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my parents made another bike trip today and i tagged along. this was my mother's second ride. i didn't have my usual bike because went to belmont with my motorcycle so i rode the recently-fixed raleigh sport instead. it has 3 speeds but i only used one, preferring to pedal standing up for the occasional hills.

i filmed most of the trip riding in the back with the canon SX230, for posterity purposes. i think the camera work would be better if it was mounted to my helmet (which i wasn't wearing); secured to the handlebars, there was still too much shuddering even with the camera's built-in optical stabilizer.

my father led the way, going a route that involved taking a short cut from the entrance of the fresh pond golf course to the actual pedestrian trail encircling the pond itself. even though it's a longer way, it's safer and more peaceful because you don't have to deal with car traffic. it's either 2.1 miles or 2.6 miles, depending on which direction you circle the pond; compared that to the normal (driving) route, which is 1.8 miles. riding a bike, it's only an additional few minutes of travel time.

we went the longer clockwise route along fresh pond, stopping at the crossing light opposite the abandoned tokyo restaurant. my father headed to the cafe while my mother and i headed back home. there was a slight uphill approaching the pathway along huron avenue. that's when my mother said she couldn't go any farther, said she was too tired and felt dizzy and wanted to puke. she got off her bike and rested on the side of the trail. i guess we pushed her too hard, considering that i don't think she's ever exercised in her life.

after she got her wind back, we continued biking along the fresh pond pathway, back to where we first started by the golf course entrance. she rested again while we pushed our bikes uphill. after coasting downhill, we cut across grove street park. here she made one last pause, retching a few times because she thought she was going to puke, telling me to go home first because me waiting around for her was giving her too much pressure.

in the garden i discovered 2 SVB eggs on a squash blossom when i cut it off to save for future frying. later i came across one more egg on a flower stem. SVB is definitely visiting the garden, but laying only a few eggs at a time, nothing like the initial 20+ i found a week ago. other than that, there was no additional gardening drama. all the plants are on automatic at this point, just waiting for the harvest.

dinner came in the form of spaghetti, the meat sauce made using leftover ground beef from the blue cheese burgers i rolled last weekend. we also ate one of the garden cucumbers, amazingly crispy, although a bit bitter near the stem end for some reason.

after dinner my father and i tried to figure out gear ratios and how to install the sturmey-archer coaster brake hub onto the unused tandem bicycle sitting in the garage.

when i finally returned home, i parked my motorcycle away from the construction site which could be happening as early as tomorrow.

going into the bathroom, i noticed that bram had failed to properly close the bathtub knobs again and it was dribbling out a lot of water. had it been like this since this morning? this is the 3rd consecutive day that it's happened and about the dozenth time since he's been here. when he came out to retrieve his oven-baked dinner, i ambushed him and told him to tighten the knobs after he showers. hopefully he'll listen and not waste more water. also: don't pee on the floor, turn the steam of the electric kettle away from the cupboards when boiling water, keep the volume down when you blow your nose, try to sleep on your side so i don't hear your loud snoring, don't close the cap on the dishwashing liquid, put back the sponge, don't flick your dirty flossings onto the bathroom mirror, clean up after your frequent manscaping sessions, take out tissues and coins from pockets when laundering/drying, don't leave soiled underwear and socks in washer (to be washed later), don't wear your dirty shoes inside the house, don't drape your wet bathroom towel over mine, and don't close the door like you're trying to break off the key inside the lock. but at least he doesn't scratched up my pots and pans.