New Panniers!

Hooray!  A much better way to move stuff around.  My daughter has a rather silly name for these handy bags, which I will not repeat here.

Reflection

I caught this neat view of my shadow heading east at 8:30am this morning. Based on the focal length of my cell phone camera’s lens, and my shoe size, I deduced (as I pedaled) my arrival time at the office to be 8:47am.  I was absolutely correct!

Riding Again...

A gray veil of clouds protected me this morning as I rode from the Y (where the kids are now dropped)(important note: my son provided excellent advice on leaving car at Y and biking from its parking lot!) to the incorporated farmland where my office sits and promotes runoff. Having been spared by cumulous cover, I had a relatively cool ride, including through a construction site where I was duly recognized by the "Slow" "Stop" sign people (who knows when they'll miss a bike???). A new donut shop is also en route to the office, enabling purchase of a bagel. But why does that matter? What matters is the bagel shop itself, which is designed for cars only. There is no seating inside or outside -- green space is miniminzed, macadam maximized. Sad. Uninspired. Inhuman. Perhaps a bagel place for bikes and pedestrians only? 

Biking for Vegetables

What to do when your locally grown, organic veggie order is sitting in a garage, separated from you by thick PM rush traffic? Drive? No. Bike to vegetables!  Out the garage, down the hill in the back yard, along the river, over the bridge, along the lane. Left. Right. Veggies poured into backpack. Return home. Like-minded folk? Certainly!

Bicyclist Hit!!!

At first, I thought this fire hydrant would be the highlight of my morning commute:

But only 100 yards beyond this intersection, things got much more interesting. It wasn’t the three bicyclists I had seen (a promising signal of the coming revolution). It was the sad inevitability of wayward motorists smashing into right-minded bicyclists.

I was headed east at the moment, coming to a stop at a traffic light because I am neutral-good. Mr. G. appeared to head south at the intersection when he got the green. An aging pickup truck also moved northward, turning left and then smacking Mr. G. as he headed into the intersection (having the right of way). The truck's driver had his eye on me, he alleged, leaving Mr. G. out of the driver’s sight as the rear of the truck swung its fateful turn! Fortunately, Mr. G was up and walking right away. Fortunatley, his shiny Trek roadbike was seemingly unscathed. Fortunately, the driver and the bicyclists were sane people and didn’t start screaming at one another. Fortunately, I and another spiffily dressed cyclist (whose bike had shiny fenders) offered assistance. It seemed to all end well…

Boiling to the Springs

Most family and friends shared their doubts about my riding this morning, with the temps and humidity being offensive by 9am. I was a bit reluctant to hit the road myself, and by the time I rode 4 of 12 miles I was feeling pretty tired.

Nonetheless, most of the ride to Boiling Springs is devoid of cars on weekend mornings. However, signaling the coming exurbanite hordes and their sprawling homes is a razed wooden fruit stand (right side of photo below), cleared away for a gasoline station and convenience store. Alas, the quaint response to the intersection of two state road is to be overrun by incorporated concrete and cash registers...and the pathway for my bicycle is to be made more dangerous by cars entering and exiting a gas station.

Summer Irony

Being a (very proud) father of two I am tasked with driving them to day camp throughout the summer. That is, the school bus does not pick them up at the front of our home, and placing me at the wheel of an automobile instead of a bicycle for most of the summer. What irony -- some of the best months of biking forgone to a hulking minivan!

Dead Head?

I rarely ride with headphones, but it's tempting to have one's favorite tunes going while pedaling. But I can see the wisdom in recent legislation that fines headphone use among riders. Also referred to as a "squid" thing to do among Portlanders. Canadians feel similarly. I suppose I have no other choice than to abandon the tunes, thereby making today my last ride con musica.