On a penny farthing and other topics

I was the last customer of the day for Jonas my wonderful taxi driver from Eritea yesterday. Saint Michael the Holy Mole had been his first at a little after 4 AM on his way to see Margo. Knowing I was a cyclist, Jonas asked if I had been following the Tour de France. I replied that I hadn't because I view the Tour de France to be something of a perversion of true biking. He was enthused by it as an Eritean was winning it despite being only the third best cyclist in Eritea. I said that I hadn't heard that, the only news that I remembered seeing about the Tour de France was that a cyclist had been fined for kissing his wife. (Which only serves to show how ridiculous the Tour de France is.) I was quite prepared to be happy for Jonas and promised to wave a metaphorical flag in support of the Eritean cyclist.

I have since discovered that the cyclist in question, Biniam Girmay, had "only" won two stages of the race, no mean feat in and of itself. He is also the first African of colour to win a stage in the Tour de France. Go, go, Biniam Girmay!

I had a few errands planned around the Alexis Nihon Plaza. These included mailing various things. Another errand took me a block away from the Plaza. On my way back, I caught sight of a person of colour carrying a penny-farthing bicycle on his shoulder on the other side of the street. I tried to get out my iPhone, but hampered by crutches, I didn't manage to get a shot. It is extraordinarily rare to see penny-farthings in the street. As in, I think this is first time I have seen one.

Yesterday, also saw the birth of Louise's baby boy, Patrick. I'd post the picture but I'm not sure that it is my news to post. Congratulations to Louise, Thomas and big sister Tessa.

I had a physio session today. While I have a long way to go before getting full angular mobility on my left knee and ankle, there was a first today, namely walking with only my right crutch. At first the physio was holding my left arm, but eventually he let me walk by myself. Me being me, I neurotically apologized for sometimes stopping to plan my next move. I also apologized for having paused to instinctively grabbed with my left hand for a support or crutch that wasn't there at one point. Muscle memory is always 100%. I will only be walking with one crutch in the safety of my narrow hallway.

Actually, that isn't quite true. At some point, I will be shopping as I have been with a shopping cart acting as a substitute for my left crutch.