Commute report

Miles when I got to work: Not sure becuase my cyclometer is temporarily lost

Of interest: Some guy tried to race me in the park today. It was that kind of race where we don't discuss that there's a race, we just race. Well, I won and wasn't breathing hard.

Wacky dream: It was a three-parter. Part one, I'm in a lecture hall where other professional writers - everyone from fiction writers to technical writers - were sitting, listening to some guy say that because you wrote it, you technically own it. After the seminar, everyone proceeded to go to bookstores and snatch their books for free, and... this leads to part two of the dream...

In part two, I went to a fried food factory place that made lots of breakfast food (no doubt this has something to do with the chain breakfast place TV commercial I saw last night) and the technical writer whom I had met at the seminar took me into the company cafeteria. They suggested I take whatever food I'd like, since they'd written the manual on how the factory workers were supposed to do their jobs.

So I got in the cafeteria line and it was like Charlie and the Fried Food Factory. They had no less than four kinds of waffles - one was totally fried but still soft on the inside, kind of like a funnel cake, another was a regular waffle but it was fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth good. Anyway, I proceeded to the end of the line and they didn't charge me because I was with the writer. It was splendid.

I've now forgotten the third part of the dream...

Today's picture: Children's book "Gretchen the Bicycle Dog"

Sorta commute report

Miles when I got to work: Didn't check, was in too much of a rush

Highlight of the commute: Getting a flat, discovering I am an idiot (it took 29 years!) because I wasn't carrying a spare tube, attempting to patch my injured tube which luckily was patchable, discovering that my first patch didn't hold, attempting to put on my second patch which also didn't hold, furiously adding more vulcanizing cement until my fingers were all black - and the tube still wasn't fixed, finally a 1/2 hour later calling husband to pick me up and shuffle me off to work since i was only 3 minutes from his work. yay for nice husbands who are willing to pick up their idiot wives just 15 minutes before scheduled meetings. yay.

Why my bike shop is #1: They are willing to leave spare tubes for me behind the dumpster behind their shop on the day that they close at 5 and I can't to the shop by 5.

To do list: I need to trim my patches so that they are not TOO BIG for my 650 tubes. The big ones never seem to hold. When will I get this through my head? Oh, now, I guess.

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2597.0

About the photo: This guy was upset because his bike was stolen, but then he found a DUMPSTER BIKE. Looks okay to me!

Commute report

Miles when I got to work today: 2588.6

Of interest: There's this one sidestreet on my way to work that isn't hilly (compared to the others) and isn't busy and hasn't been much of a bother at all, but now someone's dumped SAND on a two-block stretch of road. It's nice that it isn't a particularly steep or busy road because I make it my business to go around the clumps of sand.

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2580.2

Like a daisy: It feels great to ride after a few days off. I always hate to take time off, but I do feel great!

Of interest: The commisary smelled like danish today. If I didn't have to go to work, I might have stuck around and just sniffed the air for a few extra minutes. Also, it was the first day of school at the university campus I ride through. Traffic was packed, but I rode right by. Ha ha!

Photo: Low-ri-duh from Mexico. Sweet.

Did not ride report

Miles when I got to work: I didn't ride today

What's my good excuse for not riding? There must have been horrible thunderstorms, right? Nope. My bike must have broken in half, right? Nope. I was just very late. I still should have ridden, as I've been later before and ridden and it's been okay. I WILL ride tomorrow.

Why was I late? We live in a duplex and our downstairs neighbor, although she's the sweetest person ever - folded our laundry without us asking, brought us some cheese from her visit to Wisconsin - smokes. For some reason, every single time the woman has a cigarette, the stench wafts into our house. Every single time. It's not just a faint odor, it's ALL OVER, in every room, and it STINKS. It must stop.

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2575.9

About the photo: Even though I love my 1 lb. Black Diamond Bullet Bag, naughtily, I have been searching for the next cool bag. It's silly because I am not going to buy one, especially since I don't need one. Nonetheless, the Rumble Fish Messenger Bag has caught my eye. It's cooler than the now-uncool Timbuk2 bags.

Commute report

Miles when I got home from work today: 2571.7

Of interest: I saw two bike commuters on my way home today and one (the only one in my city that I know of) bike messenger while heading to lunch

Not quite as tired: I know I just jinxed myself by writing that. I think that that extra hour of sleep per night and the after-work naps are helping my body not shut down during the middle of the day.

Today's photo: Found via a Google Image search as usual. It's from the website for B.I.K.E., Bicycles and Ideas for Kids Empowerment, which seems to be a pretty cool organization. It may be an optical illusion, but it looks like the chain's on the right side of the bike...

In the bike news...

• Women from 34 countries to ride across Syria to promote mideast peace
  
• Mr. Madonna teaches kid to ride bike, sorta
  

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2542.7

Lame: I am feeling really lame lately. Slow and tired, mostly. Like people keep putting bricks in front of my bike and I have to ride over them. I think this will correct a bit starting this week - husband and I have switched again to 100% unprocessed foods and I'm heading back to yoga starting today.

Filed under "because we ride": Forget those turbo power super carbo gross-o health suppliments that come in cans and you can make "shakes" out of them. For a healthy pre, post or during-ride snack, try a delectable HOSTESS FRUIT PIE. They're just amazing. It's been years since I've had one, but damn it, I'm going to get around to eating one soon because they're little fried gifts from God.

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2514.7

Drivers yelling at me today: One, an ANGRY guy in a construction truck who objected to my use of the crosswalk while the WALK LIGHT was on. He got out of his truck to explain that that wasn't okay. I don't think he has anything else on his mind, nope.

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2506.3

Today's photo: This is another photo from my recent trip to the Netherlands and Denmark. It's 5 p.m. and the market in Amsterdam - I forget which one, not the tulip market - is tearing down for the day. They're boxing up the endless rows of fish, backpacks, nuts, messenger bags, cheap ruffled dresses, made in China tees and crappy shoes. Husband and I took a load off for some yummy capuccino and to rush hour people watch. This photo isn't my best, but I decided to add it anyway because of the moment it brings back. We got the free arts papers and sat down to figure out what to do that evening. We read that Jurassic 5 was playing and hiked on over to Paridiso to get some tickets. The show was great, J5 was full of energy for the show, the acoustics were perfect and the venue wasn't too smoky, despite a guy smoking a j right next to me, which is legal, or at least tolerated...

Charlevoix, Michigan

We ended up bringing our bikes, despite the extra gas expense. We saw lots of bikers around, many on cruisers, but many also on nice road bikes. It's a "gently rolling" area overall.

We didn't end up having much time to ride around, so we took the trail (rails to trails, gotta love it) to Petoskey for lunch and then back to Charlevoix, about 20 miles each way.

Some guy on the trail was trying to "beat" us speed-wise, but when I passed him, he stopped pedaling in order to swig water from his bottle. Smooth move, not. Then, husband pointed out that dude had a KICKSTAND. Boy did I feel lame. Who cares about whipping someone with a KICKSTAND??????????????

Commute report

Miles when I got to work: 2447.9

Last night: Went on the club ride and had a lot of fun though my bike is acting funky.

About the photo: I have finally started uploading photos from my Amsterdam trip. I plan to upload a whole bunch to my personal site - sorry, no link - and perhaps a few here as well. This photo is a typical rush hour scene from Amsterdam. A kiddie extention for the fiets (bike) and a daddy in his business suit riding home, probably after picking up the kids at daycare.

So, the moral of the story is, if gas prices are getting you down and you want one of these pedal-powered SUVs, just visit this site: Fietsfabriek.nl