Ground Score

Weekend leisure / errand rides have so many wonderful peripheral benefits. The pace is just right and you get to stop and check out new scenes or places. Sure you don't get the same amount of exercise or burn as many calories as the Lycra-clad road riders, but you connect with the area around you. I like the ability to stop and check things out.

One of my favorite things about the lolly gaging pace of an errand / wandering bike day is the potential for the ground score. The free stuff that is dropped or left out for others. Scarfs, hats, toys, bike parts, small kitchen appliances. . .

This weekend I scored a pretty sweet toaster. Now who would give away a perfectly good toaster? Of course there will be something wrong with it. A quick inspection revealed the likely reason for abandonment, mechanical failure. The toast does not stay down, so I made sure there were screws in the bottom, some kind of indication that it could be opened up and "messed" with (it is amazing how much modern stuff lacks this vital access).

Sure enough, after the fancy brushed metal cover was removed on the expensive toaster, it was all plastic. Cheap plastic. Amazing how much they charge for something so simple and could benefit from just a little bit of durable metal here and there. After some tweaking and modifying its ready for action.