.
And this time, I hadn't.
Since it was still relatively early in the day, I decided to throw the light on the charger and, while it was charging, take a run into the city to pick up an identical light to carry with me in case the one on the bike ran out of juice while I was on the road.
The original light, which had turned out to be a really good one, is a Planet Bike brand "Grateful Red," a tongue-in-cheek homage, of course, to the iconic Grateful Dead rock band.
As I've mentioned in the past, my favorite bike shop here in The 'Cuse is the Mello Velo Bike Shop and Cafe, located between Canal Street and Erie Boulevard East, near the foot of the university hill.
Anyway, it's a really cool, laid-back place with great bikes and accessories and very knowledgeable and friendly staff. And the university area has always been one of my favorite places in the city.
Unfortunately, as so often happens these days, my light was not in stock, but the guys ordered one for me and said they'd call when it came in.
As I was heading back down Canal Street towards the highway on-ramp, I switched on the radio--which happened to be set to WAER, the Syracuse University FM station located in the Newhouse School of Communications.
And guess what? The song that was playing when I tuned in was a Grateful Dead number in honor of Jerry Garcia's 80th birthday.
I love it when something happens that allows me to think, for maybe a minute, that there's a synchronicity in the universe that my life might be part of.
If only for the last few lines of a rock 'n' roll anthem...
LPK
Dreamwidth
7.25.2022
