Parallel Rails

Leaving the handlebar behind, I navigated back along the top tube toward the bicycle saddle. The night air was turning chilly, but the undercarriage beneath the seat offered ideal structural shelter. Two parallel steel rails ran horizontally beneath the molded plastic base, forming a rigid suspension track. Tucked into the seat post clamp, I discovered an abandoned stiff cardboard parking ticket folded into a crisp pleat. Using both curved hands, I worked the card between the twin steel rods, leveling its crease across the metal span until it seated dead-flat. Stepping onto this suspended floor, the contoured shell overhead deflects every draft, leaving my night quarters secure and square.