Where has the week gone?

I realized I hadn't made any entries since Monday, even though I'm trying to treat this as my own diary of sorts.

The weather has been tolerable to grand for cycling to work. I got a bit wet on the home-bound trip Tuesday, but not so bad I couldn't just ride.

I took Wednesday off from work to allow myself the luxury of presenting at a local high-school's Earth Day celebrations. This was on invitation from a teacher there who knows Barry Zalph. I had opportunity to present the 30-minute "Share the Road" presentation assembled by Barry and others under the Bike Louisville/Bicycling for Louisville partnership.

After two runs through the presentation, I spent an hour or two in the front parking lot of the school, talking about transportation options, recumbent bicycles as such an option, and my Vanguard in particular as well as how I utilize bicycles in my own transport plan. I got lots of questions from students and faculty, and opportunities to do a little myth-dispelling as well as chances to offer my own semi-formed opinions.

It was fun, and it sure as heck beat a day at the office.

Afterward, I went to my Chiropractor for a periodic adjustment. I didn't feel bad, but figured I would feel better after he did his tricks. I was right. I'm much more flexible today, and my ride to work reflected that.

I wound up riding the Raleigh today, despite the good weather. I had a training session at the main office, and didn't remember whether it was an all-day session or part-day. I figured that I could ride the Raleigh while wearing office clothes, as the weather is so nice, so when I learned that I would have the second half of the day in my regular office, it became a "cross the bridge in slacks" day.

I have since learned that I will be presenting the short "Share the Road" session this evening. I'll need to haul butt home, get my car, and drive to J-town.

Tomorrow, I may even get a replacement for my computer that hasn't worked since mid-February.

Short haul Monday

I had a training session to attend at the main office today, so didn't have to cross the bridge. I got a little wet on the way to work, but the cycling clothes got dry enough during the day that they were not clammy for the ride home.

I'm back on the Ryan, after riding the Raleigh most of last week. I'm not sure why I rode the Raleigh Tuesday and Wednesday, other than I felt like it, although it could be that the last time I had ridden the Vanguard I really felt the chain wear I noticed Wednesday the 8th, after the Powerlink came apart on me partway home. That chain was sloppy-loose!

I replaced that chain last night, and measured it just for grins. My Park Tool Chain Checker gave it a .75 on a 0-1.0 scale, and the literature provided claims that a chain measuring .75 is okay to use. That chain has somewhere between six and eight thousand miles on it, and has a lot of lateral flex usually associated with a worn-out chain, so I put new parts on the bike (including the cassette, which I habitually change with my chain if I only use one cassette on the bike). I noted a bit of inaccuracy in the shifting today that didn't show up in the stand last night, and will have to look at it in a bit.

When I got home tonight, I decided that it was past time for the lawn's second mowing of the season. Jenn mowed it a few weeks ago--yes a few weeks. It had gotten too tall in places, and took a fair bit of over-and-back with the mower to cut things down. At least the mower is quiet--it's a reel mower, after all. I like how quiet it is! The grass was also a bit wet still, and didn't cut as well as it might otherwise. The yard looks a lot better, now, anyway. With the next cutting, it should start to take better shape. I also have a "weed whip," the better to scythe the stuff that the mower won't cut, but it's (of course) not sharp at all (it was bought new), and won't cut well until I take the blade off and work it over with a bench grinder for a bit.

It feels odd for me to write about yard work. I LOATHED yard work as a teen. I'm still not fond of it--there are MANY things I'd rather do. However, I admit to some satisfaction when I get the weekly mowing done, even if I don't do all the trimming. Something about doing it with human power (remember that I mentioned ours is a reel mower) instead of using a gas-powered mower (or even an electric one) that yields a bit of reverse snobbery, perhaps--I can cut my grass ANY time of day or night without making noise to aggravate the neighbors (although cutting it at night may give odd-looking results...). As small as my yard is, the time difference between using a power mower and this reel mower is minimal, and the perceived effort difference is pretty small as well, although the perception of the effort required with a power mower is based purely on memory--I've not used a power push mower in years.

I may be mowing at my folks' house some this summer, however, and since the section I'd be mowing is something like three or four acres, I'll be using the tractor-pulled 5' mower deck.

Thunder thoughts

A few random thoughts about Thunder(ous wretched Excess) Over Louisville:

Bike Louisville and Bicycling for Louisville have teamed to have bicycle parking for Thunder attendees this year. Sadly, I won't be using it, but not because I don't like the idea. I am quite supportive of the concept, but the friends with whom I will be attending Thunder are from out of town, and we don't have enough bicycles for them to partake. There is also the issue of one member of our party having some bone trouble that precludes cycling...

Indeed, were it not for these out of town friends coming for Thunder, I probably would not go. I went last year, with mostly the same group. It was the first year I'd been there since probably 1995 or -96. At that time, I could walk there from my apartment in Old Louisville, and could get away with carrying more of my personal supplies so as not to pay $5 for a pint of water (okay, so $5 is a slight exaggeration--it was probably $4). Waiting out the post-Thunder traffic jam is expensive--although it's certainly more fun to sit in a restaurant and eat than sit in the car breathing exhaust fumes.

I'll go, and I'll enjoy the people-watching. Despite my reservations about the attendant pollution issues and warmongering issues, I will enjoy the air show. I would prefer that the fireworks displays be drawn out a bit more--same number of shells over an hour instead of thirty minutes--to enjoy the effects of single shells more before the next shell blows up in the middle of the starburst from the prior one, but my attention span is ever-so-slightly longer than that of the average Thunder attendee. I'm likely to be less inebriated than many, too.

Even though we have a supply of locally-made ale for the event.

Thunder eve day

I mentioned yesterday that I took advantage of the the Kentucky Derby Festival's shuttle service to cross the Clark Bridge on my way home from work. I used the service again this morning, and again it went as advertised. I am compelled to give a shout out to the KDF again and THANKS AGAIN.

And, for probably the first time in MONTHS, I found it more comfortable to wear sunglasses on my way to work, compared to the clear lenses I typically wear when riding in the mornings.

THANKS to KDF

I made use of the shuttle service mentioned in my last post today on my way home. The driver was most polite, and showed up just as I was getting to the police officer to request a shuttle.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to the Kentucky Derby Festival for offering this service this year. I sincerely hope it continues, given that the Clark Bridge is the only legal river crossing for bicycles and pedestrians for some forty or fifty miles along the river. The ten-minute wait advertised (mine was nearer zero minutes) is far better than the wait one would expect relying on TARC's schedules.

Greatly appreciated!

Taxing days, and Thunder test

In the grand tradition of procrastinators everywhere, I put off doing my taxes until the last minute--almost literally.

I had to pay a bunch extra this year, taking a penalty for drawing from my retirement funds to pay off some debts that were about to swallow me. I thought I had given instructions for there to be withholding added to my drawdown, but it was not done that way. OUCH.

We left the house with the paper returns, aiming for the Crittenden Drive Post Office well after my target departure time of 8:30. When we got to Crittenden Drive, traffic was backed up to the Fairgrounds entrances. Jenn was driving (I was writing the checks in the car...), so I suggested that she take the left lane, get to the traffic light at the post office, and I would run from the car to the drop point, saving several minutes of sitting in traffic.

We started on that path, and found a disabled car in the right lane, causing much of the back up. Once past that car, we were able to simply drive in to the post office parking lot. I got out of the car to take my returns to the drop point, and tossed them into the pile the postal workers were accepting. I got back in the car, we drove around the parking lot to the exit, and watched them wheeling the cart full of returns toward the building. I don't know if they brought out another cart. If not, I made it by the thickness of a couple of hen's teeth.

Lesson of the day: My tax returns are getting more complex than they were for many years. I had gotten spoiled--I used to be able to do my taxes in about fifteen minutes, prepare for a Federal refund of $350-400, pay the state about $100, and go on with life. Not any more.

On to other topics. On my way to work this morning, as I crossed the Clark Bridge, I saw several emergency vehicles with their lights going and sirens in full song, trying to get to a crash site on the southbound side of the Kennedy (-I65) bridge. Motorists had done what they would do--try to get to work or wherever by any means possible, not realizing that they were going to be in the way of emergency responders and positioning themselves in ways that prevented or severely delayed passage of ambulances and police cars and fire trucks. There is no viable shoulder on that bridge (nor is there one on most bridges around here), so there was not a separate lane for emergency vehicles to use.

Of course, with southbound interstate traffic at a standstill, many folks were opting for the Clark Bridge. As a result, I was unable to make my customary left turn at the light at the north end of the bridge and had to go around the base. That light sensor doesn't recognize a bicycle as a legitimate road user, something I've written to Jeffersonville to try to address. Given that the light doesn't notice me (I don't have enough lead in my behind, I guess), I consider the light as malfunctioning and go after a reasonable wait, which still usually saves me time compared to going around the base of the bridge.

I mentioned in a prior post that Barry Zalph and others had gotten the Kentucky Derby Festival to recognize need for a shuttle across the bridge during the preparations for Thunder(ous wretched excess) Over Louisville this weekend. I get to test the shuttle service this afternoon. While I'd rather ride my Vanguard, I am making my part of the concession by riding my Raleigh, figuring that whatever bike-carrying mechanism they have won't accept the longer recumbent. I'm looking forward to it working well. I'm sure others will have some experience with it as well--if I see other reports, I will try to link to them.

As I climbed the ramp to the bridge this morning, I noticed a wire attached to the railing that had not been there the day before. I also noticed a series of brackets mounted to the railing that I presume to be part of the Thunder fireworks set up.

I used to enjoy the Thunder show. It still has some fun elements--watching some of the people in the crowd make fools of themselves is amusing, for example, and some of the shells make interesting and pretty patterns in the sky--but since I moved from Old Louisville in 1999, I've been less interested in dealing witht the traffic and "population density" (not always measured in people per square unit area). When I lived on Fourth Street, I could easily walk to the waterfront for the show, and did a few times.

Over the years, though, Thunder has focused so much on being the biggest, noisiest show using the most shells of any ongoing event that they are firing off shells before the effects of the prior ones have had a chance to complete their displays. It's too rapid-fire for me. I would find it far more enjoyable if they would stretch it out for another half hour with the same number of shells, giving us more time to enjoy each individual display before it's disrupted by the next one. I suppose, though, that the way they do it is somehow more to the liking of what I imagine Travis McGee calling the New American, with the minute attention span and love for destructive energy and little patience for enjoying a single thing for a few moments longer.

This without starting to address the ecological disaster that is Thunder: all the junk in the air from all those explosives, and the tons of junk left on the ground in the viewing areas by careless spectators (even though there are garbage and recycling bins all over the place, those are over-filled by mid-afternoon most years). It takes days for squadrons of volunteers to clean up the mess left behind. It's a depressing sight, to be sure.

Jenn talked me into going last year, and I found that if I'm with a small group of friends, Thunder is more tolerable. Some friends of ours are coming from Dayton, Ohio again this year, and we are going to hang out with them for the day. The weather forecast is much better this year, and we're looking forward to that aspect of it. I don't have to buy the over-priced swill that they claim is beer (I can get a "growler" of real beer and repackage it), nor the over-priced junk trinkets or junk food, although that helps support the event. I can just be there, socializing with friends, enjoying the reaction of ignorant twits to seeing two guys in kilts, quite comfortable in our masculinity (and quite willing to toss a twit or two if need be).

Class for tonight canceled

I was supposed to teach another of the series of Confident Cycling classes tonight. As there were no registrations to date, the class has been canceled, and walk-ins will not be accepted.

Of course, with the class plans in mind, I drove to be able to haul a bike stand and class materials in case things went through as scheduled.

I'm a little glad about that, though, given the intensity of the precipitation and wind at the moment.

Maybe tomorrow will yield better riding weather.

Saturday (not) in the Park

One of my all-time favorite comics, Yehuda Moon, ended today. The writer, Rick Smith, apparently ran out of time to continue making the strip on a daily basis.

He must have wanted to ride more. Yeah, that must be it.

In any case, Jenn and I enjoyed the LBC "Slow and Easy" ride again this morning. The second half of the route got changed due to some other event (a ten-mile run that is part of the "Triple Crown" of local foot racing, I think) and its related street closures, but it was still good to get out on the bike for a while. My quads weren't happy with me for the first fifteen or twenty miles, but after a while they loosened up and I started feeling better--at least until I got tired. I'm not as accustomed to going over twenty miles at a pop as I usually am, since most of my riding these days is my thirteen-mile commute twice a day. I need to ride for fun more often.

Since I collected my truck yesterday, I didn't have to ride home in the rain that kept falling as the evening progressed. I had to go to Crestwood to work on a bike, and driving there is always quicker than cycling to the shop. I had the Raleigh in the bed of my truck, so it got something of a rinse-off while I traveled. One wouldn't know it to look at it, though, suggesting that maybe soap or at least a sponge or brush would have helped get the road crud off the chainstay and frame tubing. I need to get around to cleaning and repacking the crank and wheel bearings on that bike at some point, too. Maybe I'll do that after I get some paper (or electronic paper) work done.

Wet fried-day morning

After riding to work four days this week (well, I rode from the garage yesterday morning), I drove today. I did have to ride the bike to the garage to get my car, so I guess it counts for four full commutes, even if part of one commute was done on a different bike (I used the Raleigh to get to the garage today).

Jenn's youngest daughter is home from college for the weekend. We didn't know she was coming home until she was already on her way here, in keeping with an almost-nineteen-year-old's normal behavior patterns.

I have to go to Crestwood this evening to do some bike work. I also need to collect some parts to replace the worn chain and cassette on my Vanguard.

I'm teaching a class Monday evening, so I'll need to drive (or leave work early and rush home then drive to the class site). I expect to spend most of the Saturday morning club ride in conference with the other instructor.

Partial commute

Since I get paid tonight, and since my conversation with the company that will be fixing my truck revealed that it may take them two days to get the work done, I left my truck at their lot this morning on my way to work. It's a few blocks from my employer's main office, and a few more blocks out of my typical morning commute path.

Hopefully they can simply replace the perch without having to install a new bushing in the spring eye. Given the amount of rust in the perch, it's hard to predict.

Being without my truck is only a minor inconvenience for me, as I like riding a bike to get places. It was good that at least one car was roadworthy Monday evening, though--I hate the thought of hauling an ill cat the nine miles to the vet's office--I'd probably have found a closer one in that case, although I've always had very good service from the one we've been using. Finding a closer vet would still not have dealt with getting Al's body to Mom's for burial--a round trip of some thirty-five or forty miles, the last twenty of which would have been in dark conditions.

In other words, I'm not quite ready to go car-free. I reduce reliance on my car when I can reasonably do so. It's a choice for me--part pragmatism, part simply that I'd rather by groceries than gasoline (and insurance, and more frequent replacement of wear parts, etc).

I am ready for some down time, but I don't expect to get much for a while. I have a couple of deadlines to meet, and one I've already blown.

Almost another four-crossing day

I rode to work on the Vanguard today. I stopped at the corporate office to pick up some supplies I had ordered, as I couldn't haul the whole lot yesterday.

Shortly after I got to my office in N'Awb'ny, I got a call from my supervisor, informing me that I was to be at the main office at 9:30 for a training session. Mindful of some conversations in the recent past about my attire that I don't wish to drag out here, I asked if it would be best for me to bring a change of clothes, since I was on two wheels rather than four. I was told that, yes, a change of clothes would be in order.

I had tweaked my back a bit recently, exacerbating some pain that had been developing simply as a function of being relatively sedentary in my job. I've been walking around like an old fogey the last few days. I've started doing my exercises again, and they are helping, but it takes time to recover just as it takes time to get worse.

With that in mind, the Maintenance Tech who works for me insisted that I borrow his car for the round trip to the main office. I opted to accept his offer, as it would prevent me having to change clothes twice and give me more time on either end of the meeting to do things in my own office.

I keep advising folks to have a chain tool and a chain-appropriate length of repair links in the tool bag, but I need to learn to follow my own advice. I had a chain break while on my way home tonight, and it was shortly after the nearest two bike shops were probably closed for the evening. Jenn was close to another shop that was open, so she was good enough to get a link for me and bring it to me. By the time she got to me, I had the chain rethreaded in the bike and ready to simply connect with the new link.

It got me to thinking about how long that chain has been on that bike. It's past time for new chain and cassette, so I've ordered replacements and will mount them this weekend. I don't remember what the mileage was at the time, but the current chain has been on the bike since early 2001, and likely has eight thousand miles on it. There were a couple years in there that the bike didn't get a ton of use, as most of my club miles were on the Bacchetta and I was only a mile from work, which counter the thousand or three miles I've put on the bike in the last year.

I guess if I kept detailed records on this sort of thing, I could make definitive statements rather than generalizations. Part of it is that when I was working on bikes all the time, I wanted to ride my bike rather than work on it. I often let little maintenance stuff slide on my own bikes, just because I didn't feel like spending time working on ANY bike at the moment. I can usually deal with little stuff as I ride.

However, I will have a chain tool in the tool bag on both bikes from now on (I have one, but it is aboard the other bike). I have spare links at home, and will now have some on the bike as well.

Snow? We don't need no stinking snow!

The forecast snow didn't happen. My ride to work this morning was dry, if my eyes were not totally so.

I have learned that the repairs to my truck will not be something for which I have the equipment--that perch is riveted to the frame, and the rivets are hardened steel in many cases. It will likely cost me about $250 to have it fixed.

The truck will sit in the driveway until I can pay to get the work done, probably later this week.

Then I get to work on resolving my home computer woes. Two friends have offered replacement boxes, and I think my hard drive is still serviceable.

The Ryan is riding quite well these days, thank you very much.

Requiem for a Qat

Aloysius Ebenezer Qat, Esquire came to me in the spring of 1996. Here, he's on top of one of our cat towers:

I was working for a company that sold mid-scale backyard storage buildings (we called them “Yard Barns”). We had been feeding a stray cat that was something of a mascot—Delam (as in delaminating plywood) was his name. Delam was an old tomcat—his favorite things were food, fighting and f*@$ing, in no particular order—and he had the scars and abscesses to prove it.

One day, a young cat followed Delam to our workshop and yard. He was a timid, feral thing—dirty, fearful of humans—but an attractive kitten of some six months’ age. Over time, we calmed him to the point that he would allow pets while he ate the food we provided. He discovered that pets felt good, and we discovered that he had a big, loud purr. He was a poor kitten, without the exotic toys like manufactured toy mice, but it didn’t keep him from playing—during a builders’ meeting, I saw him playing in the yard with a piece of gravel as cats will with toy mice, much as kids of so many generations used shirred rocks and brickbats for sandlot baseball games.

Not wanting him to face the same health problems of his mentor, I captured him and took him to be neutered and inoculated. He was too nice a cat to be dealing with the abscesses and battle scars, and one cat that smelled as bad as Delam did was too many.

Surprisingly, I learned that this cat had a clean bill of health. I fell prey to his endearing purr and fondness for attention and took him home with me.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out his name, given his humble beginnings. Aloysius Ebenezer Qat, Esq. (commonly called Al E. Qat) quickly showed himself to be the best-behaved, nicest, sweetest orange-and-white cat I have ever encountered. His purr was audible at thirty feet in a fairly quiet room. His love of a game of string was such that it proved that all cats are hard-wired for the joy. He was a master at a game our family calls “mouse bop,” in which the cat perches on a level surface three or four feet from the floor and toy mice are tossed vertically near that surface. The cat swats the mice to the floor much as a volleyball player spikes the ball over the net, unless he’s able to get a claw in the toy’s fur and collect it on the tower platform.

Last summer, Al E Qat developed feline diabetes. I almost lost him then. We began a regimen of daily insulin shots followed by a few cat treats (crunchy Pounce, just about any flavor, thank you very much). I could call his name, and he’d come trotting to the cat tower for his shot and treats. Al had always understood rituals—one had been that every time I came home, he would get a session of pets and treats on his tower.

This past Saturday, Al did not get out of bed for his shot. He clearly felt a bit worse than usual. He had had little appetite for treats the day before. We took him to the vet, who diagnosed some dehydration, a heart murmur that was new, took a blood sample, and sent him home. Sunday was a good day for Al. He was eager for his periodic treats, leaning almost off the edge of his tower to show me how much he wanted some.

Monday morning was a different story. He got off the bed at the usual time, but when I called him for his shot and treat ritual, he was not to be seen. I found him hiding under the living room sofa, clearly not feeling well at all.

Jenn’s workplace is closer to our veterinarian than mine, so she took him in for further diagnosis. When the vet called me in the afternoon, she had gotten the blood test results and had time to look at them. Al’s kidneys were failing and the heart murmur was found to be the harbinger of one of the old cat heart diseases. She felt he could come home, so Jenn brought him home when she got off work.

When he got home, Al seemed unwilling or unable to raise his head to really look around himself. His breathing was labored at best. I couldn’t bring myself to keep him at home, clearly in distress and clearly not wanting to go on with such a life. I hated to put him through a third car trip in one day, but the overriding thought was that I absolutely could not make him suffer any longer.

As we—Jenn, one of the vet techs, the vet and I--stood around Al in the exam room, comforting ourselves, each other, and Al, he finally settled down from the stress of the car trip enough to start purring. It was heart-breaking to hear, as it was a quiet version of his biggest loudest purr—one that included some vocalization that sounded almost as a trill inside the purr. We have chosen to believe that he was saying it was okay, that he understood my decision to put him out of his misery and that he knew his job keeping me company had come to an end.

Al is buried in the family cat graveyard at my mother and stepfather’s house. As has been my custom for the last several cats I’ve buried, I put some of his favorite toys in the grave with him. My sister was there, and tossed in a few cat treats. Jenn was there, and helped me fill the hole in the ground, as she too was smitten by Al’s endearing ways, and as we will help each other fill the void in our lives left by his passing.

As with all the cats I’ve buried, I miss him terribly. He had a great thirteen years with me, and I with him.

Snow?

It's Kentucky, and it can snow on Derby Day, so I shouldn't be surprised that the weather forecasters are calling for snow showers later today. Hopefully the overnight freeze they are also predicting won't kill too many crops or foliage.

What do I do when there is forecast for snow? Ride the Vanguard to work.

I also hope it doesn't put ice in the way of my riding to work this week. My truck is out of commission for a while.

I had it out for a bit yesterday, and the rear end felt as if the spring was very weak. I also heard a thump of something hitting the underside of the bed a few times. Turns out the perch (for lack of the proper name) that connects the leaf spring to the frame has rusted to the point of failure.

It should be a relatively simple fix, if a bit difficult. I haven't poked around enough to know whether it's riveted to the frame or bolted. If it's just bolts, I may be able to fix it myself, after getting replacement parts at a salvage yard. If it's rivets or huckbolts, it may be a bit more difficult to do. I'll figure it out over the next few days, I suppose.

It's not like I have bags of money to throw at this problem, either. One of my cats has developed some new medical problems, and $240 worth of diagnostics and fluid replenishment later we took him home. He was good yesterday, but was having trouble breathing this morning. He's bak at the veterinarian's office today for some help. Who knows how much more that bill will be...

On the positive side: a friend gave us tickets to see Wild Blessings, the performance at Actors' Theater highlighting the poetry and imagery of Wendell Berry. I HEARTILY encourage folks to see this work.

Jenn took her new bike for its first club ride appearance Saturday morning, on the "slow and easy" ride out of Waterfront Park. Aside from some foot pain we haven't diagnosed (we're working on that), she had a good ride. Anyone want a BikeE RX? She has one for sale. A friend has first refusal, but I've not heard anything from him in a while. He has probably been too busy driving back and forth across the countryside to make a decision. I'm sure I'll hear from him soon.

And so it goes.

I almost got drenched

On my way home last night, I stopped by a barbeque joint for a sandwich. I enjoy good BBQ, and this was fair to good if not great.

I got about a block closer to the house when the skies opened. I pulled into a convenience store that had a canopy over its gas pumps, but the wind was pushing the water in on me there, so I moved to the shelter of the storefront while I retrieved the cape from one of my panniers. Of course, by the time I got home it had stopped raining.

I was scheduled to assistant-teach a Confident Cycling class last night, but the weather influenced the instructors to change the course line up a bit--a good idea to be sure, as we had a thunder show a short while after class started. I stayed for the class anyway, and got to wear my cape for the ride home in the steady shower we were still getting.

I have to do some stuff at the bike shop this evening, so I drove to work today. I have yet another wheel to build--this one a replacement rim for one I built some years ago but that has since started cracking around some of the spoke holes.

Uh-oh, the paper has another cars vs bikes war in the forum

The local news outlet has an article today on the City's plans for a bike-station-like-facility (Bikestation, in one word or two, is a trademarked term).

This thing was announced about six weeks ago, on the day of the Bike Summit II. Barry made a blog entry about it a few days later that neatly sums his objections to having such a facility.

Since I ride to work fairly often, and appreciate just about anything that will get more folks to ride instead of driving. In those terms, I am in favor of spending the money to improve the infrastructure vis-a-vis cycling usage. I would rather see the money spent toward getting the Big Four and K&I Bridges open to cross-river cycle traffic, for example, or to improving sight lines and safety at problem intersections and rail crossings (the rail crossing at Frankfort Avenue in the Clifton area comes readily to mind). Let's find improvements that will help more than just those who work in the business district.

Like many, I see little direct benefit in this. My commute would be split roughly in half by such a stop, so I cannot imagine myself getting much use out of it. I doubt the bike service option in such a facility would be of much use to me, either--I already pass within a block or two of three or four bike shops on my route.

For my own part, I rode the Vanguard Tuesday and Wednesday, and in light of the impending rain this evening rode the Raleigh this morning (and have the rain cape in the bag for the trip home). I will likely drive tomorrow, as I have several errands that will require faster travel than I can accomplish on the bike and may involve larger cargo than I'm set up to carry on either bicycle.

Tuesday 31 March

It's hard to believe that the year is a quarter over already! March has been a month of surprises for me--some good, some not as much.

The not as much usually involved weather, although there was a small matter at work that still has me aggravated.

There have been some good surprises as well, though. Again, some of those good surprises involved weather--I've enjoyed some pretty sunrises during my treks to work, and have had pleasant afternoon rides home in short sleeves (and a couple in short pants!). Decorative fruit trees are in bloom all around us, and it's been fun to see almost bare trees one day and realize that overnight it burst into bloom. It's almost as if a switch had been thrown--spring is indeed here.

I have lots to do in the coming months--both at work and with various bicycle organizations. I also want to ride a lot more.

But not tonight. There is a birthday celebration I must help make happen. Jenn's oldest daughter is a year older today. It should be fun!

Again, we do this!

It's another work week. Yee hah!

Actually, the weekend was pretty exciting. Talking about planning the day Saturday, Jenn told me she was ready to get a new bike. I had planned to go to the bike shop on Friday to pick up parts for David's wheel, on my way to a social event I wanted to attend in LaGrange. When I got to the house to get my truck (I had ridden to work, as you may recall), Jenn told me she wasn't in much of a socializing mood, things were going weird around the house, and so on, so I stayed home.

She went with me Saturday morning, and I built the wheel at the store instead of at home. While there, she test-rode the Bacchetta Giro 26 on the sales floor, as it was one of the target bikes for her next mount. We now have a sixth bike in our stable. Over the next week or so, we'll be rigging this bike to be her primary commuter (saving the Peugeot for rainy days), with fenders, rack(s), lights and what-not, as well as having it be her club-ride bike as she gains comfort and speed on it.

On the way home, we stopped at my folks' house for some much-needed family time, a bit to eat, and general enjoyment of good vibes.

I brought David's wheel home with me, so he could pick it up at the house instead of having to drive all the way to Crestwood (not that he hasn't been driving a lot of late already...).

Yesterday was to be a ride the bike day, but the weather was below "fun ride" minima. It's one thing to commute thirteen miles (or a couple miles while using the bus for the bulk of the distance, as Jenn can do) in rainy, windy conditions, but it's another entirely to ride for fun in such weather. Instead, we worked on the house a while. Jenn wants to have a dressing room in the basement, to make it easier for her to keep the bedroom looking as she wants it. I roughed in and connected some lights for one area of the space in question as the younger daughter started hanging the old doors that will be the room partition (her "bedroom"--by her choice when we took the house--is in the basement, and she had been given the choice of making the "walls" out of old doors. We finally made some headway on the project, and she was eager to participate in making it happen).

It was a rush-around project getting going this morning, and I was late enough that I drove to work. I have a work-related court appearance later today, so dressing at the house was not a bad thing.

The court thing won't be fun--eviction proceedings never are, regardless of the outcome. I feel bad for my tenant, but I've done all I could to stave off the inevitable.

Five days, four rides, and some random thoughts

For the fourth time in five days, I rode to work this morning. I've ridden the Vanguard to work three times this week, the Raleigh once, and driven once. While I'd prefer to not drive, riding four days a week beats heck out of driving four days a week.

I was talking to my mother about my teaching experience of last Sunday, and it occurred to me that I was teaching some folks who had years--decades, even--of cycling experience, yet who did not know some basic tenets of intersection safety that every road user should know. I was surprised a bit to think about how much there is to do if we as bicycle educators are to overcome these hurdles. However, part of it is the dearth of proper driving education in general and part of it is the lack of retraining or periodic testing of knowledge of road use law. There are probably other factors, as well.

Trying to do my part, I've thought about it a bit and have added an item or two to my personal checklist for teaching intersection safety and lane choice criteria.

If I can find a diagram somewhere, or figure out how to create one that I can link here, I'll come back and edit this to include it. I'll attempt to describe my primary beef, though: When turning left onto a one-way street, many folks want to almost go straight until they reach the rightmost lane of the destination street, THEN turn left. The proper way (taught in driver education programs, as well as bike ed classes) is to turn left into the lane corresponding with the lane where you were, i.e. if you were in the right of two left-turn lanes, you would be in the second lane from the left side of the new street. THEN you begin the process of scan/merge, scan/merge, etc. to reach the rightmost lane. This allows for folks who disobey the traffic control device to have room to pass you (un)safely, and gives other road users following you into and through the intersection time to respond to you more safely. It also give YOU time to deal with other road users and their actions more safely, as a general rule. As always, be prepared to do other things as situations dictate.

I'll also use this as another excuse to link to Bicyclesafe.com, Michael Bluejay's site discussing ways to avoid doing a helmet test. I've mentioned before that I agree with almost all of Bluejay's points, although I would have put some of them in different order to imply more stress by primacy. He has some differences of opinion with Effective Cycling "dogma," too, which are fairly interesting. I guess I take EC with a grain of salt, figuring that real-world experience had already shown me that some things trump the mantra of, "Bicyclists fare best when we act and are treated as drivers of vehicles," as I don't seem to respond as vehemently as some who have emailed him. I wonder sometimes if it isn't so much ado over small details, and if the energy would not be better directed toward riding our bikes. Maybe the debating is the entertainment.

Rain, rain, go away

It's springtime in the Ohio River Valley, thus we have frequent rainy days. I bought a rain cape to wear when on the bike, and it works reasonably well, but it does not change the fact that I'm not over-fond of riding in the rain. I rode yesterday, and the rain was probably worse Wednesday morning than it is this morning--especially with the wind--but I wasn't interested in coping with two days in a row of riding in the rain. I drove today.

It was dry for my ride home yesterday, and supposedly will be dry this afternoon.

When I got home yesterday, Jenn had been making good things happen in the house. Even before I unlocked the garage to put away my bike, I heard the dog wimpering in his excitement that I was home--Jenn knew I was home before she saw me, as the dog rushed past her getting to the back of the house. It was pretty funny.

We were out of cat food, so Jenn and I rode to the nearest Feeders Supply to restock. While there, we got a new tag so that if the dog gets loose again, someone can get in touch with more people to enable his return home. I like to ride with Jenn when we do errands--and it sure beats driving for errands when within a mile or two of the house.

wet ride, windy ride

I woke this morning to weather reports of fifteen knot winds, with gusts to thirty. Oh, yeah, it was raining as well. I thought about driving. Thought about riding the Raleigh, since I could use the rain cape. Thought about riding the Ryan, and just dealing with being wet when I arrive at work.

I rode the Raleigh.

There is something even more challenging about riding in rain when it's dark out as well. Several somethings, in fact: Rainy weather seems to absorb more of one's headlight output. Road imperfections are harder to see, coupled with the reduction in light, making one's lane positioning more a matter of road memory (and being willing/able to deal with imperfections without always having room or enough warning to perform "rock dodge" avoidance tactics). I must slow down quite a bit rather than "out-ride" my headlight. Motorists seem to give even less room for error rather than more room. I tend to crouch my head more, making it harder to use my mirror as well (and tense my arms more, causing more hand numbness). My rain cape is not as reflective as my Illuminite jacket, so I don't feel as visible (despite that I have my decent-sized reflector and flashing light/steady on light mounted).

On the other hand, I also imagine the thoughts of some of the motorists: "Poor guy can't drive, and he's out in THIS weather on a bike," or "He must be insane to ride a bike in this mess," or "He must be pretty confident--I'd better give him more room."

Jenn is home taking some vacation time (she has tons). Her younger daughter has the car in Georgetown for the week, as she has some tight time scheduling or something (I didn't press on the details). Jenn has been doing stuff around the house (and it does show), and I figured she may need to haul something today.

One good thing about my ride today is that it has reinforced that I can ride in rain. I still am not fond of doing so, but I deal with it. Another is that, the wind direction being what it was as I crossed the bridge, my ride across the bridge was one of the more comfortable ones in that direction I've had--tailwinds are nice. Of course, I'm hoping the wind direction and strength will change significantly before I head home, or I'll be walking across the dumb thing tonight.

More review on the cape, for those interested: I need to have good rain pants to make the whole ensemble work. The cape is nice--I wore a long-sleeve zip-t base layer under it, to keep from feeling clammy, and the temperature range was just right (weather.com reported 62F when I left the house). I had some sweat moisture near the open zipper, and the cuffs were wet where the cape didn't cover them. In some wind gusts, I found that the rear of the cape would blow up enough to have some air cool my back a bit.

I got close to work, and realized that I had left my work key ring on the Vanguard. Fortunately, I had secreted a spare key to my building in one of the Raleigh's packs.

When I got to work, I found that one of my small panniers is tearing at a support. I'm surprised they have lasted as long as they have (I bought them in 1992), so I should not mind replacing them too much. I don't want to spend the money (nor the time to research my choice), but they will still be cheaper than gas.

Tuesday

Yay! Rode to work two days in a row! On the Vanguard, no less.

I've been meaning to mention that, over the recent weekend, many fruit trees along my commute route have all-but exploded into bloom. It's fun to see the trees white with blossoms as harbingers of spring. I've been enjoying the Daffodils for a week or two as well.

It's also been fun to consider that some of my riding (at least homeward-bound) has been in short pants instead of tights. More and more of my afternoon trips home are done wearing short-sleeve jerseys instead of jersey plus arm warmers plus wind shell. It's getting warmer! My morning rides are still best done with a wind shell, but this morning I was only wearing a short-sleeved jersey under the Illuminite jacket, instead of another wind shell and a zip-neck long sleeve base layer.

On a sad note: FedEx lost two pilots and an MD-11 full of packages Monday morning, when the plane crash-landed at Narita airport outside Tokyo. Security camera footage leaked out early in the day, and can be seen if one wants to click here. I must warn, though, it's pretty grisly. At least one version of this video (of course, the cleanest one I've seen) has already been removed.

anger management

I try to be a peaceful sort. I don't typically consider violent consequences to others' actions as a first resort.

However, there are exceptions. One came to the forefront of my consciousness a few months ago, when a not-very-polite motorist cut me off, causing me to fall on the railroad crossing on Frankfort Avenue.

Another was this afternoon. The target of my ire is another cyclist.

As a cycling instructor, I repeatedly and pointedly stress the importance of not "threading the needle" between lines of cars waiting for a traffic light. I also strongly discourage blowing such traffic lights, especially when there are numerous cars around with their operators as witnesses. The one thing such a maneuver is most effective at doing is antagonizing motorists so that they wish ill on cyclists as a class of road users.

As I was waiting, third in line, for the light to change at Stilz Avenue (eastbound on Frankfort Avenue), I was passed by a person misusing a bicycle (I refuse to call such a person a cyclist) in exactly that manner.

I wanted to toss a pump through the guy's wheel. While he was moving. Fast. And have the pump not break when the spokes caught it against the frame. As he was being tailgated by an angry motorist (assuming I could break off to a safe travel path of my own).

As I realized what the twit was doing, I hollered out, "Dude, UNCOOL!!" partially hoping that other motorists would hear me and recognize that cyclists decry such behavior as much as they do. The twit (again, I refuse to consider him a cyclist) did what any coward would do--he sped up in such a way that I, trapped behind cars waiting for a green light, could not catch him and discuss his errant ways, probably smiling to himself, smug in the certainty that the minute he saved by running the next four traffic lights made HIS the superior position in our discussion.

My mood was not helped any when, as the anger was dissipating, I approached the intersection at Chenoweth Lane to witness a Rural Metro Ambulance, number 23 (I think), turn right onto Breckenridge Lane, across my path, from the left lane. This without the driver first (or ever, for that matter) turning on the siren or emergency lights. They may be getting a phone call in a minute, too...

The Vanguard returns

Last week, I got to ride to work four out of five days, which feels like a record for the season to date. Two of those days were on the Vanguard, two on the Raleigh, one of those due to my errant ABC Quick Check of Thursday night.

As noted yesterday, I was teaching all day, or at least helping teach. David Morse and I were the lead instructors, and Barry Zalph helped us with the afternoon sessions. I had, of course, ridden the Vanguard to do this rather than drive, as the class met at my employer's main office in the Phoenix Hill area.

I rode the Vanguard to work this morning, and plan to ride as much as I can this week. I have to have my truck at some point tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, as I have some stuff at the office that I need to haul home. I'll also have to drive out to Crestwood at some point, once parts are in hand to rebuild a client's wheel.

I don't think it will be a car-free week, but I'm aiming for close to it.

Long day, good day

As I may have mentioned here, I have a certificate as a League Cycling Instructor (LCI), through the League of American Bicyclists. I do some bike-ed teaching through the LBC (Louisville Bicycle Club), and some through Bicycling for Louisville.

Much of the focus of earning the LCI is learning to teach the Cycling Skills 101 course, as it is the backbone of the education programs for the League. It is typically taught in four meetings of roughly three hours each.

Barry at Bicycling for Louisville asked me to help teach a one-day class covering the Cycling Skills 101 curriculum for a group of upcoming LCI candidates. One-day, since these folks were already fairly skilled riders, and would be able to both deal with the longer day and absorb the information we were there to impart.

The worst part was that I didn't get a ton of riding in today--and it's been a beautiful day for riding. The best part was that despite their experience, each attendee felt like he or she learned something new about cycling, and learned some things about their own opportunities to teach others in turn.

As it happened, there were several points on which my involvement made things go better. One was that the venue chosen is the main office for my employer, and as I already have keys and an alarm code, other arrangements did not have to be made for this class. I already knew some of the attendees through my involvement in the cycling community (indeed, two of the folks there were Greg and Marty Scheller, for whom I used to work as a bike shop guy). It was kind of weird being the one teaching a former boss, but all were quite professional about the day. It was clear that they respected what I was there to do, and it seemed they learned more than they expected to learn.

One thing I keep finding is that I, too, learn from the students when I teach these classes.

And the teaching fee won't hurt my wallet a bit.

When I got home, BOTH of Jenn's daughters were at the house. It can be a lot of fun watching the two of them together. The older one had ridden her bike to the house. She doesn't have a helmet at this time, but will soon. I asked her about a helmet, and she says she'd wear one. Jenn and I offered to help her get one, and I added that I would help her get lights so that she could be safer on the roads. I encouraged her to look into one or another of the cycling classes available as well. She seemed to take the advice in the spirit intended, which does not surprise me with her. She's a sharp one.

Cool morning

It's Friday again. I've been able to ride to work four days this week (I presume I'll ride home this afternoon, since my bike is here and my car is not). I had a training day at the Liberty Street office on Wednesday, so my commute wasn't as far that day.

It was a mild surprise to awaken to temps in the mid-30s this morning, after a series of fairly warm days. It's only March, though, and it can (and has) snowed on Derby Day in May. It's not supposed to get very warm today, either, with predicted highs around 50F.

I had been hearing an odd noise from the rear wheel of the Vanguard lately. Wednesday afternoon, I bought some thin threadlocker compound (LocTite is a common trade name), figuring on using a trick I'd learned of when in the bike shop years ago. I'm hoping that the noise was coming from the rim joint, as all the spokes were sound and tight when I inspected the wheel. A drop or six of threadlocker in the joint, which is not welded on this rim, should do the trick, so I applied that theory Wednesday evening. I reassembled things last night, figuring on riding the Ryan to work today.

When I got on the bike this morning, I did not do my full pre-trip ABC Quick Check, assuming (and we all know the dangers of assuming) that since I had not had trouble with the tube and had just inflated the tube to operating pressure last night, it would be tight. Found out within the first block or so that it was very low on air, so I walked it back to the house and traded bikes for my ride to work. A quick, but more thorough, ABC Quick Check on the Raleigh, and away I went.

I had a small amount of paperwork to do at Liberty Street, and was surprised for the second time today. This surprise was that I was the only person in the building, and it was after 7:00 AM. Usually there are other people in the building by then. When I left, I reset the alarm, as I was still the only person in the building. Odd, that.

The time spent at that office allowed me the luxury of getting to see the morning sky get lighter. It was pretty. It's a pretty, clear day, if a bit cool outside right now.

Oh, well. Back to work. I have some inspections to perform in a few minutes.

teaching day again

I'm teaching again tonight: my short thing on basic bike care. I'm also teaching this weekend: Bicycling for Louisville is hosting Confident Cycling classes (based on LAB's Traffic Skills 101) again this season. One of the first classes is this weekend, and it will be an intense, one-day session (ten hours or so). Most of the attendees are members of the Mayor's bike task force, but a few others will be there solely to earn the pre-requisite for their own LCI certifications. It should be an interesting group.

The overhaul goes on apace. However, when I ordered a replacement chainring, I didn't think about the tooth count on that ring, and that it would not be compatible with the front derailleur I also found in need of replacement. I have a replacement ring on order that will resolve the issue. Thinking forward, I'm going to suggest that this owner consider modernizing his front drive system, even though I just replaced the spindle and bearings of his old bottom bracket. I'm pleased that I was able to get both brakes working--the rear has always had its problems, and the current front brake wouldn't release correctly, despite being fairly new. The bike is over twenty years old, and was built with parts that are now obsolete (and thus hard to find, should they wear to un-usable condition). It's neat to keep an old bike on the road, but sometimes it gets expensive. I found that out for myself getting my Raleigh in better shape--I've replaced the rims, spokes, tires, tubes, brake pads (three times or more), brake cables, gear cable (twice now), stem and handlebar, brake levers, grips...that $25 bike has cost me a good bit more than that, even though I get most of my parts at wholesale prices.

Oh, well, I couldn't have bought a new commuter rig for that money, and I got to enjoy building the wheels!

It's a great day for a bike ride, but I drove. Too much stuff to haul, what with having bike stands and my show-and-tell bike for the class tonight. The work papers could have been hauled on the bike.

That was the week that was

Well, not entirely. The title I've used is not original--there was a news review show by that name in the 1960s. Some of the music for the American version was written by Tom Lehrer. Some of the writing for the original show (on BBC) was done by chaps that went on to join Monty Python's Flying Circus.

In any event, it was a hectic, confusing week for me. I got to ride to work a few days--Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all on the Ryan. On Monday, I was still feeling the after-effects of my recent cold, but as noted, it felt good to ride. Tuesday was the second of my four classes I'm teaching, on most basic bike maintenance (same thing happening tomorrow night and next Tuesday night). I went out to Crestwood Thursday, Friday and Saturday to work on various projects--two rear wheels and a major overhaul for three different customers.

The major overhaul is one that has been needed for some time. If I'd done this a year ago, I might not have had to replace as many parts, but who knows? I'm sure the owner of this bike will enjoy the results--riding the bike will be much more enjoyable with all the systems working to the best of their capabilities. It needed parts that we didn't have on hand, and I lost the weekend to shipping schedules (can't order parts after 8:00 PM Thursday for Friday delivery). Hopefully those parts will arrive later today, and I will be able to make progress on the bike this evening.

I enjoy building wheels, and especially enjoy building wheels that I know will be ridden. Both of the wheels I built focused on durability, although the respective owners came up with different ways to get similar results. To be honest, their needs differed a bit as well. I was pleased with each wheel in all stages of assembly and truing. I think each will serve its owner well.

I finally got the handlebar issue on the Raleigh resolved. However, I had been concerned that I would have to replace my brake cables, due to the different placement (taller and longer stem). The brake cables were fine, but the shift cable is too short. I've not been able to find cables for Sturmey-Archer 3-speed stuff in either of my main sources for such things. The current cable was purchased at a bike shop that will for the moment remain nameless, and the owner of that shop has accused me of speaking ill of his shop, so I figure I'm persona non grata there and will have to find another source for my gear cable. Oh, well, they are out of my way anyway. I'll stop at Clarksville Schwinn later today and see if they have any.

The shift cable is not short enough that I can't ride the bike, but I'd be happier if it had a bit more length. After riding the RCCS ride yesterday on the Vanguard, I felt like a change of pace for today's ride to work, and brought out the Raleigh. My legs felt pretty good, despite their joy at arriving at the car after the 48 miles or so of "gently rolling" terrain with a few steep hills tossed in for fun.

Jenn started the ride yesterday, but quickly found that a) she's not up to riding lots of hills yet this season and b) her BikeE doesn't climb as well as she'd like. She stopped to rest under a tree for a bit, and rode back to the starting point on her own. She then went out to explore a couple of places near the starting point (she loves to shop at thrift stores, and there was one close by), and found a couple of nifty things to get. After the ride, we enjoyed socializing at Charlestown Pizza Company.

I have to give a tip o' the helmet to Charlestown Pizza Company. I'd heard that they served beer instead of swill, and was far from disappointed. They don't seem to offer anything from the mass swill producers. At all. I had a couple of fine brews that I'd never seen prior to yesterday, and will be seeking said brews on my own in the future. Their pizza was pretty tasty, too.

ups and downs weekend

The weekend got off to a great start, as Friday was my birthday. Dinner was at Mom's (not the restaurant--the house), with roast prime rib, great vegetables, and birthday cake! I got an assortment of cool things from my family--books to read, a new kilt, a set of prints from Williamsburg VA to hang on the wall, a desk clock in a block of wood my stepfather made and finished, some board games, and of course, birthday cake. Did I mention the cake?

I mentioned that Jenn and I both had colds last week. Friday, Jenn got tired of not being able to sleep, and got her doctor to prescribe something to help her. Jenn got some sleep Friday night, thus improving HER weekend tremendously (and mine, as I want her to be able to sleep well...).

Saturday was something of a chores day--neither of us had been up to doing much around the house recently, so we got some cleaning and reorganizing done. The place looks MUCH better now. Work spilled over into Sunday, but was done enough by the afternoon that I got to ride the short (25-mile) club ride before hosting a meeting of education volunteers to discuss plans for the upcoming season. Afterward, I went out (on the Ryan) to do some errands--hit the post office box, stop at Whole Foods and Kroger for some foodstuffs--and enjoy being home for a bit before going to bed.

The Raleigh is out of service for the moment, so I'm riding the Ryan most of the week. I bought a different stem to try on the Raleigh, and found (in the tradition of Raleighs from its era) that the handlebar doesn't fit modern stems. I have a new handlebar coming later this week, and opted for a similar shape to keep things simple. My goal is to have the bar higher and a bit further forward, to make the bike a bit more comfortable. I already have a LOT of seat post out on this bike, making it seem small for me. The standover height is pretty tall, but the crank is high, too, so traditional fit rules are not entirely appropriate.

The big downer this weekend is that one of Jenn's coworkers lost her husband Saturday. We don't know whether it was a heart attack or something else, but he collapsed at some point and never reawakened. I had met him once, at a holiday party, and liked him to the extent that I knew him. I feel bad for Jenn's coworker.

I'm now under orders to not die, which I find oddly comforting, somehow.

I got to ride to work this morning! After not riding all last week, due to the effects and aftereffects of my cold, it was good to ride. The bike performed without flaw, as I've gotten rid of some of the problems that were pestering me in the fall. It's time to buy some more batteries for the flashing lights, though. I installed my last spares in the flashing front light on my way to work today.

Fried-day once more

Today is Friday, or Fried-day as I am wont to spell it at times. I have not ridden my bike to work all week due to the lingering effects of a head cold that kept me home Monday and should have kept me home Tuesday (and perhaps even Wednesday). I am at least able to breathe most of the time, although sometimes I'll have a coughing fit such that I have a hard time inhaling past whatever sense of obstruction (nothing really there but irritated membranes) is tickling the cough reflex.

I also did not ride today because I have a time constraint after work--Jenn and I are going to my mother's house to celebrate the four-dozenth year of my rambling thought processes. In other words, it's my birthday. I'm thirty-one, with seventeen years of extra practice.

It seems popular to ruminate on these occasions. I may, later in the day, or after another day or two, but today I have work to do. I'm hosting a meeting Sunday afternoon of volunteers comprising the education committee that will help me with the upcoming courses I am leading, so I need to clean the house a bit tomorrow. Hopefully, I will get to ride a bit this weekend, even if it's utilitarian in nature rather than "for fun."

Back to the desk work...

A week with no riding

After battling a head cold for a few days, I have now returned to the land of the living. I went to work Tuesday morning, only to go home a couple hours later. I hosted my new bike owner maintenance class Tuesday evening, but spent much of my time coughing instead of being able to talk.

I of course offered full refund on the attendance fees and free attendance for next week's session if any were dissatisfied.

I returned to work Wednesday, and lasted all day. I was glad I didn't have any big plans for after work. What did happen was that when Jenn got home from some errands she had, I mentored her a bit as she did some upgrades on her commuter bike (thumb shifters instead of down-tube shifters, new shift cables, finish mounting the fenders, check ride her work, etc.). She was fighting a cold as well, and despite not sleeping well, she planned to use her bike for her multi-mode commute this morning.

I wasn't quite ready to ride the thirteen miles this morning, and wound up leaving too late to do a partial-commute. I have a time constraint on the homeward bound commute tomorrow, so won't get to ride at all for the work week.

Drat.

Next week, though...

Oh good grief!

Jenn was off work Thursday and Friday of last week with a cold. Since we live together, she was primed to have to deal with the double-ended open sluice problem I'd had a couple weeks ago, but it turned out to be a mother of a cold instead.

Of course, since we live together, I now have a similar cold. At the first inkling that I was going to be sick, I loaded up on Zicam, which has helped a bit in the past. Even so, I feel rotten, and look almost as bad.

I can't afford to take time off from work right now, either. I am behind on some stuff that needs to be done.

We'll see, but tomorrow morning is likely to be ugly. And I don't think I'll be riding to work, either.

busy days

Busy couple of days, so little time for posting blogs.

Wrapped up the second session of our Park Tool School program last night. If comments during the class were any indication, folks felt they got their value from the courses. I've gotten a couple of emails supporting this, and saw at least one on our local cycling list server "giving the shout out." I had fun doing it, and look forward to doing some more. Now, however, it's time to get my stands home and use one so that Jenn can install fenders and big home-made reflectors on her bike.

I rode Tuesday and today, and drove Monday and Wednesday. I will quite likely ride tomorrow.

Today's ride to work was wet. When I left the house, it was drizzling a little, despite that the last forecast I had seen was for cloudy skies with low chances of rain. As I worked my way to work, the rain came down a bit harder, so that I found myself riding through a shower at least part of the time. Since it was drizzling when I left the house, I donned the rain cape I got several weeks ago (before the ice storm) to give it a try. I found myself a bit over-warm; I was wearing a jersey and my Illuminite jacket underneath the cape. Otherwise, it seems to work as advertised. My rain pants, however, were a total failure. They simply do not work. I suppose they could have been mislabled, though, and they've been in my stash of stuff for over a decade, so who knows?

Anyway, the afternoon weather is balmy, so my ride home will be another warm one. I have pack space to stuff the cape and rain pants, and may not need the jacket either.

On the way home, I will have to stop and buy a couple odds and ends for my bike and for Jenn's. She needs a tube or three, and some hardware to mount her fenders. I need a cotter pin, probably (hopefully) for the right crank arm this time, as I just mounted a new one on the left side a couple weeks ago.

It's supposed to be wet in the morning, but I may ride anyway. Just to keep from driving.

Finally, an answer

I've been puzzling over my truck woes for a few days. Sunday evening, I removed the thermostat and the outlet pipe that holds it in place, having narrowed the likely source of my water leak to that site. I took the parts to the shop with me Monday evening, to use the wire wheel on the grinder to clean the old gasket material and some rust and scale off the thing before I put it back together. While inspecting it, I found a place that had rusted through! It had been too long since I last flushed and refilled the radiator, and the truck only has 210K miles on it, so it's my own fault it failed.

I figured that such a part would be a "dealer-only" thing, so I called the Ford dealer by Oxmoor, as their parts department used to be open late. Since those days, the dealership has changed ownership, and they are only open until five or so. Still expecting to be disappointed, I called AutoZone to see if they had it. Fortunately, they had one in stock, at a store I would be passing on my way home from Tool School. I get to reassemble the thing tonight, and maybe even take it to the Instant Oil Change place for a flush and fill before bed time tonight.

It will be good to have my truck on line again. I need to haul my bike repair stands home from the bike shop tomorrow night, so that we can do some more stuff to Jenn's bike (we now have the fenders that need to be mounted, I need to make some more reflectors for her, etc.).

Oh, and I got to ride to work today! Morning temperature was 25F or so, and my gear issues are mostly resolved for that range. The ride was fairly pleasant, and included the opportunity to enjoy the morning "pre-sunrise" sky as I crossed the bridge. Traffic on the bridge was pretty light, too, at least northbound just before 7:00.

Monday again

I spent a fair bit of time working on bike stuff this weekend.

Friday evening, I went out to the bike shop to prepare for two sets of wheels I've been needing to get built for a while. I cut all the spokes, and had time to lace one set and true its front wheel. I finished truing the rear wheel Saturday morning, then laced the other set and started truing them. Another customer came by to get some pointers on the new Bacchetta Bellandare she had purchased the day before, so I spoke with her a while. One wheel set went home Saturday, and the other customer came by to see her wheels later in the day. Her bike is being built over time, and her fork is not yet in hand. She's excited about the bike, though. It looks pretty good so far.

After shop hours, we had the second class of Park Tool School for a few hours. It's a good group, in the main, and we had fun removing bottom brackets from bikes as an exercise. We talked a bit about brake pads, and tonight we will change some brake and gear cables for practice.

A week or two ago, I had been given the name of a woman who was putting on a health fair for her church. I finally got in contact with her late last week, to find that what she was doing was much longer in hours and on a different date than I'd been led to believe. As notice was too short to do anything else, I went to her health fair and talked to folks about bicycle safety myself. Many of the attendees were kids, so I got to stress the importance of learning and following the rules of the road. Some adults asked me questions about the Bicycle Club, Bicycling for Louisville, and cycling in general. I encouraged all to seek out classes held by Bicycling for Louisville and the Club, and to come ride with us. I even got to "walk the walk," as I had ridden the Raleigh to the event.

When I got home, I did a few odds and ends around the house, then dove back into trying to get my truck running. It had developed a water leak recently, so I haven't been driving it for a while (I've been using Jenn's car when I needed to drive). Saturday morning, I changed the upper hose and one of the heater hoses, based on noise of pressure escaping when I pumped the system with a pressure tester. When I finished replacing the hoses, I pumped the tester a few times, and was rewarded with the sound of pressure dropping again. The sound was still coming from near the ends of the two hoses I had just replaced, but tightening the hoses didn't fix the problem. It looked like it was time for a new water pump, as there were stains from escaping anti-freeze leading to the front seal. I had purchased a water pump Saturday morning before going to the bike shop, so Jenn and I took things apart to install the new pump.

That went well enough, except that the OTHER heater hose looked a bit worse for wear, and that when I went to show Jenn the residue from the anti-freeze on the inside of the water pump pulley I lost one of the screws that holds it in place. A trip to the parts store, and I had the new hose. Got home to discover I had forgotten to get a replacement screw, so we went to another parts store (the one had closed for the day) and got hardware and anti-freeze.

We got home, I finished installing the pump, belt, fan clutch, radiator shroud and such so I could pressure test the system again. Sure enough, it leaked. I have removed the thermostat housing, hoping that the seal was bad. I hope that there are no other problems to find.

Jenn reminded me that when I removed the pump, the pipe on which the heater hose mounts came out of the pump housing with too little effort. The stains on the inside of the pulley were new enough that there was probably some leakage there as well, so replacing the pump was not in vain. I'm not sure why I didn't go ahead and get a new thermostat while I was doing all the other work (and am right there, with some of the stuff out of the way), aside from a vague memory that it was a hassle to get the thermostat in place and I had replaced it when I last replaced the water pump a few years ago.

I hope that this seal fixes my problem. I'd hate to think that something else is damaged--the only other things that could be leaking at this point are hideously expensive to repair.

Third class of this session of Tool School is tonight, so I'll be at the shop where there is a bench grinder with a wire brush wheel. I can clean the thermostat housing to more closely inspect for pitting or a rust hole. I'll do that before installing anything, so that if I need to buy a new housing I won't sacrifice the thermostat gaskets this time. If all goes well, the truck will be back to useable condition Tuesday night. I'll then take it to some place that does a flush and fill service, so that I don't have to deal with dumping anti-freeze on the driveway.

Maybe when I move the truck I'll find that missing screw, too.

Call to Action

My friend Barry Zalph is one of several folks working VERY hard to push HB88 into the Legislative Session. HB88 addresses one of the major problems the cycling community sees with current law. Quoting from the Bicycling for Louisville site:


As in many other states, Kentucky law generally does not allow law enforcement officers to issue citations or make arrests for non-felony traffic violations not witnessed by the officer. Even when physical evidence and eyewitness testimony shows the driver at fault, officers typically cannot press any charges. Because most crashes occur when no officer is on hand to witness them, criminal charges are rarely filed in connection with the crashes. When a law-abiding bicyclist or pedestrian gets hit by a car, the news accounts say, "No charges will be filed," giving the impression of a tragic accident for which nobody is at fault. The lack of enforceable criminal penalties sends the message that these crash-causing driving violations are of no concern to the Commonwealth, and that it is merely a private (civil) matter for the involved parties to resolve among themselves. This helps to perpetuate the false belief that bicycling and walking are dangerous, and that drivers need not do anything to reduce those dangers.

Barry has also posted a call to action for this week! Make some calls, if you have not already done so! Send emails. Send snail mail. Let the legislators know this needs to happen.

I have already sent mine.

on again, off again

With the Tool School schedule, I find it necessary to drive to work too often. Getting out to Crestwood within an hour and a half of leaving my desk is not possible by bicycle (at least not under MY power). As a result, I'm savoring every chance I get to ride to work. Today is such a day, despite the wind (and the snow I saw on the neighbor's roof when I woke up this morning). I left the house a few minutes early, figuring on a slow ride over the bridge. The temperature will probably not improve appreciably today, so I will likely be wearing as many layers home as I did this morning. I see flurries outside as I type this, so the ride home may open the eyes of a motorist or two (that poor sob [or nutcase] riding a bike in THIS!).

I'll have to drive again tomorrow, as I have at least two sets of wheels to build this weekend. One customer wants to watch at least part of the process, so the appointment for that is Saturday morning. I'll be at the shop all day Saturday, between the wheel building and the second class of the current Tool School session. On Sunday, I will get to fix the water leak in my truck's engine (I hope).

Back to the world of the living, back on two wheels, back on the 'bent

I'm alive again. I feel like a human being again after my illness of last week. I can eat my regular foods. I can even ride a bicycle again! YAY!

An entire ten days after David gently chided me for not riding my Ryan by asking when I would again do so, I rode the Ryan to work today. It was a good thing. I enjoyed the ride--the first ride to work since my illness of last week--despite the temperature in the mid-20s. My new gloves were almost too warm, so my hands were moist with sweat by the time I got off the bike in New Albany (pronounced: N'Awb'ny).

Of course, with the forecast high closer to fifty degrees, I won't have to wear all that stuff going home. I have a neighborhood association meeting to attend this evening before going home, so I get to ride home in the dark--kind of reminds me of riding to work and back in late December.


Onto other thoughts: One of my tenants has a frequent visitor who seems sure that "Parking for Maintenance and Staff Only, Towing Enforced" does not apply to her. Today will be the second time in a bit more than a month this car will have been removed at her expense. I'm sure the tenant will object--again--and he will be told--again--that it is not my responsibility to come get her to move the car if she insists on parking it where she knows it could be towed away. We have a delivery scheduled for today and need both the parking space and the ability to get beyond that space into the courtyard of the building. I used to drive a wrecker in a prior life, and am also aware of the need for access by emergency teams should an emergency arise.

And on to better thoughts: I wrapped up my first session of Park Tool School last night. We had a fine group--seven students--who were kind enough to pay attention to the ramblings of a well-known mechanic who likes to talk too much. Or is too fond of talking. Or both. All seven participants had some cycling experience; some had done a fair bit of their own work but wanted more knowledge on details they had missed, some were farther behind in their skill acquisition, but I hope that all felt they got their money and time worth in some exposure to how stuff works so that they can be more confident of their bikes and thus more confident of themselves out in the world. My next group starts Wednesday night, and I'm looking forward to it. We may have to start planning for a third session soon.

periodic safety comment

Folks who know me well know that I'm fairly safety-conscious. This plays out in my interest in bicycle-related education, just to name a quick example.

As such, I've found some neat links over the years regarding bicycle safety. One I'd like to highlight again, as I think I've mentioned it before, is here. It bears a rerun, of sorts, simply because Michael Bluejay has written a good piece. I've mentioned somewhere that I mostly agree with his points, although I think in one or two cases I would rearrange a couple of his tips on how to avoid X problem to infer more primacy. For example: His "Collision type 3, Crosswalk Slam" section has as the first way to avoid getting hit to install and use a headlight. He finally gets around to mentioning riding on the road as part of traffic as his third suggestion. I would put that first.

In a couple of his examples, he allows for riders to ride along the right side of motorists at stoplights. I would advise against doing this at all, partly because of the dangers he cautions us to keep in mind, and partly because it so infuriates motorists who might otherwise be our allies in the "polite road users vs. impolite road users" discussions.

Near the bottom of the page, he puts forth a very well worded comment on "ride as if invisible." He opens the topic with, "It's often helpful to ride in such a way that motorists won't hit you even if they don't see you. You're not trying to BE invisible, you're trying to make it irrelevant whether cars see you or not."

Think about that for a moment.

After expanding on that thought a bit, Mr. Bluejay comes back with, "Remember, you're not trying to BE invisible, you're just riding with the assumption that cars can't see you."

On another page of his site, Bluejay discusses arguments posed by folks who believe firmly in John Forester's "Effective Cycling" doctrine. As a slight aside, I'll mention that while I sometimes feel that Forester is a pedantic self-proclaimed high priest of cycling, he has some very good thoughts on bicycle safety. Most of the classes I've taken or teach are based heavily in Forester's works.

On Bluejay's objections to EC, I would have to opine that I agree with Bluejay, in the main. I see his points as addressing some who are too rigid in their interpretation of Forester's opinions, though. Some of the disagreements seem to be in semantics.

One example of the disagreements would be bike lanes. Forester is very much opposed to them, and supports his position with pretty sound logic. What Forester doesn't consider, though, is that bike lanes can be a stepping stone for someone who is less confident about his or her cycling, and are therefor useful--IF users recognize the limitations of bike lanes and account for them. Therein lies the key. Be aware. Ride as if the motorist won't see you. You will be far safer that way.

I feel almost human

...which is a huge improvement over how I felt Thursday afternoon!

I'm normally not big on "Hallmark Holidays," and got a small bit of a pass this time due to my illness. Still, I went with Jenn to a couples' Bunco gathering yesterday, and was able to eat decent food for the first time since Thursday morning.

If you are not familiar with Bunco, my prior observations still hold: It's a game that involves dice, byzantine rules, occasional shouts of "BUNCO!" and much shrill laughter, played typically as a focus of socializing among females of the species. As such, men are rarely involved, so we have to relearn the rules every time there is a couples' Bunco tournament. As it was my first time participating, it took me a while to "get it," but eventually I started to understand the structure of the thing.

For this particular event, there were fourteen couples on hand. Prizes were awarded for first through fifth places, plus a prize for last place and one for last Bunco. Jenn and I got the last place prize, snatched from a three-way tie by a roll-off of one die per team (I threw a two, a four and a six were also thrown). I happened to have the last Bunco (all three dice showing the number in play), so in addition to winning back our entry fee, I got gas money to boot. Not a bad deal for losing some games of dice...

I'm teaching again this afternoon. Once the class is done, Jenn and I will rush downtown to the Palace Theatre to enjoy the BB King/Buddy Guy show, for which Jenn got me tickets for the December Gift Giving Ceremonies.

Then it's back to work tomorrow. Since I'm teaching again tomorrow night, I will drive to work instead of riding. It's okay, I'm not but so sure I should ride tomorrow anyway. Hopefully I'll get to ride Tuesday and Thursday. Second course of Tool School starts Wednesday night.

Urrrp

It seems there is a stomach virus going around. It caught me, and my first symptoms arrived during the Bike Summit II on Thursday. I won't gross you out with the details--we'll just say it takes a LOT out of a person.

Needless to say, I didn't ride HOME from the Summit, although Jenn and rode to it. One of the students in my Park Tool School class was kind enough to haul us back to the house. After staying in bed for a few hours, I roused myself enough to go to a "doc in a box," where I was given a scrip for Phenergan, and advice to follow for the next day or three.

I already feel much better, and have been able to eat limited amounts of easily-digested foods. I'm to avoid milk or milk products for a few days, which will be tough to do given my fondness for cheeses.

As I've barely been able to get out of bed until noon today, I took a personal day from work. It sucks to be sick, but I'll get over it, and be back to the grind in a day or two.

And the verdict is... four-cross day

not yet decided. When I left the office, it was barely drizzling. I opted for the Illuminite jacket instead of the rain cape. Of course, by the time I was halfway to the bridge, I was pretty damp to the skin, so when the rain intensified on me, it didn't make much sense to stop and open packs to get out the cape (and risk getting everything in the pack wet).

It seems a corollary to Murphy's Law: If I drive, I don't get called at 10:00AM to be informed I have a meeting in Louisville at 11:00AM. If I ride, I rarely get such a call, but it happened today. I got to ride to Liberty Street from my New Albany office and back in the middle of my work day. Four trips across the bridge in one day, yet again. Good thing I like to ride!

On the way to Liberty Street, I realized that my left crank cotter pin was loose. When I got to the main office, I had a few minutes before my meeting so I scrounged a hammer and tightened the pin. That lasted until I got back on the bike on my way to New Albany, so I stopped at Bicycle Couriers for a replacement pin. I tightened the old pin rather than spend the time replacing it, and had better luck this time: It lasted until I was on my way home from New Albany. When I got home, I replaced the pin. Fortune was with me this time, the pin was trashed but the crank arm and spindle were fine. Not only that, the pin I bought from Couriers was the right size (there are three different sizes, and I'm not sure the guy who helped me realized that). Now to get a replacement pin for the other side, as I'm sure it will fail before long.

On other topics: My friend Barry made an entry in his blog that started a firestorm of unpleasant language. It was appalling--bicycle riders calling other bicycle riders obnoxious names for being in favor of obeying the law. While there were several folks who used unpleasant words, one in particular seems to relish being a large part of the problem rather than the solution. His crude blog name says much about him, and I consider him one of the rude road users rather than a polite road user.

A bit damp, but not bad

I rode today. I figured that I had bought rain gear just so I could ride on days like this (or wetter), I ought to go on and use the stuff.

Of course, when I got outside, it wasn't raining. As I loaded the bike, I was wearing my Illuminite jacket and tights (runners' wear is great for utility cycling), and put the rain pants and cape in my bag "just in case it rained hard." Once I got on the bike, it started a minor drizzle--just enough to dampen the front of my tights. It never rained hard on me this morning, and I was only splashed by an oncoming car once on my way to work. As a result, I have yet to really test the new rain cape. Oh, well. I have it in the pack, ready to use if it gets wet for my trip home. It's supposed to be windy tomorrow, and as I'm driving anyway (have to go teach tomorrow evening, too), my next ride to work day would be Thursday anyway.

Last night was the first class of Park Tool School for this session. It's a great group of students, some of whom already have some experience repairing their own bikes. I've heard the expression, "a plan never survives through its execution," or some such, meaning that plans get altered in mid-use. Such was the case last night--we went through much more material than I expected. That's okay, it gives us more time for the coming work, that is a bit more "hands on," and more time consuming. Part of the reason is that everyone in the class had changed tires before, and I didn't have to spend as much time on that as the course outline allotted.

The whole thing about teaching is that it's a learning process. If I don't learn something, I'm not doing a good job teaching.

Tool School starts today

I am teaching the Park Tool School hosted by Bluegrass Bicycle in Crestwood this month. We are doing two sessions, limited to six students the first time and perhaps eight the second time. The first session starts tonight.

As a result, I will be going directly from work to the store (with a side trip to collect Jenn from her workplace). Drat that I will need my truck to make the time work, and didn't get to ride to work today. I should get to ride tomorrow, however, so I brought some freshly-laundered clothes to wear on ride-to-work days.


Apparently my average speed for the weekend's rides made someone jealous. My commuting speeds have not been stellar at all, and the nature of my riding over the last couple months (almost exclusively commuting) has been short, slow rides rather than long fast rides. It was no surprise that I was unable to keep a pace I used to maintain with relative ease, but it remained frustrating. I also observed that my stamina has gone away--I can go hard for a mile or so, but then I'm done for a few miles, instead of being able to go well for lots of miles. Hopefully this will come back as the season gets going. I plan to do RAIN again this year and want to do well.


In yet other news, a friend in Pennsylvania earned a spot on an eight-person team to compete in Race Across America this summer. He sent me (among others) an email, inviting folks who want to crew for this event. I am not able to do so, but Jenn jumped at the chance. She did the telephone interview with the team manager last night, and is now listed as one of the utility people on the crew. Her responsibilities will include team laundry, off-route support (grocery shopping, parts chasing, etc), and fill-in for other team members as needed--one of those "other duties as assigned and needed" spots. She is excited and apprehensive about it. It's very cool for her to be part of something like this. It's also cool for me, as I'll have an inside scoop on some of the goings-on of RAAM this year. I will try to get up to Annapolis for the finish, at the very least.

Two days in a row

Two days in a row! I've done two club rides this weekend on the blue flame Strada. It feels good to be out on the bike, even though my average speed was only 16.3 for the fifty or sixty club miles I rode.

I won't get to ride to work Monday. I'm typing this taking a break from preparing for a class I'm teaching. I also have an essay for the club newsletter that I need to finish. As it stands, it's terribly disjointed--there is no flow from one point to the next, much like my blog posts.

And one of the cats is glowering at me from her perch on the monitor...I'd better get back to work.

Club riding

I finally have gotten back on the blue bike for a club ride, after too long away from it.

It seems that I am no longer ready to ride all the time the way I once was--I have to plan to ride a club ride and work other stuff around it. My cycling gear that is at the top of the drawer is more for commuting--although the clothing works well for club rides, I don't have the club ride bike specific stuff as ready to go as I once did.

I miss that.

In any case, I rode to the Yellow parking lot for Waterfront Park for the club's Saturday morning staple "slow and easy (my ass)" ride. Some take the title seriously without the parentheses, some add the parenthetical comment and use the stoplight to stoplight tango for sprint work.

I found myself riding much faster than I expected, and a tad bit faster than my legs were comfortable pedaling. Such is the point of a good workout, I suppose. I was whipped by the time I got home.

Since the ride start is almost downtown, I saw no reason to drive there.

I'm off to Crestwood to prepare for Monday evening's Park Tool School class. I don't have the energy to ride it, so I'll drive.

work to eat, eat to live, live to ride, ride to work

WooHoo! I finally got to ride to work again!

Enough ice has been removed (by natural and other means) and enough tree branches have been removed from the traffic lanes (thank you! to the crews who cleared Frankfort Avenue on Thursday!) that I could confidently ride to work this morning. The temperature at 0645 was in the upper 20sF, and the high today should get into the upper 40sF.

I have two layers of cycling clothes for getting to work, and cargo room to haul one of those layers home without having to wear it.

I rode the Raleigh today. Aside from some mild discomfort in my right hand and some "reluctance to cooperate" from my legs, I was fine. Made good time, despite the leg lethargy. The right hand soreness is from spending time chipping ice around the apartment building yesterday. It will go away when it goes away.

Jenn rode to her bus stop this morning, for the second day in a row. I may have to get her a rain cape like mine soon, as she will go rain or shine with her multi-modal commute.

Uh-oh

Although it is too cold at the moment for me to consider riding my bike to work today, I got another reminder of why I'm always glad my commute goes the opposite direction of the suburb-to-downtown rush in the mornings.

A tug pushing fifteen barges loaded with coal hit the I-64 bridge linking Indiana and Kentucky this morning. Appropriately, the Coast Guard had the police departments of both states close the bridge to all motor traffic until an inspection can be made to verify that the bridge will remain intact. We don't need to see another bridge collapse under heavy traffic. We'd rather not see the bridge closed at all, but it's much easier to pay the bill for repairs if there are no lives lost, to say nothing of the impact such a disaster would have on our neighbors.

Seeing the traffic backed up on I-65 beyond sight lines made it clear to me just how much we depend on our bridges. It reinforces the justification for building another bridge on the east end of our metro area. Even if we had that bridge in service now, we would have a huge traffic problem, but it would be slightly less problematic than it is now.

With a forecast low tonight in the mid-20s, I may be able to ride to work tomorrow. I would like to ride, but am wary of the inconsistent ice clearing that has been done so far, among other things (salt, cinders, tree debris...) that I will have to dodge. We'll see.

I try to keep work stuff out of here, but this time, I need to vent a bit.

I "manage" an apartment building that is occupied mostly by folks with lower incomes. Some are on housing assistance (among other aid programs), some getting by "by the skin of their teeth."

It's tough to talk about the tenant I have in mind right now, as I have to honor his privacy rights.

Sometimes, though, being a property manager includes being a bit of a social worker. I have no social work training, as such, although I am and try to be human and humane. I've been through some rough spots myself, so I know a little of what my tenant feels. I won't claim to know his whole situation, of course, but it saddened me to see him feeling so bad. He's terribly afraid.

Hopefully he can get to a better mood soon. I hate to see him in bad shape. He's a good guy, and deserves some help from the world.

Officiousness

I had my first "Ex-Com" meeting yesterday, a five-plus hour marathon session that I'm told will be the only long meeting of the year. Most of the rest of the meetings are likely to be ten to twenty minutes in duration. Half will be after club general meetings.

On the agenda were things like the club budget for the coming year, what external events the club will support and how, what shape my education program will take, budgets and policies for various efforts within the club and what other agencies and groups are doing to promote cycling in the area.

As a result, I didn't get to ride any yesterday, although I know of a few folks who did.

I had to haul 250# of ice-removal salt from the main warehouse this morning, so I drove. Since I was less distant than usual from the appliance parts supplier, I picked up a couple orders that were waiting for us there as well. The forecast lows are such that I doubt I'll want to ride again until at least Wednesday, but it looks like Thursday and Friday show some promise. Hopefully some of the snowmelt will have a place to go rather than remain on the driving surfaces.

Forecast for today is cloudy weather, but I see sunshine at the moment. Hopefully it will last a while. This is much more conducive to getting rid of the ice than the forecast we were given late last week, which predicted four to five inches of snow on top of the mess we have.

The current number of folks without electricity has dropped to 56,000, from over 600,000 at some point last week. The problems remaining still involve a lot of downed trees, to say nothing of the tree limbs that fell on private property, where landowners will have to arrange for removal. Lots of folks cannot afford having such work done, so dangers will persist for months in some places. Yikes.