The Great Toothbrush Adventure

Dan, this one’s for you, because sometimes I take things way too literally.

My bike and I are slightly obsessed with cows right now.

I love living without a car. One of my favorite things about using my bike for transportation is that even the most trivial of errands can easily turn into an adventure.

I have been needing to replace my aging toothbrush and I decided that today was the day. After a two mile ride I got to the store and because I am actually still a little kid, I picked out a toothbrush in my favorite color.

Once through the checkout line, I clutched the toothbrush firmly in my hand and headed out the door and back to my bike.

Before I was ready to jump back on, an older gentleman paused on his way into the store to talk to me about my bike.

Him: Does it have good air-conditioning?
Me: Real good. And the faster I go, the better it gets.

Then he asked the question that all older guys ask me. It makes me want to laugh every time because they always think they are so witty and original by asking this question when in reality, every single guy in their age demographic ask me this. Thankfully, it is a fun question to answer.

Him: How many miles do you get to the gallon?
Me: Well, now that I think about it…I haven’t put in any gas since the day I got her, so I guess I get a lot of miles to the gallon.

We laughed.

Him: So, are you a local?
Me: Sure am. I live right in town.
Him: Okay, you must not bike too much then.
Me: I use my bike for transportation so I do bike every day. I love it!
Him: That’s great, I used to have a bike. But what do you do in winter?
Me: I have a mountain bike with studded tires.
Him: No way! That’s crazy!

He began walking toward the store again and then looked back to deliver his parting remark.

“I will be looking for you in the obituaries!”

I chuckled. And then I remembered how scary those type of comments were last year. My, how things have changed.

There were a lot of cars on the road as I biked up main street toward home. More than usual, it seemed. Ahead of me, I noticed an Amish buggy holding up traffic as the horse trotted carefully down the road. I also saw another horse and buggy coming down toward us on the other side of the street.

It was the sweetest thing ever. When the horses spotted each other in the midst of a sea of motor vehicles, they both began to whinny and neigh, calling out happily to each other. My heart melted, they were so ecstatic to see a fellow horse in a world of cars.

“Same here.” I thought. Seeing one cyclist on the road brightens my entire ride, although I usually refrain from neighing.

The Great Toothbrush Adventure turned out to be a stunning success, especially for my teeth, which are currently very, very clean.