It’s official, I have retired from the life of a mechanic on the road.  I know how many of you have been holding your breath, waiting and wondering what my next move in life will be.  So without further ado….I’m quitting….that’s what I’m doing.  My decision is partially because I’m really good at it, quitting that is.  As well, I have to admit to myself that the world of pro cycling is only so fruitfull.  I had this expectation of there being lots of fun, and hanging out with the guys, but as it turns out it takes a certain type of mechanic to have much fun…a drunk one.  Seriously though, I had a blast with Danny and the guys.  I already kind of miss the travel, but then I remember the workload and I don’t miss any of it.

So having moved away from wrenching on the road, I’m now GM of this shop in ATL called Peachtree Bikes. It’s working well, as I’ve fortunately gotten to deal with another cool boss.  I’ll be doing some tech stuff for the guys here at missingsaddle eventually…

But what this REALLY means is that my time for social commentary has significantly increased.  I happen to have a beef from my trip this evening to Whole Foods, and later amplified by my return home to my parking garage.  This is a simple concept, and I’m sure there are lots of you out there who can help me out in coming up with the bill that needs to be sent to legislature.

YOU SHOULD ONLY BE ENTITLED TO DRIVE AN EXPENSIVE VEHICLE IF YOU ARE CAPABLE OF PARKING IT.  I’ll expand upon this idea and say that there should be a scale of determining how good of a driver you are, not just in terms of parking…and the corrosponding financial classification of vehicle that you have earned.  Annual income out the window-I call it the rule of subjective affordability.

Seriously, I saw a string of vehicles at Whole Foods that practically made my blood boil.  The way I see it, my groceries could be a hell of a lot more affordable if WF hadn’t wasted their money painting lines in the parking lot!

Are you that unaware, or are you just that important???  If you are missing that part of the modern brain that allows you to percieve your surroundings, well then I should probably rethink commuting by bike to work.  On the other hand, if you are just that important….well I probably shouldn’t get into the entitlement thing because it truly pisses me off.  I’m not really used to city life!  But when I have my days off and am out-and-about running errands, only to witness this overwhelming reoccurance of disappointment, well I just think somebody should be out there policing this stuff.  It should be like Gran Tourismo (which I haven’t played since ‘01..so it may not be this way anymore), but we should all have to start with a Honda FIT, and work our way up through the ranks.  I swear, 90% of ATL would still be driving FITs.

That is all….