Time Flies

It's always surprising how fast time goes. Look up, and it's nearly a month since I last wrote. Some things just have to take a back seat.

Ken was in a serious accident a while back. It always makes you think when that type of thing happens. Working in a bike shop, we hear and see the results of bike/car meetings a lot. I have yet to see the bicycle win. In hearing about Ken's experiences, it again reminds me that my household inventory is woefully outdated and even more inaccurate (doing inventory at the shop doesn't help). I am trying to get up the nerve to inventory my own basement which is a fairly daunting challenge.

My in-laws came into town last weekend. It has been tradition for a long time that the women-folk go shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend. This is the second time they have travelled to the Twin Cities to shop. We reserved rooms for them in downtown Mnpls and Friday went well. They did start late, and we did end up at MOA for a while, but then went to the Holidazzle Parade and had a nice dinner after.

Saturday was a little more difficult. We woke as normal, I fed the cats and made coffee. Not 10 minutes later my 16 year old cat, Chester, started to vomit. After about an hour of that, we decided we better get him in to the vet. They didn't open for another hour so we made some other phone calls to emergency vet hospitals. Just like human emergency rooms, just because you're there, doesn't mean somebody will be able to see you right away. So we made sure we were in the parking lot before our vet opened the door.

Chester has had failing kidneys for at least a year. We have him on a special diet with instructions to get him as much water as possible. Now, his liver seems to be failing. We're not sure if it's cancer or what, but it can't be good. After 4 hours, we took him home with a bunch of pills and an IV. There are limits that I want to do to care for pets. I grew up with farm cats and dogs, and they died on a regular basis. I still am not sure about the IV being in my kitchen pantry. It just seems wrong lying there next to my coffee beans. Amazingly enough, he has perked up and seems almost completely normal. I guess we play doctor for a while. I hope time flies.

Sunday we did the morning church stuff and then headed down south to some friends of ours for Sunday Thanksgiving dinner. I watched some football, had some really good food and it was a nice relaxing way to wind down the weekend.

Now it's back to work, where a great many more people decided to go today. We had a lot more customers come in for bike work than we have for a while. It certainly made the day fly by.

Ready for More

I'm not much for Halloween. This year I spent the evening in my basement, with all the lights off in the rest of the house, working on bike stuff. I was also watching a hockey game. I was also trying to figure out if I am going to try Trans Iowa again.

I thought I came to the realization that I am not cut out for this type of event. I enjoy riding long distance, but at 2AM, my body doesn't want to be on a bike. It only lasts for a couple hours, but its a pretty miserable couple of hours. That's what I thought.

Of course, with the looming registration for TI, I am rethinking my conclusion. My argument before about me riding for enjoyment and "why am I doing this when there is this time frame that is never fun", just isn't as powerful now. When you really think about it, 2 hours is nothing for being uncomfortable. That whole, "pain is temporary" thing.

So, I have to find my postcard this week. I am going to start my "training" process this week (or sometime before the end of the year). I am also going to finish up the bike configuration for the ride. That's right, finish the bike set up. Even though I was thinking I wasn't going to do this ride again, I still was gathering parts and readying the bike. Deep down, I knew I was ready for more.

Back to the real world

We returned from vacation on Sunday and it actually felt good to go back to work. I hear that makes me different from a lot of people. I am fortunate indeed to have found work that pays the bills and satisfies me on a day-to-day basis. It also affords me enough time to do a few other things I enjoy. Basically, I am insanely lucky.

North Carolina was awesome! On our way from the gusty east, we stopped in Raleigh to view the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Science Museum. Amazing that articles can survive for so long. Looking at writings and pottery over 2000 years old, is something I can barely wrap my head around. We stayed in Winston Salem that night, noting how inexpensive cigarettes are in that part of the country.

I have to add at this point, that the south-east has a very different definition of what a cafe is than we do up here. First of all, they are almost impossible to locate. It also appears (near as I could tell) that a cafe is an eatery that neither serves breakfast, or indeed is even open before noon. Then closes again around 3, only to reopen around 6. Breakfast seems to not be important to people in NC. We ended up eating pastries we purchased on Sunday from a coffee shop (which was fantastic!), every morning until Wednesday.

We camped a few days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. First night was car camping after the drive there, but we then did a few days hiking and camping in the park itself. For some reason, my "bearanoia" was in high gear. Them park rangers do a good job at making sure you know that bears are rampant in the park. Never did see one. We hiked a sliver of the Appalachian Trail, did a small loop of some side trails, and headed out Friday afternoon. Back country camping is a close second to a bike ride, in my "fun things to do" list.

From there, we drove to St. Louis for the night (I am still a little mad I didn't take a picture of the arch) where we had to do a little impromptu navigating as there was an accident that closed down the interstate. 11 at night, after a 7 mile hike and a few hundred miles of driving, trying to find your way through an unfamiliar city with an outdated, poor map is one of the best tests in married life. (I have to brag that we passed with flying colors)

The next morning (I still am surprised how chipper my wife was for waking up so early each day), we drove to my in laws to help them with a small house project. Carrie's siblings came down and we had a nice family dinner. Then Sunday was the drive home with a lunch stop in Des Moines to show off some pictures of the vacation to the grandparents. A great thing to do, making us realise we had to whittle them down some more. Too many vistas.

Genius

I am doing something I never thought I would, I happen to be writing from a hotel in Winston Salem, NC. I decided to bring the laptop with me while we are out wandering so I made sure I didn't fill my memory card full on the camera and then be unable to take any more pictures. I know that's not really likely, I have roughly 800 or 1000 shots, but I get nervous about this kind of stuff.

Every time we take a trip I remember why people retire. I could definitely get used to it. We decided to visit North Carolina as it is a state I have not seen much of and Carrie probably even less. We are doing a whirlwind tour of the state from sea to mountainous national park. It has already been a great time for catching up with my wife, and repairing the inevitable emotional crap that happens just going through everyday life.

One thing I must share is the stop we made at the Wright Brothers National Monument (as noted by the above picture). Orville and Wilbur (as I like to call them) I would say are the most famous of all bicycle mechanics. They not only made bicycle parts intricate into the first airplane, but it was indeed their working on bicycles that made it possible, by furthering their knowledge and understanding of mechanics on the whole. It just reinforces my saying that, "a bicycle mechanic can fix ANYTHING mechanical." * Orville and Wilbur Wright, super genius.



* side note : There are many people who claim to hold titles. And there are many unworthy of the titles they hold. I have a very strict definition of bicycle mechanic. Fortunately, I just barely qualify.

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.