After all it looks like I’m not going to cycle to work. Wednesday was bank holiday and I tried out the route to my work on this horrible road bike I bought of the crazy Austrian who was moving out of my flat as I moved in. By the way, he fractured an incisor for not paying attention to a pothole. My trip to work luckily did not involve any accidents but I still found it really intimidating on this ramshackle, zero-security, zero-comfort bike with its brakes in the typical inaccessible road bike position.
Crossing an intersection I didn’t notice lights were already red as I was looking behind, scared that the approaching SUV planning on making a right turn might not take notice of me. Luckily the cars starting off from the crossroad decided not to knock me over, merely beeping and one yelling something.
Last night I decided to go for a run. What a bad idea. It’s strenuous, slow and nauseating. I suppose that what makes it so exhausting is a combination of the altitude (520m) and la contaminación. I only went for 30 minutes (though it felt longer), running mainly through parks which doesn’t mean that one could escape those busy roads; there will always be one running parallel within 50m or so. And it didn’t feel good. I wonder if many Santiagans pursue some physical exercise. If so, maybe they shouldn’t. Today, my legs and my lungs hurt.
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