Liminal

[da]

My bike odometer just rolled over another 1,000 miles. I expected it to happen in the middle of the park, and I briefly considered taking a photo of the llamas/swans/bridge/whatever was in sight at the time, then decided it was unnecessary; I'd remember it well enough as I remembered the last 5 times and that was sufficient.

Probably that choice was for the best, because it rolled over on University grounds, just at the first path intersections where you've got loading-dock on one side and shopping-plaza Bank Machine on the other, with a side-helping of advertising signs. I'm all about the urban photography, but if you've seen one mini-mall you've seen them all.

And equally valid, if you've seen one odometer roll from 999.99 to 0.0, you've probably seen them all, too.

The university exams continue this week. Students walking singly or in groups into the buildings, with palpable energy/fear/resignedness. I've been there and done that countless times as well; still have dreams about it, and who doesn't? Grateful for the opportunity to swing past, hold the door for them, go up to my office and do the work I can to make their profs' jobs easier.

lim-i-nal \ˈli-mə-n^əl\ (adj) Latin limin-, limen threshold 1: of or relating to a sensory threshold 2 : barely perceptible 3 : of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition

Comments

[zanate.livejournal.com]

Wow, my el-cheapo bike odo has 4 digits, so I've not come close to rolling it over. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Heh.

This odometer's been on this bike since July 2000, when the el-cheapo odometers I could find in Boston, all had three-and-two digits. It's got other modes, that I never use, but I haven't gotten around to replacing it with an el-cheapo 4-digit one.

The question is, shall I finally swap it over to km when it gets to [6]213.71 miles?... then there's an invisible "10" on the display. Or buy a 4-digit one, so it's only got one rolled-over digit. Or keep it in miles, since it's been in the wrong units for 7 years already.

[psychedelicbike.livejournal.com]

Yeah, same here. I'm currently sitting at 4598.7

But it's not entirely accurate, because I've changed tires and not re-measured the new wheel circumference. I'm guessing that it just makes up for the half a year that I rode with no odometer.