2008 Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour Photos on Flickr

I uploaded a few photos from this year's Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour to my flickr account. Have a look: http://flickr.com/photos/3speedblog/?saved=1

Plant Activity

The bleeding hearts are out in our backyard.

The ferns have taken over the front yard. Primitive bastards!

The rhododendrons are storing their energy for an explosion. They don't look so hot now, but they will in a couple weeks.

These photos look better if you click on them to get the large version.

Crowded Trails

Do you think gas prices are effecting people's transportation choices?

The bike trails are crowded in some places. The other day, I rode home at rush hour instead of my usual earlier time. I had to follow a group of about seven cyclists going up the Martin Sabo Bicycle Bridge. It was a real eye opener. Things are changing.

Lots of causes have led to this change and it's just the beginning. I don't attribute this solely to gas prices. Lots of people are trying to pollute less and the weather is perfect right now in Minnesota. If you're not going to ride in weather like this, you never will. We have lots of useful local bike trails too -- a few of them are crap, but most are the kind that get people away from cars. I think that's what most riders want.

The point of this post is not trails though. My point is lots more people are riding bikes now and we're going to experience growing pains. More cyclists will be hit by cars. More car drivers will hate cyclists, because they have to share the road with slow moving vehicles.

What other "growing pains" do you foresee with the increase in bicycle commuting?

Weightlifter Quote

"This is the life, being men and lifting weights."

My 11 year-old son said this last night when we were lifting weights together. When he said it, I cracked up.

Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour (part 1)

I rode the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour again this year. That's four years in a row. I won a mud flap in a drawing.

I have lots of photos. I'll take some time tonight to look at them a post the interesting ones (interesting to me, that is).

Lots of riders wear costumes that are supposed to represent what English people wore in the '30s. That's not me. I don't feel comfortable in costumes and yet I feel a little left out. I'll think about that for next year.




I didn't get into the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 this year. I'll make the best of it and find another event. I'll take the disappointment like an adult without resorting to something extreme like signing up for a running marathon. One guy I know rode it 11 years straight, then was rejected for 4 years in a row, then got in this year. They use a lottery-style drawing and it can be cruel.

SPAM/Not SPAM

In the past week, I've received a couple of work-related emails that are so out of left field I initially thought they were a clever, new spam technique. They weren't spam, just poorly written business communication.

With that in mind, I'd say if you send out messages that people think might be spam, then you need to brush up on your writing skills.

I mentioned this to another guy at work and he decided to use the following subject line in all his messages for today:

Subject: Your wife will be a happier

So let's join him and pick a favorite spam subject line, then use it as the subject line in your messages. Let me know how it goes.

Smuggness

I'm a smug bicyclist. I'm not smug because of the bicycle in the photo. I'm just smug.

This bike is my Raleigh Tourist. It's from the late 70s. It is heavy and it kicked my butt on the way to work this morning riding into the wind. I'm not sure why I own it. I have a few suspicions about why I own it, but during the 10 mile ride to work, they all seemed like bullshit.

2008 Minneapolis May Day Parade

My family and I watched the 2008 May Day Parade in Minneapolis. The parade had lots of things to focus on. To simplify things, I chose bikes and politics. Today, I uploaded the notable bike photos. Before the parade came through, the bicyclists rode up and down Bloomington Avenue.

When this was taken, this bike was moving from left to right.


Lots of tall bikes

A bicycle in disguise as an H2




This one is probably a great winter machine



This is my favorite bike photo of the day. Click on it to see a larger version.

New Term: Vista Nap

I invented a new term today. When Vista goes bad and shows "Not responding," I lay my head down and take a nap. This is from now on known as the Vista Nap.

It's not a bad thing unless you expect to get some work done. If that's the case, I can't help you.

Vista Shortcut

My coworker discovered this really cool Vista shortcut.

When using the file manager or whatever it is really called (file explorer), hold down the Ctrl key and then use the mouse scroll wheel to change the view type (thumbnails, details, etc.). This is a time saver, because Vista seems to assign a random view to my files and I regularly have to change the file view. I think there's a way to reliably control the view, but I haven't found it.