DARTing around Dallas

The DART is always an adventure. Dallas Area Rapid Transit. It will take you on very select routes through Dallas, Carrollton, Garland, and Plano, but not through very much of any of them. There is one underground stop (Cityplace). The machines give you your change in gold Sacajawea dollars, but very few of the machines accept gold Sacajawea dollars as processable currency. The trains are usually quite reliable, but sometimes not. Sometimes the train runs 6 minutes early and the car is nearly early and you get to hang your bike up

 The main reason the DART is awesome: It's one of the few public transit lines I've encountered that not only allows bikes, it's purposely bike-accessible. That poster behind my bike? That's a diagram on how to hang your bike because that space was designed specifically for bikes. How awesome is that?! Dallas just recently incorporated urban design into her city government, I'm going to give them credit for this one.

My basket is still attached because I latched that bad boy on with zip ties, it's not removable like my old basket. Which, when you've got a couple of things flopping around in that basket, could be a pain in the ass because pobre cesta is suddenly less well suited to her purpose. She's now a dumper, instead of a holder (sob! what did my things ever do to her!)

Bungee to the rescue!

Aw heck yes I love me some bungee. That this is tough enough to hold all my shit in and flexible enough to let me shove said shit in without having to remove it (and it's older than me to boot!) And I love that helmet. I don't wear it as often as I should, but that slogan makes me oh so happy because, yes, now that you mention it, I do love my brain! Fancy that! Thank you, Nutcase!

Another reason to love the DART?

Aww yeah ...

Where the hell else would I have seen this bad boy? That thing is only a few pistons short of a motorcycle. Look at how reclined that front fork is! And the huge fenders? IT EVEN HAS FLAME DECALS. Harley, eat your heart how. This is how the real tough guys roll.

And I got more bike grease! Whether this is from yesterday or today I have no idea because while showers clean you in theory, I'm not so sure about the applications in real life. Kind of like communism. Plus, after that hour ride through the pitch dark, I wouldn't be surprised if those were actually very clever claw marks by some beast. Stranger things have happened. And yes, I know those shoes suck for cycling.