STEALTH OR SOMETHING LIKE IT

With the weather steadily improving I am able to cycle to work almost every day. However, it seems as though the winter rains and winds have taken their toll on my trusty steed - known in these parts by the name of "Sally" - and I have developed a rather conspicuous rattle when I cycle about. Or rather, I've developed a collection of conspicuous rattles, because I've yet to be able to isolate which part(s) of Sally is/are generating the racket. It may be time for a good ol' fashioned Spring tune-up.

While it is slightly embarassing to draw stares from other cyclists, particularly those mounted on superior models (i.e., with more than three gears), I console myself with the optimistic belief that the rattles simply add to the Cambridge Character of my mode of transport. It gives me an air of authenticity - "her cycle rattles so much that she must have been here forever, cycling on that same bike!" - and makes me stand out from the crowd of hundreds, nay thousands, other cyclists in town.

And with the return of tourists, I am starting to appreciate the rattle of my cycle making its way along the path renders a bell superfluous. If I ever do end up running someone over, they can't claim that they didn't hear me coming.