...you are mounting a bicycle on an automobile bike rack shortly after lunchtime on a weekday while parked on a street in downtown Spokane.

1. "Beautiful day for a bike ride." (Yes, but if I were actually going for a ride I wouldn't be putting the bike on a car. Though I recognize how someone might assume otherwise.)

2. "Going for a bike ride?" (OK, maybe that sounds like the "You guys playing cards?" scene in "Animal House." But rather than trying to explain the logistical sequence of events that led to both my bike and my car being downtown at the same time, I would have been wiser to answer, "Yep."

3. "Putting it on the rack, huh?" OK, that really is in "You guys playing cards?" territory. But given the parade of personality types we all encounter, I have no problem with a friendly person making inane small talk.  And when the questioner accepts a simple smile as an answer, it's all good.

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