Today's Ride to Work

Since the bridge collapse, part of my route to work has changed and it's given me a chance to see some different scenery. I like the larger version of this one. Click on it to see the larger version.


I really like to look at this building, but some people say really bad things about its looks.


This bridge has two layers. The bottom is for cars and the top is for bikes and pedestrians. The middle portion of the top layer is covered. This allows the graffiti artists to work in comfort during bad weather.




Some people work here, apparently keeping the lawn in good shape. I imagine Ray's lawn looks just like this one.

This is a hill I like to ride.

It was humid this morning and I think that caused the hazy conditions. I want a clear, sharp shot of this skyline. When that day arrives, I plan to have a better camera along to do the work.


No one on the bench this morning.

An Unintended Night Ride

A friend from out of town (Mr. G), another friend (Mr. H), and I rode to the Longfellow Grill in Minneapolis to drink a beer.

But before we could leave, Mr. G had to fix a flat.



When we arrived, we just intended to have a beer and leave. Mr. H paid. Thanks, Mr. H!



But two of us ordered food and next thing you know it was dark.



I had front and rear blinky lights, but Mr. G and Mr. H didn't have lights. We stayed on the bike trails and had a fun ride home. I was blinded a few times by the car lights shining in my eyes from a parallel road. One of those times, I even rode off the trail. I need to start carrying a more powerful headlight.

I also want a dynamo front hub. Which one should I buy? It's worth the expense, because it's a safety item, right?

A Trail Near my House

I live near Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis and sometimes I ride this little section of dirt trail next to the creek. It's between 12th Avenue and Cedar Avenue on the south side of the creek. It's not a secret, but I've never seen another cyclist on it.

I Rode a Different Route Today

My usual route through Minneapolis to work was closed today. I normally take the 10th Avenue Bridge across the river, but it was closed. For those of you who don't know Minneapolis, it's the little white bridge next to the collapsed 35W bridge. You've probably seen in news photos.

On the way to work, I went east into St. Paul. This route avoided any contact with the area surrounding the collapsed bridge. I didn't want to contribute to crowding around the area.

On the way home, I plotted a very complicated route through the University of Minnesota using a map. When I arrived in the campus area, I got on the Washington Ave. bridge and just rode west following the painted bike path through the campus.



I ignored my planned route and used the Wiseman Art Museum as a landmark.

I popped out right near where my old route carried me. I realized I found a better route by just following the paint lines of the bike path.

So I ask myself, "What do you think of bike lanes now?"
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I'm sorry for all those people killed and missing and I'm especially heavy hearted for their families. Waiting for news about a missing person would be one of the most difficult things ever. I know there are people sitting by their phones waiting right now. That's hell.

A Tour Comment

I watch the tour and have for many years. I'm addicted to watching it and have lots to say when I get a chance. Until this post, I've never mentioned it in my blog (at least I think that's correct).

So here it goes.

Each day after the tour, I've checked the big pro cycling news websites like Velonews and CyclingNews.com expecting another doping scandal to break. When I saw that Mayo tested positive, I was only surprised that it wasn't someone higher up in the placings.

Am I the only one feeling this way?

Attack Raccoon

I was nearly attacked by a raccoon on the Minnesota River Bottoms Trail on Saturday, I saw this little guy sitting and eating something so I rolled to a gentle stop. I didn't want to spook him. My riding buddy and I sat very quietly and watched him for several seconds. I made a little noise and the raccoon didn't notice. So I dug my phone out and took three pictures.

I made another noise and he turned toward us finally. He put his back up and started to walk menacingly at us. I laughed, because he was a very young raccoon. He acted like a Joe Pesci raccoon. "What are you lookin' at?" I think this little guy wanted to put up a fight instead of flight. Maybe that's the way all raccoons are, but I've never been this close to one.

After we yelled at him and rang our bike bells, he turned away and ran down the trail.

WNBA Lynx Game

A friend invited me and my kids to a Minnesota Lynx WNBA game the other day. My son and I attended and had fun watching the game and the people. We didn't expect such good seats though. We sat behind the visiting team. When they stood up for exciting moments or timeouts, we couldn't see the court.

We also sat behind a row of SuperFans. They're the types who call the referees names when a call goes against the home team. I think my 10-year old son enjoyed their comments. I bet it was the first time he'd heard this one, "You can shove that whistle up your ass, ref!"

That's an oldie, but a goody. Seeing or hearing, in this case, familiar things through the eyes of my kids is half the fun of being a parent.

Rainy Ride

A new bike path has opened near where I work. It allows me to avoid a death-trap road and I find it's a pleasant, undiscovered ride. I rode home the other day after a rain and took a photo with the cell phone. I think a real camera would have really been fun in this situation. I can see the reflection of my handlebars here.

Troll on the Trail

This is a photo from Lebanon Hills off-road trail in Eagan, MN. The trail is built and maintained by the Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC). I'd heard they put a troll on the trail, but I really didn't imagine it was this big. It's located on one of the more difficult loops of the trail system. This loop includes a pretty tall log crossing, boulders to ride down, ladders, and a teeter totter. I don't enjoy all those scary things, so I haven't ridden this loop in more than a year.

Yesterday, I rode it and really enjoyed myself. I rode the teeter totter twice and rocks are nothing on my new Fisher 293. I picked it up yesterday before the ride. It mixes what I think are my ultimate features for this type of off-road riding: dual-suspension and 29" wheels.

12 Hour Off-Road Race

I participated in a 12-hour, off-road bike race last weekend. The weather was hot (not a dry heat) and the terrain was rougher than I expected. Overall, it was very difficult. I rode all I could then stopped short of 12 hours.

I enjoyed it and I'd like to do another. The next one available is the same day as a friend's event that I really want to attend also.

I rode the solo event. The race also had 2- and 4-rider categories. I think the solo event is easier, in a way, because I rode as fast (or slow) as I felt like and never felt pressure to ride fast for my team. If I had a team, I probably would have burned myself out much sooner.

Now that I'm talking about it, I loved this event. It was just my kind of ride.

I'm thinking of doing the same kind of ride at a local off-road trail on my own without a race going on. I heard of some guys doing it last year at Harmon Park in Inver Grove Heights. They road 100 miles. It's something to think about-- a do it yourself off-road endurance ride.

Lots of Photos from a Recent Trip

My son and I visited my mom in Western Nebraska last weekend. I took lots of photos. I'd like to share them all with you, because the area is beautiful. When the sun was low, it seemed easy to take photos that I liked. I can't share them all, so here are a few with comments.

We hiked up the Scottsbluff National Monument one morning.


When I was a kid we walked far out onto this now restricted area.
It was hot while we were there, but it's a dry heat. Dry heat does not compare to wet heat. I know it sounds stupid until you experience it.


This is where I went to my second half of kindergarten and the first half of first grade. I'm not sure if it's used anymore. They wouldn't let me go to recess on some days, because I wouldn't eat stewed tomatoes or prunes.

My mom married a former antique dealer. He has a few cool things laying around. This Hiawatha bicycle was one of them.


My mom lives in an old farm house surrounded by old farm buildings. I think she sees them as junk, but they are the sort of photographic subjects I love.

A Cliche

If you've noticed I haven't been posting much or making comments on other's blogs, it's because I've been spending less time online. This decision has a purpose. I have the ability to get stuck on something and let it take more of my time and thought than is right.

Blogging is an example of that.

My hope is that by restricting myself a little bit, I will find the right amount of blogging.

This means I'm in a restriction mode right now.

The part of this that I consider a cliche is that I've seen other bloggers run into a similar problem themselves and of course, they post about it.

Bike Lane: A Decision

Since mentioning bike lanes in a previous entry, I decided to ride them whenever I could and read about them. I couldn't find anything like people who advocated bike lanes as the best thing ever. But I found a few negative items (on the internets) about bike lanes.

A couple of the comments I received on my posts were really the most helpful.

With that, I've formed an informed opinion of bike lanes. Here it is.

Bike lanes are useful when built correctly. Bike lanes are really awful when built poorly. Of the places I ride, Minneapolis has built the worst lanes and St. Paul has built the best.

I'll try to post photos of some of both types.

River Bottoms

I finally took a bike off road this past Sunday. I rode the Minnesota River bottoms trail. It's so green down there, it's hard to believe. Everything is tinted in green.



The trail includes this stump in the water. It always looks worthy of a photo. I remembered to stop this time, but the CreepyCam was soaked in sweat, because I had it stored in my jersey pocket. So, the effect you see here is the sweat effect. Nice.



I cleaned the little tiny lens and this is what I got. Not much better. I probably would get better results with CreepyCam if I kept the lens cleaner -- no pocket fuzz and no sweat.

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No Off-Road Ride

Last night, it rained cats and dogs. This closed the Murphy Hanrehan trail. We did not ride and we are now officially disappointed.

Maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow I Ride a New Trail

I'm going to ride Murphy Hanrehan off-road trail tomorrow with Jack Rabbit Slim (a.k.a. Red Thoughts (a.k.a. Jasmac (a.k.a I. Scooter Libby) ) ).

I rode the old trail with the vomity hill many, many times. It was one of my favorite trails in the Twin Cities area. It had one outstanding hill and lots of fun, fast roller-coaster style hills. It had some problems though. I understand the maintenance was too difficult, lots of erosion issues.

So the park system rebuilt it as woodsy, twisty single track. This type of trail building reduces the erosion problems. I'm eager to try it out. I plan to ride my legs off. Maybe Jack Rabbit can pick them up and carry them back to the trail head for me.

I'll try to take some photos and post them. Off-road riding is fun. I feel like an excited little kid.

I'm going to watch out for the Wild Parsnip though.

I made that part up about Jackrabbit Slim being I. Scooter Libby, 'cause he's in jail now, right?

A Tall Rider

I found someone to ride the Fuji Special Road Racer.

The Fuji Special Road Racer is Weird

I measured the Fuji Special Road Racer that I posted about yesterday and it has some strange dimensions:

• 62cm seat tube (center to center)
• 54cm top tube

What sort of strangely shaped person was this bike built for?

I built a wheel for a friend who had this old Fuji Special Road Racer leaning in the corner of his garage. I admired it out loud and he gave it to me. He has plenty of other bikes anyway and wanted the space more than a dusty, broken bike.

The rear rim was cracked. I figured I would salvage the crankset, because it's a 110mm bolt circle with holes for a third chain ring. I also fancied the Nitto I-beam style stem. I had plans to sell the frame on Craig's List after stripping the good stuff.


After looking at it for a while, I realized it might be worth saving as an entire bike instead of cannibalizing it.




I happened to have a spare 27" rear wheel . I installed the wheel, replaced the rear derailleur, and tuned lots of items. I didn't remove a single item for my own use. Each time I worked on it, I began to like it more and more. The checker board Fuji sticker caught my eye every time I walked in the garage.


The rusty finish became beautiful to me. The faded yellow is not available on any bikes today. It reminds me of the '65 Mustang my dad brought home when I was a little guy. All the neighbor guys gathered around to see the Mustang. It was a similar light yellow color. He was the coolest dad in the neighborhood that day and I was his proud son.

Too bad this bike way too big for me. Even if I pushed the seat down all the way, it would be too tall. Somebody else needs it. I rode it and it feels really light -- in a way that none of my bikes matches. If it were my size, I'd love to keep it for regular rides. Maybe there's a 56cm Special Road Racer out there for me somewhere.

Found Items

I found this on Stinson Blvd. in Minneapolis yesterday. It's a 12mm. I don't use those very often, but free tools are good tools. Yeah.

More Followup on Camping

• I did not find a grilled-cheese sandwich making device. I'll keep looking.
  
• I found delicious coffee.
• I bought a foam pad for my light-weight son. Thermarests are for people who weigh more than a handful of leaves. I have one and it made camping fun. BF (Before Thermarest) I hated camping, because I always felt like a bag of crap the morning after.
• It was primal, because I feared someone would get hurt by a home-made spear. Instead, while being chased by a home-made spear, one kid fell and landed on a stump. The edge of the tree stump chopped into his leg right above the knee. I saw white stuff inside the gash and fat on the edges. He received 5 internal stitches and 12 external stitches in the Mora Hospital ER. He was back by 2 a.m. Saturday night and enjoyed standing on the shore and watching the canoeing and riding in the shuttle car on Sunday.

Camping was a Success

As usual, the camping trip was great. The boys ran around in the woods like wild animals. They caught tadpoles and crawdads. They were as dirty as pigs. They sharpened sticks and I half expected it to turn into Lord of the Flies, but they didn't have any enemies to fight. It was primal.

Each year before going on this trip, I feel indifferent to canoeing. When I get in the boat and start down the St. Croix river, my indifference melts away and I realize I enjoy canoeing very much. I have thoughts of getting a canoe and how to transport it.

When I get home, I see my bicycles and realize canoeing would take away time for riding.


My son is the guy in the front of this canoe with the paddle (not the red head). My son thought canoeing was boring until he got to steer. I let him paddle in back and he did a great job.

Camping and Canoeing

I'm going camping this weekend. It's our third Father-Son Camping and Canoe Trip. I brought out all the camping gear and I need to go grocery shopping. I'd like to buy another sleeping pad -- one for my son. I'm tired of hauling the air mattress and pump around.

I'd also like a set of those things that hold a sandwich in place for grilling over the fire. A grilled cheese sandwich sounds really nice. This would also allow a little bit of toast heaven while camping.

By the way, this is car camping.

The most important part of camping is making sure the coffee fixin's are ready. I tested my little camp stove by making this morning's coffee on it outside in the back yard. I use an Italian espresso pot over the open flame. It tastes different, but it's very good in a raw, untamed way. I also need to buy ground coffee fresh from a local coffee place.

So I need to go to a camping supply place, a coffee shop, and the grocery store.

Funny Beer

Thanks to the person who gave me this beer. It tasted really nice with tonight's fake-meat tacos. I wanted another, but one is enough.

Bike Lanes Part 2

I finally got around to looking for information on bike lanes. The first link in the first google search I conducted pulled up ample pile of bike lane information. The linked information tells me this subject has been dragged through the mud many times. So I'm not sure I can add anything useful.

If you have time, read the linked page and let me know what you think. It's an impressive pile of bike lane related information, isn't it.

Perhaps if I look at it from the local perspective, it will be useful information.

Security Flaw in the U.S. Census Website

I recently received a census form to fill out from the U.S. Census Bureau. It looked like a perfect phishing scam using snail mail instead of the typical route of email.

Being slightly skeptical, I checked out the U. S. Census Bureau website. I clicked on the "Embargoed Releases" link in the right column. It asked me for a user Id and password. Of course, I don't have one. I clicked the Cancel button and it displayed an error page. The error page tells me what kind of operating system and webserver they're using and it shows me the versions of those items. This makes it pretty easy for hackers to try and break into their site. It's information that shouldn't be displayed to the public.

Big deal, right? It's just another poorly secured website. But I think it's a really big deal. They tell me I'm required to fill out the census form by law. But I can't trust them to protect my information if they can't even get the basics of a website right.

Somewhere in Iowa along I-80

Warning: No bicycle content!

I visited family this past weekend in Hastings, NE. On the way back to Minneapolis, I shot lots of photos along I-80 in Iowa. A couple of them were memorable, for me at least.



The horizon is not blocked by trees and buildings out there. And a reminder that not all gas stations make it.


Hey, get off the road!


Maybe we need one of these in the cities.


I like Buster Bars.