For a couple weeks, I noticed a healthy squeak developing in my left bike pedal (the bike, for those interested, is named Blue Steel, although she is actually made of aluminum. Consult Google Image Search for a quick explanation of the name. Blue Steel also features prominently in a past blog, Bike Dust). I didn’t become completely aware of what it was until I was riding back from my friends’ house late at night and the pedal snapped off, clinging desperately via clip to my shoe.

I heard the clanging of a bolt somewhere along Massachusetts Avenue, and frantically hopped off, clumsily tearing off the loose pedal from my shoe. Picking my bike up to use the front light as a flashlight, I searched to no avail for the little black bolt. I was about three blocks north of Chinatown, and D.C. drivers aren’t known for their kindness towards the metal cowboys that clog the roads. Manning up, I decided that the five miles home can’t be so bad with only one leg clipped in to the remaining pedal.

I put the orphan pedal into my backpack, hopped on and started chugging along. I was streaking steadily at 5 mph. Turning onto Pennsylvania and approaching the White House, I knew that my plan was a best, nearly impossible. There was a cluster of cops gathered in front of the White House gates, all of whom looked up as I came squeaking by. After 5 seconds of silence, they burst out laughing, turning their heads as I tried desperately to push myself past faster. D.C.’s finest my ass.

At the end of the block, I was spurred along in my escape from embarrassment, pushing 8 mph. And then, the final nail in the coffin.

“You got two legs, son! Use ‘em!” a homeless man yelled from the corner across the street. Sound advice from a man who had most likely been drunk since 10 a.m. Admitting defeat, I called in a rescue from my friends whose house I had just left, who were fortunately good-natured about picking me up from the lonely streets of Washington at midnight.

Update: Blue Steel has since been fixed with a brand-new crank set. She damn well better appreciate the love I show her.