Peachy Indian Summer

that ol’ whinin’ weatherman was sortof dissin’ the idea of calling this warm weekend “Indian Summer,” since — rightly stated — we only barely barely had a freeze.  It is blissful, nonetheless, and I rode lots.  Alas, ‘way behind nanowrimo wise, but it is a wrongness to stay inside on a 70 degree November day.  On the morrow I shall cast my glance back at last November to see when things got nasty, whcih they did. 249-mile week   Not much chance for repeat because it’s “meeting season” but today I even rode fast for a goodly chunk of time, and fast enough to Improve Fitness, which can be hard to do in flogging November. (And yes, I have more November miles than my rabbits — I’ve already caught WilE Coyote; playing back and forth with NEVERSTANDFRED and still have the LCOLONELROLLIN in my sight… )

More cycling media

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/28/eiko.irpt/index.html

84 year old woman rides MS 150 in dress andheels

Just cloudy riding in today, but the rains will return.  Good heavens, is the weather trying to make up for my years of rain-free riding?  If so, folks, build those arks.  Naw, I think it’s just concentrating the rain so taht rain gear is part of the routine.

It’s comin’ — my little worms in my ears *told* me I’d better prepare for a wet ride home, tho’ the forecast was for rain “tonight,” andthe radar sure seems to agree.

More Nice Weather ;)

Got out 3 minutes later than I wanted… thought I could make it up but Riding Really Hard, but felt like something was dragging.  Realized that in Keeping Priorities Straight (as in, showing up to work on time is more important than mileage )  I needed to cut it short so I went in on Duncan instead of Rising.  Staley might have been nicer but the last mile before campus would be yukky regardless. Figured out what was dragging at Springfield & Duncan — left the light on.   I *do* expect to gain a little on my rabbits (WilE Coyote — 187 and shrinnkin’ fast! NEVERSTANDFRED (13.2 – was ahead of him last week, adn today’s ride might scoot by again), lcolonesrollin (263.6 – he keeps runnin’ but it’s a tortoise and hare thing, and this turtle keeps goin ), cecilanne (525.7 – yea, a long way ahead, but I like at least one lofty goal )  and Howard Plus Indoor Miles – whatever that is!) .

Pushin’ along

Mebbe it’s that change from 25 to 32’s in teh back end (I do remember on htis very same bike getting 2 mph switching from 32 to 28) but even with the light off, the ride was work this a.m. Yea, headwind; left ‘way earlier hoping for a big margin.  Snork – mebbe there really isn’t clearaznce enough for the fenders, in which case I just gotta wear those puppies down a bit.

At any rate, another 19 soggy miles.  Not exactly raining, but not exactly the “fog” that the weather channel decrees is the current state of conditions.

Culture mash ;)

Oh, it’s a little weird to see — yea, I’m watching TELEVISION at a friend’s house — Philo on the Telly on Home Makeover.  It’s. So. Philo. (and so manipulated…)

Had a good ride this afternoon – little bit windy and I went out expecting to do a dozen miles and crawl back and resign myself to oh, letting LTCOLONELSROLLIN get ahead of me even further…  but it wasn’t *that* windy adn I was on the Trek so I went for a sub 15 minute four-miler and got it easily (14:30 even).  THen two more laps around the horse farm and back. 60 degrees is NICE … so I ended up with 33 miles (and the commute to curch, and whatever else happens on the way home from here).

That “fun theory” youtube

I was pondering that one of the problems with driving and inattention is that driving doesn’t (seem to) require that much attention — and whether or not there could be ways to have fun while driving that gave *more* attention where it was needed, not less.
When the dashboard started displaying ongoing gas consumption, the “sport” of gettung uber-high mileage sprang forth.  Is there something else we could measure that would mean drivers attended to their surroundings better?

Quotable Quote:

“I simply want to celebrate the fact that right near your home, year in and year out, a community college is quietly-and with very little financial encouragement-saving lives and minds,…”  “I can’t think of a more efficient, hopeful or egalitarian machine, with the possible exception of the bicycle.”–Kay Ryan, Poet Laureate of the Library of Congress

Snork.  What can I say – reckon I am drawn to things that are efficient, hopeful and egalitarian.

Got in some lunch laps since the rain got here a little later than forecast (it made a big C around CHampaign, as is its custom).  Gonna get wet in  a little, goin’ home, but it’s not awful or anything.

*^&* understatement of the day

From the NEws-Gazeoo, about last night’s Champaign Council Meeting:  “Albert Carrington III of 601 E. Columbia St., C, the father of 15-year-old Kiwane Carrington, who died as a result of the struggle with police on Oct. 9, said, ‘This hurts me. I think the police should have acted differently.’ “

And speaking of Champaign, the Safe Haven community will be moving to Restoration Ministries. Would it seem that Those In Power in Champaign would much prefer that Certain Kinds of People just BE SOMEWHERE ELSE?  (Kinda like wanting cyclists to be as close to the curb and out of the way as possible…)

Rode by pack of pall malls on the weekend, and pondered that “pell mell” has fallen into disuse and vowed to begin to reincorporate it into my lexicon — and got an email with it this morning.

Yesterday I was cruising home on State and wondering why the drivers were not giving me the deference I’m accustomed to and clearing my lane from a quarter mile back.  THey weren’t buzzing me or anything… then I remembered I’d stopped at the store… and no, hadn’t turned on the amber blazer; it was just my lil’ flash flag.Reminded me how much impact my behaviors have on whether other drivers are “nice” and “good drivers” or not

Saw the so-called “funniest dui ever” video — expected, from the title, an unamusing view of drunken stupidity.  Rather, it was an officer pulling over a man who, despite being obviously in a pleasantly altered state, had the verbal dexterity and physical balance to perform all tasks presented.  Untold moments were edited out as we saw the officer escalate the tasks and the man (ego engaged, one might think) responded enthusiastically… and then escalated himself with suggestions for improving the dances she described.  “You’re very good — you a dancer?”  “No, I’m just drunk!”
I hope the edited portions were simply dull, not disillusioning – for this certainly looked like “creative nonviolent confrontation.”

Long way in :)

It was a little more work than it should have been ’cause, um, I haven’t topped up the tyres and I do believe that when it’s colder at night things shrink and swell more and especially shrink.  That back tire with 3000 miles on it still looks worn but intact.   Reckon I should check to see whether it’s a “hard case” – the ones that I usually replace when their layers are separating from themselves.  Would be foolish to wait for layers to separate if, in fact, there aren’t any…fortunately, the tailwind was strong enough so’s I could hold 20+ mph for most of the Northbound 5 miles.

Learned a little about Brakes and Adjusting Them at the bike coop, and (perhaps ’cause it wasn’t my bike ;P )  the bike I grabbed did work better after I’d done stuff than before.  Of course, that was only that one kind of brake, but the principles are the same.

Took 0.87 worth of aluminum cans to the Goat yesterday, only spilling them into an intersection on campus once.  (The big mesh laundry bag is a perfect conveyer, ‘cept it opens *very* easily, which is a good thing when you get there but a bad thing when you hit the 37th bump goin’ a tad too fast on campus).  Student helped me gather ‘em up and I tied the string to something, and on my way.

LM_NET (librarians’ email list) had a “how to boost your resistance to H1N1.”   Number 4 on the list is to clean out the nostrils — with yoga and neti baths or by blowin’ hard.  SNOT ROCKETS RULE   (I managed to hold my wrists back from typing that to the librarian in question — I’m *workin’* on those social skills…)

hybrid noises

… no, not my bikes   It’s in the news how Hollywood’s been recruited  to come up with noises for cars ’cause they’re too quiet.  People have questioned the need for “more noise,” but trains have done it for an awfully long time.

I did it tonight, though (made special noises because I was in a quiet hybrid)- taking off from home having quaffed a New Belgium “Hoptober,” which as I thought, I don’t care for particularly – citrus and beer just don’t gel in my palate well.  that car started backing out and I just hollered, without premeditation, HELLO!!!!  with a fair amount of indignation (but not the abject terror taht the jogger with the stroller did at me when I did the same thing in my ex-car… yes, my almosts are  one reason I ride…) and when the brake lights came on, a delighted “Thank you!” sprang from my lips, and I gave a neighborly wave in the darkness.  Score one for the mellowness of Hoptober, even if it tastes nasty (and, shucks, for the attempts at non-violent thought patterns… once again, I know why it’s old people who are wise.  So did Darwin do stuff he sucked at until he got better … and is a calm temperament necessary for calm wisdom?  Considering St. Francis and Thomas Merton, I think perhaps not, tho’ Francis I think was never *calm* – every bit as fervently ascetic as he’d been party animal…)

Went by Champaign Cycle to have my little standlight examined – the bulb is still there, but it isn’t getting voltage. I suspect that running the light under weird electrical circumstances (like when the bulb was burned out or something liek that) might have incapacitated the capacitor, so prob’ly not the stuff of warranty, but perhaps reparable. Larry was there in sutured glory, knee having a mess of stitches from his interaction with the SUV last Wednesday. We speculated that had it been a sedan, he’d have bounced around on the hood, so therefore SUVs should go. I’ll make sure to use my engine killer ray on vehicles with more dangerous grille stuff.

It’s drizzly and 43 so I’m not really inclined to go the extra 8 miles to get a quarter (25 miles) tonight for Pansy Palmetto’s thread over to bikejournal (though if I were inclined to think it would make her liver behave, I would do so! Die, rogue tumors, die!)