Losing My Seat Before The Storm

Yesterday was one of those days.  


When I went to unlock the Le Tour, this is what I found:

I suppose I could've ridden it.   I mean, after all, it had everyting except a seat post and seat.  Believe it or not, I've actually seen guys ride without them.  But I don't recall any female cyclists doing the same thing.  


The other night, I made sure to have all of my papers read and lessons prepared so I could have the time to ride.  So I was relegated to taking the train, and I had no work to do during the ride.  I guess that wasn't so bad:  I started to write something.  I'm note sure of what it is yet--poem,  story or whatever--or, whether anything at all will, in fact, come of it.


Teaching at my main job went OK and I managed to slip out a less-used gate to get to the bus that would take me to my part-time gig.  A layer of clouds bundled over the sky; rain was forecast but I still regretted not having ridden my bike.


I know, I could have taken Helene. (I was wearing a skirt.)  But if the racks at my part-time job were going to be as full (to overflowing) as they've been lately, I didn't want to park there and get scratches and dings or incur other damage.  And I didn't want to leave her out in the weather that blew by just as I was about to leave.


As you've probably heard,  a powerful storm ripped through parts of Brooklyn and Queens--including the neighborhoods in which my jobs are located.  In fact, a tornado was said to have touched down only a mile from my part-time gig.  Seing some of the damage and being stuck on a bus that could only sit behind four other similarly delayed buses at one intersection.   Finally, the cops let the driver open the door, and the driver advised us of another bus route we could take into Flushing, Queens, where I expected to get the train.  Alas, that train--the 7 line--wasn't running.  So there was another delay longer than the train ride would have taken. So I had to wait for a shuttle bus.  When it arrived, fights broke out among people who wanted to board.  


All told, getting home last night took about three and a half hours.  Cycling wouldn't have taken much more than an hour, at least for me.