i’m in one of those periods of extreme flattitude. you might say i’m flatulent. basically, every time i ride my bike i get a flat tire. sometimes two. flats kill fun.

today’s flat was brought to me by a piece of mollusk shell. one stretch of the bike path goes on a jetty that is bordered on both sides by water, and when the tide is low, seagulls pick mollusks off the rocks and drop them on the bike path to break them open, so they can devour the delicious polluted mollusk meat. yummy.

thus the clever yet infuriating seagulls leave the bike path covered with razor sharp fragments of shell that have an amazing ability to pierce Michelin Axial Pro bicycle tires. the one that caused today’s flat actually went in through the sidewall somehow.

before the flat, i was thinking about a phenomenon i’ve noticed repeatedly while cycling: whenever you are approaching a pedestrian, skater, or another cyclist from behind, they will almost always swerve toward you just as you start to make a pass on the left. i’m starting to suspect an undiscovered form of electromagnetism.

and another phenomenon: if you say “passing on your left” or something like that as you are approaching, some people will swerve to their left. others will get pissed off and swear at you. the ones who say “thank you” are very much in the minority.