Did Critical Mass last Friday. Fun. Dental students came too. Danny showed up later.
I stopped and took pics of people who were taking pics of us, but they all came out crappy. Best Mass in a long time. From downtown to Old Town, Streeterville, to Chinatown, back downtown, the West Loop, and then Danny and I peeled off in Wicker Park to head to the Handlebar for dinner after about four hours and 25 miles.Fucking cops thought it'd be fun to harass us. So there were five squad cars at the end of the Mass with their sonic blasters going for no good reason. At the front you couldn't hear it, but when we stopped at a liquor store we got back right in front of them, and it hurt. I was talking with some mom who had her kids with her; she'd tried talking to the cops but they just gave a sarcastic thumbs up. I commented that someone somewhere was getting mugged or raped at the moment, and the cops decided to harass a bunch of bicyclists and make themselves look bad in front of grade-school kids. Someone else commented that since the front of the Mass couldn't even hear the sirens, it was like pushing string. Cops are good for something, just count on them being assholes when you don't need them.
I obviously got my bike back from the shop, finally, after I figured out what was wrong. In less than seven months, I completely wore out the chainwheel. I pretty much wore out the whole drivetrain. It was about $300 worth of stuff including the tune-up, but I figure even a new bike would rack up at least $200 worth of wear and tear after next winter.
I'm burnt out on studying. I don't care anymore. I spent all last weekend at school, pulling late nights going over board-review shit. Plus I'm pretty confident in my ability to pass my board exam on Monday. So I've been reading crappy novels - not "crappy," but actually crappy - and letting shit go to hell in a handbasket.
Tomorrow I'm going to see Against Me! I need it. Almost as much as I need sleep. And a shower.
