Petty thought

I find myself not checking my thoughts before they leave my mouth a little too much lately. Working with the public, I experience a lot of different backgrounds, personalities, and conduct. The level of general stupidity en laced into the human culture is astounding. I know I am not above it. And as a matter of fact, hover quite low on the intelligent line. But when it comes to common sense and rational behavior, I can hold my own. So on that thought, some general behaviors exhibited by the majority of people I encounter are what have prompted me to concentrate on watching my tongue to remain polite.

Repeating what I say as a question. If I answer a question, that is the answer. I wonder if people really think it's going to change, just because they ask.

Not asking the correct question. Customer rolls bike in with flat tyre. I take bike into the back. Roll out bike with obvious non-flat tyre. Customer asks, "did you fix it?" when what they really want to know is, what caused the flat.

Telling me their bike or story is older than I am. Is this supposed to make me feel better? I am pretty sure that one of these days I am going to answer their question with some form of, "well on my bike, which isn't close to as old as you are, this never happens". I might want to wait until I can afford to be fired to use that one.

Rambling about nothing related to the situation. I am amazed what people think is important to a situation. There is no way that any one's grandmother's hip replacement she had done in San Donfradino in 1967 by a doctor who turned out to be a second cousin who has an oil stain on his left pant leg which he bought at a second hand store up the street, has any business in a conversation about bicycles. (Obviously I was not trying to outfit a bicycle for the grandmother)

Not letting me talk. I try not to say any more than I have to. I actually say less than I should. When someone is trying to solve a problem and they go to someone else for help, I am thinking they actually want help. It's obvious to me, some people just want to think out loud near other people. That's what malls are for.

Like. I hate this word so much, I try me best to never use it.

This post doesn't really have anything to do with bicycles.

Enter Fall

As fall begins to creep its way into this part of the world, it reinvigorates me in a myriad of ways. I know that spring is the time for much rebirth and renewal, but fall fits me. The cooler weather, being more predictable, means putting on an extra layer or so and keeping it on. Even as the sun peeks out, there usually isn't enough force to make you loose a layer. Maybe just unzip a little. It's very comforting, physically. And I think that frees my mind up some, as I always start thinking a little more about where my life is going, and what I want and should be doing.

So I started carrying my camera a little more. I was coming home the other night and saw one of the most spectacular sunsets ever. It was one of those "skies on fire" types of scenes, with the sun looking like it was about to engulf the Minneapolis skyline. Amazing. I hadn't yet reached this point of introspection, so of course, no camera.

I also am making the list of things I need to do to feel some accomplishment. My wife is a big fan of lists and like all great people, she rubs off on me a little. I now find lists of stuff all over the place. Every once in a while, there are even things on those lists that I have done.

A bad thing about fall is that we slow waaaaay down at the bike shop. We had a Sunday slow ride yesterday to kind of celebrate the last work day for one of our best part timers. We just rode around the cities a little bit, wandering our way to some pizza and beer. Sitting in the restaurant, we were getting a little chilly from the sweat of the ride. Fortunately, I just zipped up the wool long sleeve and was reminded again, yep, it's fall.

So now I am making a concentrated effort to do some things that challenge me. Making sure that as the winter season approaches, I embrace this time of renewal for me. It's the perfect time to finish some long overdue projects, and wrap my brain around some tough mental challenges I have ongoing. This really is, for me, the greatest time of year.

Fun and Shinanigans

My friend Ken and I rode the Urban Assault Ride this weekend. Twas a fantastic event. We rode to the packet pick-up on Saturday with the intention of doing some planning for Sundays ride. Now anyone who knows us will realize when we say planning, it really means making sure we decide what time we are to meet. This was true for Saturday but ended up with a little more planning than normal after the first couple beers. And it kept going from there.

I had spent a couple days making sure the Cross Check was ready to ride. I figured it would be perfect for the unpredictable route we would take. But after Saturdays ride, we ended up riding Ken's Schwinn Twin from the 60's. Definitely the best decision of the weekend. We figured we had better have some nourishment for the ride as it started at 9AM. So we picked up the fixins for bloody marys to have during the ride. Definitely the best decision of the weekend. Neither of us were much of the bloody mary fan, but now I think we are hooked. Ken brought a couple swank Hawaiian shirts for our uniforms. Stylin. With the cooler stocked with extra mix and vegetables, our glasses half-full (to cut down on spillage), we were off.

The ride was perfect. It is the best time of year to ride around these parts. Riding around the cities, we would be seeing other riders and everyone was super friendly. Bells ringing like crazy. Made me wonder why people aren't that nice all the time. I think our proudest moment was the limbo contest. I wasn't thinking we would have to do any contests on our own bicycles. Fortunately, Ken is a fantastic rider and I am small. Good combo for the limbo.

I haven't mapped it out yet, but we put on nearly 30 miles. There was a small amount of back-tracking done, but it is really amazing about the winning team. They must have been flying! All I know is that this was the second race I have done in the same year. After a hiatus of over 10 years from any racing, I think I have outdone myself. I might have to do some more training next year. I have a nice gash and bruise from slipping a pedal on the big wheel.

Walking instead of riding

I did something today I have never done before. I protested.

We went down to the capital today to march to protest the war in Iraq. I didn't get into the speeches and yelling and all that stuff, but to see the number of people, and how passionate people get over it was incredible. Once in a lifetime opportunity stuff.

There were definitely some powerful images that my pictures don't do justice. Most of the time, they were things that I didn't feel comfortable shoving my camera in the face of. Even though most of the time people are out there to get publicity and show what is bothering them, it still doesn't feel right to me. Some part of me thinks that if you don't experience it yourself, in person, it loses a lot of the impact.

So it was completely uneventful from a lawful perspective. I heard a few people were arrested but of the thousands and thousands of people that were there, it was amazingly peaceful. Just how I like it.




Someone was wearing this shirt during the march. I think I have to get one.

Haulin

Having accumulated a good amount of stuff at the bike shop, I decided I better haul the trailer to work and bring some of it home. Here is a list of what was in the trailer last night:

- Raleigh atb frame/fork
- Bianchi Boardwalk complete bicycle
- Trek 1000 frame
- complete 24" bicycle parts kit
- crankset/bb (used)
- crankset (new)
- 2 tubular road tyres
- 3 tubular cross tyres
- 2 atb tyres
- 3 road tyres
- mavic cosmic ft wheel
- 3 tubular rims
- 16 drawer small parts bin

I'm thinking that towin this type of load would be good trainin. Glad I don't train.

Ready to go

It's the time of year at the bike shop that weekends start to be a little more common. I was fortunate to have Friday and Saturday off and with the weather beginning to creep towards fall, it was gearing up to be a nice couple days off.

Friday morning started out with a trip to the auto repair shop. I normally am one to do a lot of my own work, even on the dreaded automobile, but there comes a time when letting other people do work makes sense. I had them check out the "check engine" light and reset it (stupid sensitive Toyotas) and do some brake work. Almost completely in yuppie mode, I headed to the driving range with Dan. I say almost because instead of taking the second car (which I don't have) we biked, pulling the clubs in the trailer.

Friday afternoon was doing a few things around the house. Catching up on stuff that had been left a little long. I was able to have dinner with my cousin, and then I ended up back at home, trying to rid myself of a very uncommon occurrence of a headache. As we were sitting around with the lights low and the volume down on the time wasting box, I heard a bike bell. The bike gang came over and made daiquiri's. A nice evening treat to end the night.

Saturday morning was simply spectacular. We slept in a little, then biked to Nina's coffee shop. I wanted to order a book for our upcoming vacation and decided to buy local. There really aren't that many local bookshops. I had a fun experience trying to find the book to order as I couldn't quite recall the title. I knew the author but it is a little bit rarer than I thought so we eventually had to go directly to the publisher to order it. Small business are great!

Lunch was at Great Waters Brewing Co. Fine crafted beers. Food well above average but can be listed in the "bar food" category. Definitely my kind of place. The only reason why they don't know me by name there is that after enjoying everything a little too much, we have to climb out of St Paul to get home. Not bad during the good weather. Not fun to do during the other 8 months.

Finished up Saturday by working in the yard and doing a little reading while my wife went out with friends. I feel ready to go.

Procrastination

I am trying my hand at being the best procrastinator on the planet. For weeks now, the Corolla has needed new brake shoes. I have had them in the basement, ready for me to put them in. I just have no motivation for working on the car. Today is the day. No more excuses.

I am expanding my knowledge of bikes. I am storing a 1972 or 73 (can't quite pin it down) Honda CL350 K4 motorcycle. A friend of mine had someone give it to him and as I have more storage space, it is in my garage. The idea is to fix it up and have a community bike. Now I have wanted a motorcycle since before I can remember, so I am all over this idea. The nice thing is that my wife seems ok with it also. If I didn't know better, I might think she's up to something.

I have been thinking about Trans Iowa fo the last few days. After my last overnight ride, I started to consider that rides including overnights are not for me. I still do not have a definite answer to whether that is true or not. I am hoping to have that sorted out by the time registration ends. So until then, the parts list has begun for the Cross Check to become Iowa gravel worthy.

Maybe I'll put that off until winter.