Needles.

Agnes hated the cold, wet weather and she hated riding her bike in it even more. She was bundled, too bundled in her rain gear and wool layers. That just made it worse. She was getting sweaty. As she sped down Callahan hill into the industrial part of town she realized that her caliper breaks were pretty much useless. There was no way she'd be able to stop at the now red light at the bottom of the hill. Agnes pedaled faster. She made eye contact with the Fed Ex truck driver who tried to break as she zoomed throught the intersection. She missed his bumper by only a foot or so. Agnes felt exhilirated. She smiled big. Her exhuberance lasted about thrity seconds until a school bus of children slowly passed her. They'd seen the whole thing. Some goofy little red head kid with a bowl cut picking his nose shook the index finger of his free hand at Agnes. She saw him mouth the work naughty.