Not a Helmet Debate

I've been reading streets.mn blog lately. A recent post there was interesting in that the author made a guess that bike helmets will be mandatory sometime in our future. His most convincing point is that kids growing up now have lived their entire lives seeing cyclists wear helmets and they won't be too concerned when a future legistator proposes mandatory helmets.

Slump shouldered, I can't disagree.

Also, that was not the only point of his post. That was just one that I feel deserves my attention.

Seattle -- Elliott Bay Bicycles

We recently traveled to Seattle and I visited Elliott Bay Bicycles, the shop in which Davidson bikes are built. The owner, Mr. Davidson himself, gave me a tour of the framebuilding shop. It was really nice to see where my bike was built. It was also fun to see the bikes on display. Elliott Bay Bicycles has museum quality bikes all over the place.

It's just a few blocks from Pike Place Market. That's where they throw around fish. Maybe you corporate employees were subject to a team building program based on fish throwing.

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Dutch Cycling Infrastructure Boggles My Mind

I can barely comprehend the culture that would place such a high value on cycling to build this roundabout bridge.

Wow!

Sidetracked by the Minnesota River

I decided to take a dirt route to work this morning. It was worth it. I'll make it longer next time. 

 Graffiti under the 494 bridge.

You can't tell from this shot, but the wild flowers are everywhere.

Mud on the tires. I should have kept riding and skipped work.

Sunday Ride

Yesterday, I rode the Luce Line Trail which I had never been on before. It starts in north Minneapolis and goes west. I planned to ride to the trail head at Theodore Wirth Park and ride a lap or two, but it was closed due to wet conditions. So I continued on the paved trail that passes the trailhead and discovered I was on the Luce Line Train.

I got as far as Medicine Lake, another local place I've never been to. 

I passed a golf course.

Lots of summer wild flowers everywhere I went.

This is some interesting urban decay. A better camera may better have captured what caught my eye.

Cricket matches at Bryn Mawr park.

It's a good thing Wirth park was closed because it forced me to discover a new route.

Mac Shorcut for Delete Key

It's taken too long, but I've found the Mac equivalent of the Windows Delete key: "fn" + "delete". This is not news to most, but it's a really convenient Mac shortcut for me.

An Adventure Ride to Work

I took a different route to work today. This route took me by a little lake. I kept taking side routes off of my normal route and realized I was on an adventure ride -- a short one.

Then I found a hammer in a roundabout. I was able to carry away it because today I rode my bike that has baggage.

I like the idea of adventure riding. I read a blog post yesterday that covered this subject.

Photo of Stormy Skies

This is a view I see on one of my routes to work. The company I work for recently moved to a building attached to the copper-colored building in distance. It looks like a long way from where the photo was taken, but it's probably only a couple miles. Perspective is everything.

If I ride directly to work, it's a five miler. But this route is 10 and much better because it involves some nature. Last week, I fixed a woman's flat tire on this route.

BrewFarm 2012

I rode my first Dave's BrewFarm Event this past weekend. It was more mileage than I've ridden in several years: 64 miles each day. We left Hiawatha Cyclery in Minneapolis on Saturday morning and passed through St. Paul, Afton, and Hudson. From there it was straight east through some small Wisconsin towns. The roads were good cycling routes without too much traffic and had shoulders where the traffic was heavier.

I think I've learned to love the sound of loud motorcycles too. Who would have guessed that was possible?

Some of us drank beer(s) and Rumchada(s) at the stops along the route. Rum Chata: horchata with rum. Like my wife says when the dog eats her own vomit, "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

The Brew Farm is what it sounds like -- a farm where beer is brewed and served. I'm not a beer connoisseur. Funny that until I wrote the last sentence, I'd never written the word "connoisseur" before. 

We ate a pot-luck dinner and sat around enjoying the peace and quite. Some riders' families joined them at the campsite. I enjoyed seeing the kids have fun in the dirt and in the fields.

We camped in the fields. My tent was one of those under the wind generator. The generator provides power for the brewing operation.

It was a really nice ride and I enjoyed the whole weekend. I rode to work today and I'm not even sore. That doesn't make any sense to me.

2012 Brewfarm Event

I'm signed up to ride to the 2012 Brewfarm event. This is a great opportunity to go bike camping. I've always wanted to try it and this will be a painless way to try it. I'll carry my own camping on my bike and rely on the Brewfarm event for food.

If I like bike camping, I'll try it on my own, without the other riders and rely on myself for food.

It seems funny to me that when I started riding as a teen, I wanted to be a bike tourist, but never got around to it. Now, I'm 49 and planning a one-night tour.

I'll do my best to take photos and brag.

Tandem Spring

I installed PlanetBike Cascadia fenders and new Schwalbe Big Apple tires on this tandem. My daughter and I ride it. For some reason, we've gotten very wet riding it in the past and I wanted to put a stop to that with the fenders. The fat tires make it ride like it's on a cushion of air, a bigger one than the skinny 1.5" tires it previously had.

We've gone a few rides this Spring and really enjoyed ourselves.

Click to look at the bigger view

The next day, I took my son out on a ride (on the other tandem). He is about 100 lbs of power -- we can really fly. I need to make a few changes to that tandem too. I also need to add a suspension seatpost to both tandems for the comfort of the stokers.

My kids ask me to ride which is nice because I don't want to force bicycling on them. I'd prefer that they come to like bicycling on their own terms. I'll encourage, but not push. My daughter wants to go on two-day fund raiser ride this Summer -- the breast cancer ride. I like her enthusiasm, but I'm not sure I want to take the time to raise all that money. Either way, we'll get in lots of tandem rides this year.

Never ending Ice Cream Bowl

We had some fun creating animated GIFs. This is one result.

Do spammers target their email? I just received my first spam directed at the "over 50 crowd," at least that I'm aware of. I don't recall seeing any of this crap before directed at people over 50.

Although I am not over 50, I'm close enough that the appearance of spam for "50 singles" makes me wonder if they know I'm gray and wrinkly.

Office Characters

Fear and Loathing

I just finished reading "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson. A friend of mine, whose opinion I hold highly, recommended this a long time ago. Many years later, I've read it.

A few chapters of drug induced stupidity began to take away my enjoyment of this book, but I stuck with it. Near the end, it was all worth it. By then, I'd come to understand the main character and I enjoyed his critique of American culture and politics. I adapted to his humor and was left laughing out loud in a few places.

I checked out the movie trailer and I don't know if I want the movie to alter my impression of the book.

Did any of you enjoy the book and the movie?

Autumn Lunchtime Off-Road Ride

I see a pattern in my life: Each fall, I realize that Autumn lunch time rides are one of my favorite activities. Today, I rode at Theodore Wirth park in Minneapolis.

This was a particularly interesting ride for two reasons: a guy crashed right ahead of me on the trail and probably dislocated his shoulder. I tried to help him, but he managed to walk back on his own and we were not far from the parking lot.

I assume his tires lost traction on some leaves. The leaves are covering the trail and the dirt is dry and hard with lots of shiny roots exposed. 

Then a little while later, I smacked my foot on a trail-side tree and my shoe came off but stayed clipped into the pedal.

Cuyuna Off-Road Trails

I rode Cuyuna Lakes State Trails this weekend with some friends. We've traveled to the Chequamegon trails in past years, but decided to try these because they've gotten such great reviews. The reviews are right on -- these are fantastic trails. The videos and photos don't do them justice. If you have a chance, ride these trails. No matter what your skill level, you'll like them. The trail system is built like a downhill ski area: green, blue, and black trails. 

My favorite trail was the Sandhog loop. It had the toughest climb, the best hilltop view, and one of the best downhills.

New bike for me

I bought a Surly Cross Check from Hiawatha. I added my Brooks Imperial and aluminum VO fenders. I also got a great deal on a Tubus rack.
This bike cures the ills of my old one and rides like a dream, whatever that means. I don't really care about the "why" right now. I'm happy riding and that's the important thing.

20 Miles for Me

It's Memorial Day and I took a slow, meandering ride that amounted to 20 miles or so. This is my longest ride of the year and I had no complaints from the ankle. This is very good news for me.

I installed a Brooks Imperial saddle on the Davidson 650B conversion. The saddle seems comfortable, but only time will tell.

I apologize for the bad fender lines. This bike has no fender mounts. I used p-clamps and zip ties. I'm considering having real mounts installed and a repaint.

Recovery Status

I had surgery to remove a bone growth from my ankle about six weeks ago. I've been out of the immobilizer boot (a cast you can take off when you want) and walking like a normal person for a couple weeks. I've been taking small bike rides during which I've found riding to be more comfortable than walking. I'm going to start building up the ride distance a little every day.

During the down time, I've continued a couple bike projects. I bought a CETMA 7-Rail rack from a Craig's List seller for $75. It's new. The rack didn't fit her bike so it sat unused. I'm the winner on that one. I have to decide which bike it should go on. I just set the rack on top of this little Bianchi folder (why the hell did I buy that?) and it would fit nicely. I also tried it on my 29er off-road bike and it appears the rack would fit it also. I think the CETMA is very adaptive.

I also have been "normalizing" some of my bikes so I can sell them. For example, I removed the dirt-drop style bars from my Novara Buzz and installed straight bars. It's getting a triple crankset and smooth tires. I hope this makes it attractive to more people. Are you working on any projects right now?