I take the pista out through the intersection and down the road over the Passaic, dodging a truck stuck in traffic and then avoiding a Mercedes coming the other way who must not have realized his turn arrow had turned red. It is a sunny day in NJ and I had just saved myself a long walk home. Swapping out the seatpost on the bike for one with less setback, I found – mid-ride – that the bolt of the new old one had been stripped. Fortunately, a NAPA Auto Parts store – the irony was lost on me until now – was open at 8:05 in the morning and I replaced the bolt and nut. It wasn’t perfect – the top of the seat clamp was much wider than the nut so I had to wedge a pebble between the two to hold the nut while I tightened the bolt with an allen key – but it worked all the way into Summit where I was able to park the bike, grab a cup of coffee, and relax for a few minutes before heading to the post office to drop some mail. I have been hauling mail from my office for a few days now and don’t mind but I wanted to get it over with today. I hopped on the Pista, clipped into the ultegra pedals, and rolled away. When I got home I replaced the bolt with a real one and stowed the NAPA one in the parts box. Then I ate lunch, went out, and got back on the bike…