I'm Cold

It's cold this morning (27 degrees F). I didn't wear enough layers and my skin is bright pink. I'll do better tomorrow.

I hope there's hot water in the shower.

Big Dummy Ride

Today's Hiawatha Cyclery Ride had two big dummies in attendance. One of them carried a pretty large pinhole camera mounted on the board. I think this may be a niche market.


We rode over Interstate 35W in Minneapolis on the 42nd Street pedestrian bridge. The interstate is closed today for work. With no cars underneath us, it was really quite and nice.



I converted my commuter bike to a 4 speed. Through a trade, I got the 4-speed guts and installed them in my already built 3-speed wheel. The shifting is pretty stiff. I'll lubricate the hub and all the shifting pivot points. That may improve the situation.

Click on the photos for the larger version. The detail captured by the camera was pretty good, because the light was very nice.

Comments

I received lots of spam comments the other day and I've implemented the Blogger comment approval system. I'm sorry if this is a pain in your butts, but it's the only defense I have against spam comments that I'm aware of. If you have suggestions, please let me know.

Before I started this blog, I had my own using bblog. It had no anti-spam measures at the time. I spent too much time deleting them with a SQL script and making software updates to bblog. I got sick of that and decided to go the easy route instead. Spammers made email a damned mess and they're working on ruining blogging too. What's next?

I mention comments because I've noticed a sharp drop-off in comments on my blog lately. It could be because I haven't been posting as often as I used to or it could be that I haven't been leaving as many comments on other blogs. It all goes together -- leave a comment, get acomment. It's two-way communication. Kinda like if I say hello to someone, they usually return the greeting (not that crazy-eyed guy I see in the hall at work though).

I shouldn't overlook the possibility that my posts are boring. I'll work on that. More provocative photos.

Booze, Guns, and Bicycles

I traveled to the Chequamegon National Forest last weekend with six other cyclists for our annual off-road ride. The trails are located near Cable, WI. On the way to the trails, we stopped at the New Moon Bicycle and Ski shop. I bought some fantastic tires (Kenda Nevegal foldables for $17.99 each) and we found out we were there during a special deer hunting season. They created the special season to reduce the number of does, so they said any antlerless deer could be shot.

One of the bike shop workers told us to wear blaze orange for safety. Then we made a few drunken hunter jokes. One guy suggested we put antlers on our helmets.

A woman standing in the store overheard us.She told us it was an unfair stereotype to lable all hunters as drunk and irresponsible.

I agree with her. Like your teacher told you, it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the whole bunch. We bought orange vests. You'll see photos of that here later.

Putin Looms

I realize this is a little stale, but it makes me laugh so I wanted to share it.
We have a map of the world in the break room at work. Some smart alec pasted Putin's head looming over Alaska. I took this photo of it.

Saturday Hiawatha Ride (Oct. 11, 2008)

The leaves are changing.

We rode to a coffee shop near the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus. They serve warm muffins.

We then rode north using the Diagonal Trail for part of our route and took a group photo on a hill overlooking downtown Minneapolis. It's been a beautiful day.

Digital Negatives

My phone camera is stuck in negative mode. I can't get it out. Here are a few photos that have resulted from this problem. I like the effect, but I'll tire of it really soon.

Bathtub Cycle, and More

I just saw this photo on Boing Boing. It may provide a good theme for an upcoming Hiawatha Cyclery ride. I recommend clicking on the link to see the rest of the photos too (the rest are not cycling related).

Info. on Minnesota River Bottoms Trail

EclectChick asked about the Minnesota River Bottoms Trail.

Here's the link to a page that describes it.

http://www.morcmtb.org/wiki/index.php/Minnesota_River_Bottom

One part is now or soon to be under construction. I recommend avoiding that portion and starting at the Lyndale Avenue parking lot. Ride west from there and you'll miss all the construction.

Hurry, because they take the ferry out of the water pretty soon.

Friday Lunch Ride

I rode the familiar Minnesota River Bottoms trail today although I started at a different trailhead and went the opposite direction from my usual. This small change made it seem like a new trail.

While riding, I noticed something that's been brewing in my mind for a while. When I start a ride, I feel distracted by thoughts of work and other responsibilities. After about 20 minutes, I allow my mind to settle and I forget about my responsibilities other than the trail in front of me. My mind still wanders to subjects other than just the trail, but it seems more relaxed and able to make sense of things. This is one of the many great things about riding.

Here's a photo of the barge used to cross 9 Mile Creek. You have to pull yourself across with a rope.
It's pretty adventurous. But be careful not to lay your bike on the coil of rope. As you pull yourself across, the rope uncoils and will pull your bike with it if you've set the bike on the rope coil. This happened to me, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the bike moving across the barge.