Changes

It's time to change the banner to my blog.  The only thing that remains of this picture is the Grocery Getter.  Oh yeah, and the kid.  A bigger version of the kid.

Going Out in Style

My last post discussed my glorious reunion with my Garmin 305.  Found in a corner, shivering, grasping to life.  We nursed her back to health and she seemed happy to be back with us once again.  I tried to ease her back into society on a short bike ride but she would have none of it.  There was no power to her at all.  I performed surgery to see what made her tick and managed to get her heart started once again.

A couple rides into her recovery plan, she got temperamental with me and turned off in the middle of a ride.  That was the final straw.  The romance needed to come to an end.  After all, I had my eye on a cute little Garmin 500 for some time now.  After a brief conversation with a friend, the fine folks at Garmin in Kansas City shipped me my new love and she arrived yesterday. 

I took her out and checked her out, but I needed to get going on my ride.  The new Garmin 500 wasn't quite ready for her maiden voyage so I decided to allow Miss 305 one last fling.  We took off on our ride and everything seemed normal.  But she knew...Oh yes, she knew.

Somehow, unbeknownst to me, she must have ordered explosives for her one last mission.  A suicide bombing to take me out.  She just couldn't go on without me.  As I turned the corner and rode by the park -- KABLOOIE!!!  She exploded and parts of her bounced off me and I screamed at the horror.  All that was left was bits and pieces of her still attached to the bike and the rest of her was scattered for half a city block.

But she failed.  I'm still alive.  I'll move on with Miss 500.  I hope and pray it will be a long relationship without such a psychotic ending.  RIP Miss 305, it was quite an exit from this world.

The Great Mystery of Early 2012: Case Closed

In the beginning of the necessity that would later become known as "The Great Basement Bedroom Remodel of 2012", chaos ensued. Stuff was moved around, packed hastily, strewn between the laundry room, family room, and the garage. As we slowly unpacked, and continue to do so, it was missing. I cried out to it. Searched everywhere. I was so sure that it became scared and simply ran away.

I couldn't give up.  I searched high and low, calling it's name.  I made posters asking for its safe return.  Made a newsworthy plea that if an abduction took place that I would pay whatever it took for its safe return. 

Still....nothing...after awhile, you simply have to move on with your life.  Accept the fact that it's gone forever.  Think back, and occasionally shed a tear over the good times you've had.

Then suddenly there it was:  A whimper in the corner as my beautiful wife Laura was cleaning the laundry room.  Cleaning the mess that I, in my anguish and pain, had made worse in my frantic search for it.  Stuff strewn to and fro, but that wasn't going to stop Laura.  She dug and dug, following the faint sounds until, there it was.  It had returned to me.  I embraced it immediately telling it that I would not part from it until the end of time.

Welcome home!  May we enjoy many more rides together!

We've All Done It

If you are a roadie and you haven't tried to do this, I'm very disappointed in you. I remember one night it was set up on the road by the swimming pool and kids kept egging me on. It was set at 25mph and I topped out at 29 going by it. I did about eight hard sprints and it was the best I could do. The kids kept saying "C'mon go 30! We want to get a picture of it!" Two more attempts and I finally did it. Then I promptly went home, laid down for about an hour because I really thought I was going to puke.

The Art of Making New Friends

After a very long day in the Dakota Dome working a track meet, a guy who didn't look all that familiar to me, and may not have been from here, walked up as I was unlocking my bike, putting my helmet on, and had the following brief conversation:

Dude: "Why do you wear a helmet, are you that bad of a cyclist?"
Me (quite tired and now agitated): "No, but I've seen people like you drive, so therefore I will continue to wear it"
Me: *Staring at the guy waiting to see where this was going to go*
Dude: *Dumbfounded look*
Me: *Smile and pedal happily away*

Okay, it wasn't my finest moment, but it sure felt good!

The Streak - Five Calendar Years

Not only is today the birthday of my wonderful daughter Marissa, it's also the fifth anniversary of the day that I left the car for good in my quest to prove that I really didn't need it to get to work, no matter the conditions. This was the Monday after a nasty spring blizzard came through and a friend of mine called me to pick me up on a Friday because she knew I'd be crazy enough to try to bike that day. She was correct as I was all suited up for the elements and I caved and accepted a ride. This wiped out my longest commuting streak to that point: 48 days! At that point I was just wondering if I'd be able to break my old streak, not to be on a journey that has now tallied 1,288 days as of today.

For brevity sake, and because many of you who have followed my blog in the past already know details of my days that my sanity in commuting was questioned, here is a recap of some of my commuting highlights over the past five years:

* Amazingly, in these five years, I believe I only had to "push" my bike part of the way to the emergency snow routes 2-3 times. I live about three blocks from the emergency routes so once I'm there, I'm usually good to go.

* One day was so icy that I'm almost certain I could have walked to work faster than I rode my bike. I was thankful for a flat commute as even the slightest decline was scary and I spent as much time with my feet off the pedals as on.

* Rain: Snow biking is much easier from a biking standpoint than rain. Even with rain gear, a cold spring or fall rain is by far the most miserable conditions for me.

* Cold: I believe the coldest commuting air temp was -22 and the coldest wind chill was -64. Don't hold me to either of those numbers, but it's close at least. Cold can be brutal, but with the correct gear and only having a one mile commute, it's not that bad actually. Still better than the rain above.

* Lightening: I admit it. Nothing scares me more than lightening. I am glad to say that I've only had to brave lightening once during the streak. One other time I chose to be 10 minutes late to work to allow a system to pass through before I left for work.

* Obstacles: I have actually hit one squirrel on my commute. Calm down, he lived, though slightly dazed. I have been hit by a decent sized tree branch. On a windy day I was drilled by a pizza box.

* Spills: I have crashed on occasion, usually with ice hiding under snow. The worst was a post winter crash a couple years ago though. Going to the dome to teach my cycling class (pre Wellness Center) and I was taking the s-curves with a fair bit of speed and confidence, and I hit very loose gravel left over from sanding the roads and went down really hard. Lots of blood and sore for a couple weeks, but the ego was bruised the most.

* Conflicts with vehicles: Too numerous to mention, although either they are getting better as of late, I am mellowing out and don't care, or my education efforts are working as my coexistence with them has been MUCH better.

What does all this lead up to? Park your car and ride your bike. It's good for you and good for your soul.

Life Through A Cyclists Eyes

Should you fail to understand, please consult your nearest cyclist for further explanation. Ride on!