mmr and the loss of my voice.

i woke up friday morning feeling like hell. my throat was scratchy, it felt like pressure was continually building in my head, and i was tired. however, today was a fancy day, an occasion not to be missed. it was the second friday of the month and thus at midnight that night the MIDNIGHT MYSTERY RIDE would begin! i spent work taking care of myself. i drank more water than i can last remember, i sucked on cough drops, and ate soup. surprisingly enough i did indeed feel better by the time i clocked off, which was awesome. it was a true display of the concept 'mind over matter'.

that night i rode downtown to the 'shanghai tunnel' to meet up with 92 other people at midnight to head out to an undisclosed location on our bicycles. this was my first ever 'midnight mystery ride', and i was nothing less than ecstatic. i always experience a tinge of fear or intimidation when approaching a giant crowd of potential strangers in portland, or. silly thoughts fly through my head predicting alienation, self-consciousness, and just not fitting in. but, as i neared the crowd familiar faces began to pop out. the bicycle community here is totally rad and welcoming, and i think that is why i'm so magnetized towards them. i was welcomed with hugs, smiles, and friendly conversation.

at midnight (well, around midnight at least) the countdown began, and we all took to the streets as the greatest bike mob ever (besides all those other great bike mobs...that happen all the time in this magic city). people watching smiled, waved, and shouted encouragement. i feel like everyone that has been doing the 'portland bike culture' thing for more than a few months is really used to this phenomenon. a. that giant groups of cyclists get together and take to the streets causing general car confusion and extravagant levels of fun b. that pedestrians and even drivers are so supportive of the bicycle flock. mini-bike winter was the first time i had really reveled in the glory of taking over the street by bike. i love it, and this delightful friday ride had me giggling and smiling the night away.

we headed out towards n. portland by way of naito parkway. there were tons of railroad tracks, and it seemed like they had an even more pronounced hunger for bike tires than usual. at nearly every set of track some poor unfortunate rider caught their tire and went flying. i had never actually seen this happen, so it was really crazy. everyone (i saw at least) ended up being okay, and jumping back onto their stead.

we ended up at this great beach under the train bridge. the clicketty clack of the tracks from underneath the bridge was really neat. everyone was enjoying themselves until the pepper showed up and shined obnoxiously bright lights down at us dissolving all the good times instantly. one of the cops even grabbed a bottle of alcohol, and chucked it. the glass shattered all over. it was totally unnecessary, and far more destructive than anything we were up to. they booted everyone out, and we rode off again.

aah! i'm almost late for work. quick recap of the rest of the night:

1. i got a slow leaking flat.
2. everyone stopped and helped me fix it.
3. we ran into a few other people with flats, and everyone stopped to help them.
4. that's awesome to see.
5. revphil and dan played fun balancing bike games with me.
6. a car sped by too fast and we yelled at it.
7. we rode to a neat spot under a bridge.
8. chops switched my perspective on the bridge and we marveled at how neat it looked for a long time.
9. the bike trailer bonfire got going.
10.a bunch of us climbed down to the water.
11.another fire was started thanks to a dried out christmas tree.
12.great conversations ensued.
13.we found paint and had a good ol' time doing a little art.
14.we stayed up until 5:30
15.everyone rolled out to their respective hoods in great little groups.
16.i got home at 6, slept until 11
17.i went to work for a really long time and felt really crappy.
18.now i can't talk (my voice is gone) and i'm late for work today.

hooray! all in all a great time was had by everybody.

love,
kelly

ps. i'm too late for editing