Biking 1:05:03 [4] 17.63 km (16.3 kph) +63m
(injured) shoes: Trek 7.1 FX
Lori set an interesting street-O course in downtown Boston. I am unable to run (or even walk, really), so I biked the course. It was a tricky challenge because of the numerous one-way streets, the taboo biking on sidewalks, hills, and difficulty moving through tight crowds in the North End. I encountered Ross at controls 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9 despite my best efforts to pull away from him. However, the next few controls were in Charlestown, and I was able to get up to speed. My leg felt good until control 13, where I got off my bike and walked up some steps.
Afterward, Ross, Stephen, Lori and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. I had a curious experience when parking my bike; a young woman stopped on the sidewalk and asked if I "got so muscular just from riding bikes." Two decades of nerdiness kicked in, and I was so flummoxed that I answered her question literally rather than interpreting her remark as an invitation. Whatever her intent, meeting someone at 9 PM on the streets of downtown Boston is dubious.
In any case, dinner was excellent with lots of good conversation. The people at the restaurant at which we were eating wanted to close, so we were a bit rushed at the end. Topics of discussion included Lori's lab predicament, the nature of spicy foods, the extent to which we control our interests, dueling with porridge at Sunset, fencing with celery, and so on. I have been pondering whether our preferences and choice of activities are choices, are determined a priori by our brain structure, or are consequences of our experience. It may be a consequence of all three.
My fortune cookie, as requested: "Alas! The onion you are eating is someone else's water lily."