Back to Xtra

No, I didn’t see any of yesterday’s culprits but yes, I got to work … in the building at 8:00. What with yesterday’s 35 miles, I wasn’t pushing. YESTERDAY I had to wait several minutes to get across Windsor at Fox: “Somehow you know summer’s over” (Michael Smith, Sister Clarissa earworm). There was another shooting … yea, in a Black neighborhood 😦 (I also haven’t found out how Garden Hills, another neighborhood w/ lots of minorities, fared w/ the recent deluges; they have done MAJOR work with a retention pond and other efforts to keep flooding down.)

So! started the day with 459 miles on the month. 500 miles a month is a LOT of miles when I don’t do long ones. The average necessary just doesn’t go down much 😛 But 1700 left to go to make 5000 for the year. BUT time to get focused on these finite days of life.

Normal Bike Blues

GE 13475

FG 18307

*Not* sure of the last 3 digits of the second plate, because looking at it my brain was saying DO NOT LET LEARNING THIS ONE ERASE THE FIRST ONE.

Today I had *two* hostile driver incidents — I can go months without any. Is it a coincidence that I’m on the Trek FX — a normal bike — with a Camelbak, not on the “do I live this bike?” Xtracycle?

I sped up to scoot over to try to get the left turn green and … so did the driver who whipped aroundme on the right to make their left turn. Now, it wasn’t like SVA BBY2 of years ago who cut me off before even getting to the intersection and hollered at me that if I were going to break the law I should at least be courteous. (we crossed paths a few more times and I would wave and grin seraphically at her and she changed her route.) This driver didn’t really endanger me; didn’t break the 3 foot rule, even, as he swept widely around me, the way I do if there’s a vehicle behind me so they can cut across faster. It was a toyota, I think silver.

The second was a Toyota Corolla on Church Street, laying on their horn and squeezing by … and yes, I pulled up right behind them at Prospect because no, they didn’t even come close to making the light. I had hollered epithets …. and reached for the horn that’s not on this bike. I did pull hp behind and act like I was talking into something and read his plate — and gaze at the thick squarish frames of his glasses, and note that yes, I liked to know who the hostile aggressive drivers were who needed to hurry up and get to the red light.

Then the Yellow Bus passed widely in the left lane but … that person *wasn’t* just walking their dog, they were at the bus stop? (Two people so maybe only one was dogwalking? Or it was a service dog? ) BUT the Yellow drivver just stopped in the left part of the lane ’til I got past, and then passed wiiidely later (and it took ’em a while at the stop, so … who knows?). And yea, a lot of other drivers gaveme plentyof room. (And yes, I still have my goofy helment.)
ON TIME to work, HOORAY! (Okay, by 8:02)

But not ’til 9:45 did I see a picture of a person with big glasses frames and remember to document those plates. I’m motivated to be on time because the Church Street people are often regular commuters (e.g. the maroon Buick) and I’d love to give the FG a toot on my air horn.

429 miles for August. *Local* folks say chnce of storms afternoon, national says tiny chance. I’ve got the lights charged up and YES the CamelBak (esp. without water to weigh it down) makes for comfortable riding. The Garmin once again says it’s not paired but last time it said that … it still was, and to be honest the radar beeps don’t really make a difference most of the time. I
Self: get down to “clean up ’til you find stuff’ this week!

First Day Back !

The ride in was Very Normal. Weird timing b/c I wanted to get to work a little early because FIRST DAY.

Ride home was quietly notable — but also normal 🙂 Well, except for the light staying Green.

The light coming out of Parkland STAYED GREEN ?!?!?!? and the walk light wasn’t on ?!?!? I cut over to sidewalk. Oh, crap, car comin’ out of one of the parking lots, magiccleaning.net … they stopped well before the sidewalk and waited.

On University THREE tractor trailers passed me. (Most big trucks turn at Mattis.) All of them went all the way to the left lane even when they had to slow down and they were coming RIGHT OFF THE INTERSTATE. That’s not normal behavior 🙂

Okay, that Mercedes driver did kinda start moving forward before I was through — normal behavior anywhere but the midwest 😛

Approaching terminal and 9A is coming out. I threw my hand down and YES, they turned in front of me so they didn’t have to wait behind me going under the RR tracks.

Black man on scooter is navigating First Street, and gives me a “Be Safe” blessing. I am thinking it’s done just like the church blessings — you just raise your hand a bit, no special sign, but it has me wanting to go back and read Mary Stewart’s Merlin books where magic and blessings imbued genuine magic (reading them made me shift from my mindset that the power of God or gods was something humans constructed and wouldn’t exist if we didn’t think of it… nope, sacred spaces and objects in those books …. did things …)

A man crossing Main Street with amazing dreadlocks burst into a smile when he saw me.

People *admire* me for pedaling to work. Try it 😉

thinking

I was thinking that people get first impressions of the community when they see me and so maybe I should …. consider stickers and what I’m wearing and …

…. except that as soon as it crosses the “they are sending a message” line, it’s gone. NOpe. Be,.
Today had lots of happy good communications. Unlike last week, no “should have fired off the air horn!” — folks backing out of the driveway stopped. People waved me on (OK once was a “dude, you should have just gone” but … it was fine…)

Got to work ON TIME 🙂 a one-lap lunch b/c I’m the only one there but THANK YOU HEAVENLY POWERS… that person whose whole job depended on it GOT THE SCORE THEY NEEDED.

I saved lives tonight. YOu see, that person works in the ER saving lives. Now they can keep working in theER saving lives. (I HOPE: the evil ones might still have crap up their sleeves…) And they can SLEEP TONIGHT (aroundall the other crap in life but… ONE LESS nastiness.)

LOL AND I found where I tucked that ATM withdrawal ;P

Now Strava and Ridewithgps are denying that I rode home. The Garmin says I did. OK I convinced it. I want to set things back so 5 miles is a lap 😛 107 miles on the month…. 2952 on the year.

It’s almost August

Yesterday the rains stopped at 5:00 so I could ride home, but in my Gathering of Things I did not snag the bag with the shim for the not quite big enough seat post for Baby Bianchi. The shim looks …. thicker than 0.2 mm … but I pointed out that … it could find a home at the bike project.

Tonight is moonlight ride. I want to go. I don’t have *all the cool lights* but … I’ve got enough. I want to be able to do a thing, go to bed, get up early the next day because that’s a good thing to be able to do. It would also bang me over 500 miles for July (I’m at 487 this mid-commute). Then tomorrow I’d hop on the fast bike and get another 25+ mile day. Thursday is *last day of classes* and finals day so, yea, I’ll get there on time (BUT today I wasn’t quite and 😦 😦 somebody had called and been told I wouldn’t get here ’til 9 and that’s prob’ly when their class is tho’ I can only hope it was something else).

AND today, finally 😛 I”m approaching University from Randolph and gosh golly the driver behind me is *signalling* to turn!!!! SO I slowed a bit and got kinda behind him and… yea verily, they were able to right turn on red and save 5 or so whole seconds of time and fossil fuel burning.

The geese are all over the place but not in my path b/c I didn’t have to take the sidewalk into campus. That light at Country Fair and Bradley …. I hope they fix it soon & may reply to their reply to me about it to suggest throwing fewer seconds N/S and more E/W. Yesterday there was big honking at somebody doing a left turn on red after having been stopped.

This morning the Noisy Thing I Picked Up was still where I plopped it by the police station/ city hall, but I’m hoping a planner type sees it. When I searched, I found I could buy one for a thousand dollars or so. IT was on Main Street so my imagination was working on why … did the sudden storms mean seeking shelter fast? Was some working stiff going to have to pay for it? At last BPAC meeting there they talked about the ways they know about who’s doing what, construction wise, and its effects on roads and traffic. Note to self: put something to ID expensive stuff. (Hmmm… I might just register my bicycles, even Baby Bianchi). SELF ALSO got email from person who is giving away a nice Bianchi. SELF: ask at the ride about options for that, knowing …. it’s not so easy to do just things with valuable stuff. BUT I could ask at the Y. Or… ReStore….

452 misty

It was misting but there was nothing on the radar so I went out to ride start, and dripped enough to post “no, it’s raining,” but that’s when Anne pulled up so I posted “but we’re riding anyway. Four of us went to Philo — based on where roads had been graveled. OK I don’t know where John went — he’d said he was chilly and got out ahead of us 😉
Then to farmer’s market for a couple tomatoes, eggplant and focaccia bread.
Now to get away from silly screens and go attempt to extract the wheel from the Gazelle, and perhaps assorted other parts that could be useful and to my vision, don’t “look right” if it’s in the yard, which is interesting.
Six more days, 48 more miles. 2734 on the year so I’d “only” have to average at most 459 miles/month rest of the year to hit 5000.
Time to DO DIFFERENT THINGS 🙂
(LOL no, time to do Reddit and PCC stuff. NOW it’s time…)

500 ??

I think I squeezed out 11 today.
Bikenite asked about … first century, what should I bring?

My first centry, on my hybrid, starting at dawn…. the fast ppl going by me were “you’re doing what???” but this one person rode with me and chatted and *listened.*

At the end I detected who he was. An ER worker, rode tons of distance… I thought, ” people who are that good at reading people … have had to fight demons.” Well, Sean lost a son to gun violence and then lost his life to his own gun (and “the meds, they weren’t right”).

This week I learned that Tru Luv Flo “died unexpectedly at home.” if you do a google search for “suicide euphemisms” ….

LIfting y’all.

honk honk

Drat fooey. I still don’t know I have a horn.

FW 44910 in a maroon (I think) Buick was the driver in the right lane on Church that inspired my brain to say “move over to the parking lane, those ones aren’t going to respect you.” I did and the two cars went by and that driver was inspired to honk. An air horn response would have been perfect even if I remembered a few seconds later but I just remembered now at the desk (it’s on the handlebars with an inner tube sloppy mount). Yes, I got to the traffic light as it went green (and FW was turning left; they were truly a “whip around everybody to get ahead for a second!” driver. Being first in the queue is so important!

Yesterday I confirmed that yea, it’s the Teal driver (the “I’m on time if I see the Teal before Fourth Street” eastbound bus) is the one who recognizes me. Yes, saw him today too, before Fourth street(well, I was pulling in the lot at 8:00, which is basically on time).

Yesterday’s other highlight: That would be Graham Nash’s tour bus in front of the Virginia Theatre. Teach your children well…

Yes, if I were doing the Wednesday ride, I’d get to 400 today (381 now) but …. it’s Sister Charlene’s birthday so I’ll get those extra 5 or so on the commute plus visit end instead of 15-20 extra.

Really wish I could reach across the world and just … I dunno, get the right people properly stoned.

little miles

This morning was a nice commute; lots of little life affirmations and good communications. The guy who waved me across on First STreet — I mean, I had the right of way but You Never Know and … I knew 🙂 The Orange catching up to me at Prospect so I LOOKED BACK (knew where they were because mirror but driver doesn’t know that) so it could get by in the intersection because sometimes you DO pass in an intersection). Crapppppy air quality so just 2 miles at lunch. GOin’ home was also decent and I tried to keep the mask up esp. since I saw at least four other people wearing them. I did a little extra goin’ home and then… having left phone at M’s house, got the extra 1.4 miles retrieving it to get 17.7 miles on the day which is slightly above “gotta get that for 30 days to get 500.” There was a nasty wreck on Race street w/ lots of emergency vehicles.
And a person in the Beloved INclusive contemplative prayer group emailed me about the Wednesday Bike Ride and then figured out both Sues were the same. She had also inquired about my father the physicist (she works in that dept. at U of I) which had inspired me to inquire of my siblings and I got access to a digital version of the interview he did about oh, God and dying when he got his terminal diagnosis. Ya know, 25 or 30 years means you get different things from the same interview.
357 miles on the month and no ‘week off to travel” plans, and this Wednesday will not be Loooong because goin’ to the convent instead of a long ride but I should still net 20 on the day goin’ to the convent. This is the fun arithmetic part because getting that little bit extra is truly extra since we’ve done the first part with extra.
Next week…. the noonlight ride is Tuesday. I am thinking about that and … the longness of Wednesday and how I could pretend i’m young and not drink beer and go in an hour late to work for that sleep stuff…. knowing that I will have FRIDAY OFF. (don’t want to go in late Thursday b/c it will be the day of finals and peer tutors will be taking finals not tutoring).
Last Wednesday, the stupid seat did the rock forward thing. LIke, it had behaved for several rides. Welp, along the ride I loosened it and yes, was told that my age and gender indicated no, I didn’t need a new seat…. and Bryan tightened the thing and … oh, it’s way too slanted. So I need to figure out leverage and get it right and …

Normal commute ;)

OUt at 7:20 and the air is crappy with the Canadian wildfires (over a hundred). Not awful but nope, I’m not gonig to exert myself. Did the four-way at Washington and Vine and hey, LOTS OF PEOPLE at the high school… oh, FCA (???) Day Camp. Saw several folks on bikes, one e-bike and one VEO. I waved a person through crossing through campus…. the guy in the white car/truck (don’t remember, just remember his smiling face, what ? :)) who was turning left on First Street waved me forward, which was technically redundant but yes, I do like to know ! YES 7:39 and I beat the mass bus departure.
Waved atthe people in Eden’s parking lot and “what’s your name?” and she is Sharon. Timed the Prospect light sneaking to the right and oh! there’s the Orange bus so I “looked back” so they saw me see them so they could get past me in the intersection.
The quiet gentle affirmations are just a good way to start the week. Now, I hit “save” on the Garmin but it hasn’t yet. I shall try to find a “data cable” to see if the Garmin knows I rode, even if it didn’t synch up with RidewithGPS or Strava. I’ve got 345 miles on the month 🙂