Why would someone who has been riding for a long ass time and has worked in bike shops, not bring a spare tube or a patch kit when he goes out on a ride? He is in a rush and not well prepared is why. When you war not ready for it, you are bound to catch a flat. Kind of annoying. I went on a ride that was planned to go to Norristown and then return to the city. I wanted to check out how far it was to my school and back. I have to time it for my commute in the fall. I am really looking forward to riding to work everyday, but I need to know how much time it is going to take me each moring. I want to keep it below one and 1/2 hours. If that is the case, it will take me about the same amount of time to get there as it would if I drove. and I also would not have to pay for gas, or up keep of my car, also I will not have to spend as much time in the gym. That is at least the goal for now.

The ride I was on was from 4th and South to the Art Museum and Out MLK drive to the Schykill River Trail to Norristown. I knew there was a way to take that trail that was on the road 100% but I was not sure how to get there. I ended up jummping on the tow path, which is cinders and rocks. I started to travel just a bit too fast, since I was timing myself for the commute, and was thinking more or less the whole way that I was going to end up with a pinch flat, and sure enough I did. I came to this revelation after I crashed in the mud. I was trying to stop before hitting the "curb" of a bridge, and my back wheel slid out and I crashed. Not hard, but I still went down. I pumpped up the tire and tried to make it back. The tire was loosing too much air to really keep going. In a fit, I smashed the pump on the bar and ended up bending it. I tried to make it work, but ended up just throwing it away. It was old and I got it for free, but I really wish I could keep my anger under control. 90% of the time I do, but sometimes I just frustrate myself and then do something dumb and compound it for myself. It kind of sucks, but I try to work on it.

In Order to get home, I either had to walk to the bike shop, and fix it, or call my girlfriend and have her pick me up. Since we were under time constraints, I decided it was easier for her to pick me up. I walked a long distance to a point that is eaiser for her to pick me up at. It was a nice walk, and it afforded me the chance to check out some turtles that were hanging out in the cannal. There were some big guys in there just sunning themselves and looking for food. They are just such neat animals. I kind of want to get one, but I need to be around more to take care of it.

I did get to go to the bike shop, since I got there before she did. I like going into ohter bikeshops when I can. Sometimes they really frustrate me, since they are so dumb, but I like to see what they have in the shop and what they are charging for what they have. They had a bike that I really liked, but don't quite need right now. I would work in this shop, but I don't know if they are hiring these days. Next week I may head to my old shop in Maryland. I would like to see the last day of the Tour De France with some of my old cronies. We will see if I feel like driving down there or not.

The second part of the day we went to Jess's cousin's graduation party. They live in South Jersey, which has to be the worst place to drive in the world. We must have been lost for about 30 minutes till we got to their house, then Jess wanted to go to the bookstore to find a book for her cousin. This took another 30 minutes in the car almost totally lost. I hate driving in places where I have no clue where I am. We found something to eat at Chillis and then got the book at the bookstore. There were alot of people picking up the new Harry Potter book.

In the time we were lost, we were going around a traffic circle, and I noticed something fall off the roof of my car. It was my keys. My car key was on Jess's ring, but this other ring had my apartment keys and all of my bike lock keys. They ended up in the middle of this traffic cicrle. I must have left them on there when I took my bike off of the roof when I got back to my apartment. I am happy they stayed on for all that time. I seem to get really lucky sometimes.

We spent a good amount of time visiting with her family and what not before we went back to the city. We made good time getting back and didnt get too lost, but we did go a little bit out of the way to get there, but that is not a big deal. We went home and chilled for a little while then I called my old roomate Pete to see what he was up to.

Pete and I decided to try and go see Willy Wonka with our ladies. We wanted to see it in IMAX and were trying to get tickets. I went to the IMAX website to pick up tickets, and when I clicked it brought me to Fandango to get the tickets. It showed two show times, and I ordered tickets. We rushed up there and got to the theater really early. We were ready to see this movie in IMAX! Pete and I got seats while Colleen and Jess went to the ladies room, as soon as we sat down, I realized that this was not IMAX at all. This was a regular theater. I kind of felt like a cchump, but we got to see the movie anyway.

The movie was pretty good. I have to say that I am normally not one for remakes of movies, but any movie that gets closer to the book, is always great. I thought Johnny Depp did a great job. I loved the Umpalupas (sp). They were really funny. I am not too into spoilers so I wont tell you about the end, but I would say to go and check it out.

The end of another long day.