Urbana-Champaign Bicycle Commute

Snork!

2011-12-26T07:46:00.001-08:00

Gee, now that I had abandoned this, it lets post without captcha. I'm confident that if I continue, I'll trip the algorithm again, though.

Wordpress bound!

2011-12-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

Since Google had all those bogus "just click here and we'll know you're human" messages that their automated crap ignored, I'm outta here, especially with Google's totally useless "helpful hints" about things I was certainly doing to be considered spam, none of which I was actually doing.
bicycleuc.wordpress.com is where you'll find me... now it's time to get on the bike...

Title

2009-04-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

It's really winding down, or up, as the case may be. 9 days 'til "study day" then finals week.
Being revisited: that you can't distribute squares over terms.
This would be where I would emphasize - go deeper than what looks right. Remember what it MEANS. So that even though you are "simplifying" -- alas, it looks messier and more complificated.

2009-04-28T12:05:00.001-07:00

Random post just so Google still thinks it exists.

2008-10-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

My blog's now at http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com

I got tired of trying to convince Google that this isn't a spam blog. Hey, just a click away and they'll check and see this isn't spam -- except they actually don't. They tell me what spamblogs are... and name characteristics mine doesn't have.
I woulnd't mind if they *said* "yo! we're not making any adsense funds offa you! So we're gonna make it a bunbite to be here!"
Nope, they make it more of a backbiting bunbite.
It's only a coincidence, I'm sure, that the spam-letter-code says "pigfek" at the bottom ;)

2008-09-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Just stopping in out of perverse curiosity. Of course, I've still got the 'character ID' down below.

And, no surprise, now it asks me to "fill out the form" to request a review. The fact that I have "filled out" exactly that form twice already and it has been ignored isn't mentioned. I do wonder if I'm missing somethign about the "form," since it seems to be simply a "letter id" itself ... wonder if it doesn't work in Firefox or something.

Sorry, this is a "third time's for losers" situation, in my opinion. Google socks.

I'm still spam.

2008-09-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

At "least" their automatic message says they're sincerely apologetic and that they received my request to unlock on the 19th (of course, they received the other one a few weeks before that.)

Google Socks

2008-09-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

... Yes, indeed.

I've been returned to "apologies if you're not a spam blog, please send a request."

This is the third request.

Something tells me it's a bot doing the research. Jes' like a spambot.

Happily fleeing Google's crap. Wondering when they'll foul up their email... better start looking for options before they decide I'm sending spam from there, too.

Snork. Now, it tells me to do the visual verification and doesn't even have a picture, so I &**cant** get it right the first time. Is that something google reserves for people who say they sock?

Is Google even more big brother than Word?

2008-09-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com/

That's where I"m gonna go post the picture of our "itty bitty bike shop."

yea, I'm still waiting on "review" - wondering when/if I'll get the switched message from "we received your request on September 11" to "please send a request for review" again.

Deciding Friday

2008-09-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

... I'm thinkin' that by Friday I'll have gotten to know my way around Wordpress to say so long to Google blogs.
Yes, I requested a review - and you can't request every day and no, there's no "contact a real person" avenue. (After the request, I got "your request has been received" the next couple times I checked; then a week after *that* I got the "you should request a review" message again. I'd guess they're so overwhelmed by the spam that they can't keep up, and they have an automatic reset so that the burden is on me to get back on the list.
Time to stop being in the vulnerable masses. (There should be a sociological/ economic term for it - being a target because of the hugeness of one's group.)
Time to write about cycling instead :)
And... on wordpress, since the flogging letters get harder and harder to match.

Ike and HOodoo

2008-09-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Vicarious hoodoo
That's Howard, deadhead et al, prepping for the Hoodoo 500, which is happening NOW. I'm pausing in my Saturday ride for some of that stuff called food.It's feeling extremely tropical here, except there arent those blobs of hurricane clouds or anything. It's just warm and humid and windy. OH, and a big noise happened so I reckon the ILlini scored :)

Tried the "deep breathing snot rockets" on this cold and didn't get to euphoria land, but it *did* feel good and perhaps it will make the cold not last so long. It feels like exactly the same cold.

Still on track for 1000. COnsidering a moonlight "solidarity to hoodooers" outing.

Oh, and I"m going to cut and paste this to Wordpress. I'll make a final decision at the end of the week but I'm sick up and fed with stoopid lettres.

MOjo?

2008-09-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

... http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com

So just for fun I clicked on the "why do I have this?" because yea, it's been a few weeks.

It had said that I shouldwait for them to process my request.

Now it is back to saying I should fill out a form again.

Gosh, the less I post, the fewer times I have to put up with such crap.

I am thinking that they simply want fewer blogs. Of course, if frequently posting real bloggers leave, then the ratio of real to spam will suffer.

Google Socks

2008-09-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

A girl could like that wordpress - see http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com/. For starters, you can make links open a new window if you want to, and uploading the new header was fun (I'll peruse my images... that one with the train was obvious 'cause it's long and wide).
Yes, it's been goin' on two weeks and I'm still getting my little letters to type. The Internet is all about inertia and those silly letters have motivated me...

Thomasboro bites

2008-09-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday we wanted to avoid game traffic and headwinds home, so we went to Thomasboro. Last time I was out there, I was chomped on by a dog at the house at the corner of Highcross and 2300. This time, when I pulled in to the Casey's, something got me through my lycra. I've got a lovely welt on my upper thigh.
On an unrelated email discussion, somebody mentioned the value of photographing skin reactions to things, to document changes, etc. I was inspired and had the camera with me.
There was a viral email a decade back about "things to do to freak out your co-workers." Add to the list: Go into a bathroom stall and take flash pictures.
(Don't have the right cable or I just might post it ;) )

Went in this a.m. via Office Depot and a fella on big tires engaged in a race. I passed him and he stayed just behind... lagged a bit and then surged, giggling audibly, got a little ahead of me and then faded fast, coughing. Okay, we were both trading "woopee!" noises :D
On the other hand, the Trek rider I talked to at lunch was struck by a driver on the way in today :(
The South Route to Parkland: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=163806
The North Route, with Roads http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2249138
An even more North route based on the map and my vague memory that parts of Washington are Brick and a pain, which could be wrong: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2249158
(the North route can be taken right on through Main Street, too, through Seibel Hall)

2008-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Too busy to contemplate blogmoves... enjoying the names of the alleycatters! Major IceHole indeed! Must be a winter biker :)

Had to make mental adjustment to NotHurry this morning, again, 'cause there's just too much pedestrian and bicycle traffic (over 20 cyclists). It's not as if the attitude actually changes the time it takes - but it changes the encounters with others and whether I slow down and smile, or slow down a second *later* and jump... and still end up proceeding when it's appropriate, which would hve been the same time no matter when I slowed down.

308 miles last week :) First week in September is often >250 but it can be hard to top 300. Now for the rest of the month, which will entail *not* being distracted by blogs so I can get Done What NEeds To Be Done.

Welts...

2008-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

... yesterday's sting has a nice big red blob around it today. It itches, though, which means healing, eh? Wasn't a bee...

this letter crap is beyond old. Yo. Tomorrow moving?

Greenbelt Reel Lawnmower Society

2008-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Seems my brother's group won the grand prize in my hometown's Labor Day parade for precision lawnmowing :)
Rode the Boulevard ride in Chicago today. Perfect weather and a well-organized ride with lots of volunteers with large orange flags to show where to turn, really good pavement markings (except one spot with the confoundingly ambiguous sign "CONTINUE RIDING" and finally a single stenciled arrow) The folder was the right bike (aside from fitting into Frank's car next to his, with the other two bikes on the rack on the back) since it squirts so easily through anything and bounds over rough roads. Saw a soul or two I recognized from GITAP.

metric day

2008-09-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

... got in 100K and a little more - and got stung through my lycra, somehow, out near THomasboro - never saw a bug but felt it and Wild looking welts they are but they don't hurt any more. Grateful for a not-too-sensitive immune system :)

Volunteered at the bike coop today for the new Saturday hours, which were almost utterly unannounced... but there were at least 10 new folks who happened by. Since I have *extremely* limited actual mechanical skills, I had volunteered to do naught but talk to people; not my favorite thing in the whole world but it did mean the folks working on bikes and helping people work on bikes could *do* that. Now, I just have to remember 40% of the important details (like, "are you a member? did you sign in?")

OH, and I got a wordpress blog. Might just start doing that instead... but not tongiht - but about when these hard to read letters push my button one too many times.

poor bicycle riders...

2008-09-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

I went into the grocery store for cheese and bagels and noodles ...all the cheapest kind :) ... and when I asked about my nickel for having my own bag, the checker was abashed and apologetic. I tried to make light of it... told her the truth - it's my "mad gambling money" and when I get to a dollar, I buy a lottery ticket. She was even *more* apologetic... I didn't have time to explain that actually, I bought the vending machine lottery tickets, too, not the big ones, because I *don't* dream of getting millions. I just have fun occasionally scratching off and getting $5.
(I didn't tell her I did the same with half of my money from the cans I pick up off the road when I'm doing intervals, either ;) ) I'm due for a trip to the Goat... gonna go for $3.00 in cans in September :)

I'm honestly getting pretty tired of this stupid letter crap.

Friday!

2008-09-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

branta canadensis indeed - welp, I"m trying to *earn* faux spam status, since I"m still typing in that revolting letter recognition. You see, it is nonsense. I excel at discerning dyslexic, dysgraphic expressions - from handwriting that has patterns attempting to make words with meaning.

Did a 14 mile "power surge" at the end of the commute tonight. DId most of the miles in under four minutes. (Speedo still busted so I have to use a clock for my speedometer - since roads are a mile apart, I try to get there in under four minutes.) Got lots of howdies adn some of them even people I recognized :)

This was one of those weeks where I was always behind. Friday obligations evaporated, tho', so here's hoping to ketchup!

Goose anecdote

2008-09-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

I turned onto campus on the sidewalk and it was populated with geese, most of 'em on the right of the walk, some of 'em on, and some of them to the left, with a goose or two actually on the campus drive.
Aha! A chance to use my horn!
I tooted from a reasonable distance and expected dispersal radiating from the sound. Instead, the critters all ambled East (away from the road), tho' it meant some crossed the walk in front of me.
If you're looking for your doctoral thesis topic and you decided not to explore the uncharted genetic foot condition in our family, then the dispersal patterns of branta canadensis when honked at could serve, eh?

No mockin' the mockingbirds

2008-09-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

http://almarose.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/this-day-got-beautiful-in-it/

I started pondering the implications of considering all creation in a self-centered way and then decided to just get into it ;)

misty

2008-09-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

'tis misty indeed, as the vestiges of Gustav ooze away. I await the hypotonic tomato explosions as the plants suck up this moisture after a dry spell.
Lots of spamblogs infused with the word "dahon" ... but none with Xtracycle :) Definitely an increase in the spamblogs over the past two weeks.
Rode in strong this a.m. tho' I slept in so it was the 7.3 mile version. 7 other bikes in the mist.

Vehicular Cycling Workshops

2008-09-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

That's right, you can get the basics of riding your bicycle as a vehicle (as opposed to a gadget ;) ) at teh U of I. Check it out - it's an hour's session. It would be awfully cool if people actually went to them :)

Gosh, another link on my "link farm." Google socks.

Gustav

2008-09-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

The vestiges of Gustav are here... and we'll get practical examples of hypotonia (which I was explaining to a student yesterday) as tomatoes explode their skins, I'm sure.
Damp ride in but just sprinkles. Couldn't go fast like yesterday 'cause it's later and there are *people* around! The nerve!
New urban dictionary "cool" word: "steeze," as in "style and ease" or self-confidence. Do you have it? I think I left mine with my keys, wherever they are, but it's around somewhere!
Ed Kieser ("the whining weatherman") said we'd have the "flavor of fall" next week, but "not freezing or anything." I'm ready :)

Not Grumpy

2008-09-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am still grumpy at computers which aren't being cooperative (I am not a Mac person. I want a computer to do what I command it to do. I do not want a computer to cutely and vainly attempt to anticipate my needs. I never want to do exactly what a Mac informs me I *must* want to do, though they're better than they were back in dos days.)
Very nice commute in this a.m. I love how the legs feel 48 hours after a century :) If I had a working speedo (have I mentioned all kidns of electronics not liking me these days?) I could tell you how fast I went, including 2 victory laps aggressively crunched out around campus.
Saw the rec center at the U in "prime time" yesterday - it *is* a mass of bicycles everywhere. They're on the "temporary yellow" racks, they're on every metal bench and up the railings on the stairs. I feel sorry for people who need railings to climb stairs. I feel sorry for people
Ah, the Mother ( ) U.

Monday Century :)

2008-09-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Welp, I found map number five, but 4:30 Monday morning it wasn't here. Musta left it at my friend's where I was doing the Internet thing, along with the Route to Catlin.

However, I'd deeply pondered said Route to Catlin, and I had printed out from Catlin to Perrysville including a serious zoom-in of Catlin to Belgium to across the river to Perrysville Road.

So! I was enabled to ride from here to Catlin 'cause I'd studied on it, and from Catlin to Belgium over gravely roads and across the river with only one wrong hill up "Twin HIlls" (of course the wrong turn was up a hill, but it had been fffllllaaat 'til then and I was BORED! and... it was a leetle hill) and then through Grape Creek over the river and to Perrysville to do the "perrysville ride" (picture to come) ... and then not ride back 'cause we ate at the Moonglo which is well north of my Route OUt and after 105 miles and burgers I wasn't ready for that kind of thinking.

Excellent weather - almost no wind in the morning (tho' the 3 mph was against me)... got hot (but around 90, not kill-you hot), and the danged wind switched - it still wasn't severe but it *did* make me think we must be going the wrong direction! and we saw lots of cool covered bridges. Pics to come.

Now off to do the last Pedaling for Pleasure of the season...

SMall Victories :)

2008-08-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

I remembered **all** the ways you could turn things around with a Road Morph. I turned the first part around. Then I turned the second part around. Then I turned both parts around. Then I realized I could switch them around and put one in before the other.
Yippee, my Road Morph will be successfully rigged for Presta.
I found my Map Number Five for This Part of Illinois, so I can ride from here to the Illinois Border at the BReak of Dawn.
I sort of almost got VMWare to do what I wanted it to do. (I still can't get openoffice to cut and paste on the Mac side, or to open at all on the Windows side.)

None of it happened quickly, of course, and I still don't know where my keys are... but I found my wallet...

And I still get to type floggin' lettres to be *permitted* to post my own bloggin' flog...
Oh, and I got the map for tomorrow's ride done -

2008-08-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

another goreoumous day.

Cycling is affecting my dream life. I have a standard "late and can't find my way there" dream that happens when I do a post-alarm snooze... but this morning's was, while more angsty than usual, also more amusing afterward. You see, I was driving to get where I needed to be... only I kept getting out of the car and either riding or walking and accidentally forgetting the car, and then being upset because obviously I wasn't going to get where i was going without it and I had to walk back into traffic...

and when I woke up it wasn't noon, it was 6:30 :) lots of time to get to church after all... even to wrestle with Microsoft and Open Office and email first!

Weather Underground, Indeed!

2008-08-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Welp, that does it. I'm switching to wunderground from the weather channel on my bookmarks - I refuse to condone "Curfews are mandatory and subject to arrest if violated." I suppose microsoft word told the writers that "violators will be subject to arrest" would be the passive voice ;)

Titles

2008-08-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, by wading through the possible pages of settings, I found the "title" option. Thanks, Fritz :)
It was Monday that I "requested review."

Byootiful day today.
Need caffeine still :)

2008-08-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the explanation, mayor et al...

Every time I post to my blog, I have to do the "spam prevention procedure" of typing letters from a window - *extremely* garbled letters. After a while, I clicked the "why do I have to do this?" underneath and found that this wasn't something everybody had to do. No, only blogs flagged as "spamblogs."

Nowhere in the description do they mention that titling posts matters; in fact, nowhere do they suggest how a real person could prevent false flagging. No, they simply describe arrogantly how nasty these spamblogs *are* that they are flagging, somehow being too stupid to realize that the only people reading it would be *humans* wondering, not bots. They mention insipidity and linkfarmitude. I suppose if I used *too* many words like that I could understand ...

It's not as if I *can* put a title on my posts. For this blog, that's not an option I get. I've clicked *lots* of things in the past to try to make it happen; it doesn't.

I expect that kind of incompetence from, say, AOL or Yahoo. I went with Google 'cause they're usually better at making things workable.

Frankly, if Google wants me to do that, they should give me a clue.

Google sucks. (If the PTB there had sense, they'd have a flag on that phrase and somebody whose job it was to check it out when it appeared. I doubt it... it will probably mean I get some other inconvenience added to my day.)

Oh. I am grumpy today. I yelled at two people on my commute in and one yelled back. ("There's a thing called a stop sign!" "I SEE you! Don't worry about ME!" "I *do* worry about ___ drivers!" )

Things got better when I got to ride at lunch to see a buddy at Carle. The guy at the front desk even had a bicycle behind him :) The miles eased the hormonal imbalance or something but I think I need a few hundred more.

Off to the home front now to tend to stuff about biking that I'll blog about next. Of course, it's all spam.

2008-08-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

I would love to know what the algorithm for link farms is, since my site is *still* flagged by the stupid Google - hey people Sioux is NOT recommending you pick this one! - has a veritable PAUCITY, mind you, PAUCITY of links. Nonsensical, irrelevant content? Perhaps, if bicycle is on the algorithm... because one would *think* that if a person hand-entered all those flogging characters *and* put in their stupid request for permission to exist ...

... nope...
this is what I get for accepting Big Brother Google. I must submit to its Judgment as it Collects My Information.
...oops, I got it.
Perhaps because my vocabulary is *too* varied, it must be "randomly generated."
Perhaps it was that string of baiku?
It's just pretty darned arrogant to have a glaringly flawed spamblog seeker... and then to have on the description of why blogs are flagged only incredibly nasty snide things - not "your perfectly good blog might have been flagged," but "these nasty spambloggers do this and that and we're pretty sure you're one of them, so stop tryig to pretend!!!"
SNork. No. Third possibility. I am not using adsense. *Truth:* fewer links... but profit is not about truth.
(Of course, fourth possibility: my radical content ;) is deemed to left wing... I mean right wing... I mean...)

Reporter doing without her car

2008-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Crime Reporter is going a month without driving her car ;) - drop in her blog and say hi!

2008-08-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

So... I was searching old emails for reference to a specific light, and I'm not finding it yet - but I did find reference to lights on pedals, and the thought that *that* could be a viable turn signal option for those of us with decent fine motor skills. Hmmm... what would be the options for turning the "solid to blinky" switch on?
I think Google's got somebody who's not too bright doing the "spamblog" determination - not based on the determination, which is obviously a comptuer algorithm and prone to ordinary bugs... but with the fact that the letter I.D. is significantly and consistently *harder* than most character i.d. tasks. That makes it more annoying - but are spamblogs more clever at fooling those? I don't think so. So it's only the bloggers who are being annoyed - bloggers who *shouldn't* have to type the stupid letters in teh first place. I don't mind typing 'em where I know everybody has to. WHen I type them where I shouldn't have to, and then you go out of the way to make it hard... STOOPID.

2008-08-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, most of the email groups I'm on are *old* - from the days when geeks were the only ones on 'em. Still, my heart sang when the Road Bike Rider list actually has a simple form to fill out to *change your address.* NOne of this "remember the special address to sign off, and be sure to get the syntax right, and then rememebr the special address to sign on, and wait for any moderation..."

So sign up today at Road Bike Rider :)

You'll get stuff like the product test of two dynamo LED lights.

12 bicycles on the way in. There was something interesting but it was hours ago :)

2008-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, and I"m feeling even more inclined to go to WordPRess with my blog. Seems that my blog has "characteristics of a spam blog."

And what are they? I thought perhpas it was my frequetn postings, but NO. "Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site."

Well, I don't have a lot of links.

May all your screws be metal and your balls be rubber, sir Google. (When I was a freshman in college, we had this little seminar that included suggesting that F. U. was really wishing something good for a person, and that a better *curse* would be suggesting that the person *never* partake in such pleasantries. Some of us created ways of expressing that.)

2008-08-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

Rode the long way (South to Old Church, West to Rising, N. to Bradley, E. to Duncan, N. to Parkland). Strong east wind meant I got to work on time but I had to work at it and it's been too long since I felt htis kind of tired from going fast, not long :)

There are also MORE people riding bikes - generally I don't see bicycles when I do the long way, but I did today. (Yesterday I didn't count but there was essentially no time when there wasn't a bicycle approaching me.)

I make the closest thing to new year's resolutions - more like new year's let's-try-to-remember-we're-trying-to-do-this, and it often does work - when it's a new academic year. This year? Um... to be tidier (that's the Yearly One - this year's "how to " is "clean those drawers more often") and... To seize opportunities and seek opportunities for ... well, for acknowledging that it's "time to do stuff because things aren't correcting themselves," and to do more than coast and wait for stars to align. Snork. Explaining would require too many paragraphs but those opportunities of *course* aren't going to look like what I had built my search images to look like.

2008-08-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, gag me with a spoon... Google inflicted that crap on me because I might be a spam blog.

Yea, I know, I checked and my blog's reading level is "elementary school" (snork - there's a goal! Put in multitudinous multisyllabic verbosities to enhance its arbitrarily imposed stratification!)

I suspect it's a side effect of posting as often as I do ;)

2008-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here's my official statement about the "slow bicycle movement" and the "epicurean cyclist" - and it's not because I'm allergic to wool, honest!
Snobbery is snobbery.
It's beneath me. I shall cast a long glance down my nose at it. (As one of my high school kiddos said one day, "I can tolerate anything... except intolerance.")
(It's also, IMHO, a waste of what could be channeled into good 'movement energy.' Celebrate our widening bicycle culture, don't fracture it!)
And I'm gonna have to figure out a way to turn this letter identification thing off (it's not o n my other blog).

2008-08-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I officially loathe and despise GMAIL's "contact groups." ETFOOM, but I don't always have names in Excel files to import. Why can't I just add a name to a group?

2008-08-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

went to "quad day" on campus and helped out a bit at the bike project table. What a mob scene... but it was neat to see so many niches out there to be found. Gave away lots of maps.
Watched TV, which I don't do. Real people - even viewed as a sea of 'em on the quad - are much more interesting. TV characters have to convey to "the viewer" - all of 'em, mind you - their recipe for being, so it has to be a very simple recipe. Welp, that, and they all wear that hollywood make-up. Then again, it was old tv shows...
Got my bottle cage on the Dahon last night with a fair amount of assistance. Those little screws really didn't want to get started. Now I can get my big light in there, which matters since the dynamo hub on the Xtra isn't dynamic right now.

2008-08-23T05:19:00.001-07:00

(I just wonder, do other folks find the silly scrambled letters pretty hard to discern? I'm pretty hard-wired for it and it's hard for me...)

2008-08-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

So! I rode home Friday, rode to Schnuck's for some Fat Tire 1554, and while tooling around was asked if I'd gotten my free corn, since if you took a bicycle to the Sweet Corn festival you'd get one. The word's out :) I went there and gave out a few from behind the table, and some maps and stickers and such.
Watched people doing the "interactive entertainment" a.k.a. Riding The Bull, in front of the row of porta-johns.
Rode home on the Xtracycle and on exactly the same street, perhaps the same person... "That's smart. I wish I had one of those."

The people are speaking. THe people are thinking! (okay, that's reaching :) )

and I didn't get the corn, but my second stalk in my yard has one and I *know* it's sweet 'cause the first two from the First Stalk were. SILVER QUEEN ROCKS!!!!

2008-08-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Remember reading about the bike shop guy in Toronto who was sending people out to steal them? More about the fascinating characters involved in the Toronto Journal section of the NY Times.

2008-08-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

Dead Blog of the day:
"ask the wise old bike guy" - old, but it's an interesting idea.

Only 7 bicycles on the way in today, which I attributed to the forecast (rainy). However, there were already 3 bikes on the bike rack... 2 with plastic bags on the seats, anticipating the rain.
So, some people cop out with the forecast, and some people cope :D

At lunchtime it was up to 6 on the rack.

Now, I only wihs I could remember why I didn't have Thursday in my mind as "clear." Is it just because I didn't *get* that far because of the other stuff in the week? What meeting am I going to miss...

2008-08-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Two notables from yesterday, which was the first day since May riding in for 9:00 arrival:
Not 10, but 22 bicycles seen on the way in to work. A veritable bevy of 'em at the corner of Race & Oregon - three going South, two West.
19 of the 22 were on the street. The last 3 were on Church Street, on the sidewalks; 2 were kids under 15.
Second notable: when I went out to the bike to see if just maybe I'd left some money there, a bike was locked to the tree near the bike rack. There was space on the far right end of the rack, but I suspect that was parked up when the tree-bike-rider arrived. Gotta remember how to ask for a good bike rack for D wing.

Today, only 6 or 7 cyclists (8:00 arrival). Also, the U hasn't even started yet. (Tomorrow is Move In Day. Oh, dear. Don't even think of going to Target, dear folks ;) ) I *did* secure permission and get bike maps in a pocket on a bulletin board here on campus :) (And then go back and retrieve my keys... Kudos to the student life folks who are not just deluged, but dealing with little details like being sent the wrong ID cards, so they get to write them out by hand for students and then print them out and track them down later. Oy. Blessings all over them.)

2008-08-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

This was brighter in the minutes before I snapped this... a "pretty good" (tho' said in a respectful tone) scene as judged by the local at the restaurant who decided to see what all the tourists were capturing.

This a.m. I relocated my camelBak (including the keys and the phone charger... of course I left my wallet at home and I'm not sure where the p hone itself is...

but I have bicycle maps! Click on "location" (in the tiny brown font for emphasis) at champaigncountybikes.org
to see where you can get yours, or find me~

2008-08-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Another link from Cycle-liciuos... Ezra's bicycle, designed so as not to involve the nether reasons, part of his attempt at teaching cancer to cry (adult language found there).

2008-08-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

CS Monitor duly notes the "car-free streets" phenomenon.

2008-08-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Once you associate an observation with a label and let it wander around the verbal corners of the mind, you notice it more often, since it doesn't get filtered out as unworthy of attention. Hence, when you've bought a red car, it seems there are more of 'em out there...
Some time in the past week (probably on yesterday's ride out to Mahomet), I saw a front walk from road to front door which had plants along it... a row of big honkin' corn on each side.
Today I noticed that the ground cover at that house on Washington east of Vine ... is a huge honkin' Squash (Sasquash?) plant.
All it'll take is Oprah or Martha Stewart to plug it... and "everybody" will be making a Front Yard Garden. Forget your little corner in the backyard. (Of course, I don't *really* know whether most people stick gardens in the back instead of the front yard.)
My squash and maters are producing happily. Peppers on the way. Five ears of corn from those two stalks.
Rode folder to church today. Had my "work to bike more" ankle strap from New Belgium Brewery. COnfirmed last night that indeed, I don't like wheat beers (a la New Belgium's "Mothership wit.") And after an "enlightened black ale" instead of the effects of the alcohol making me indifferent, the MW tasted nastier. I'm just a barley girl, I guess. Barley hopping for me!
And speaking of spelling, my feed showed me a forum post that referred to the Xtracycle's "stella-carrying capacity." Snork! I haven't carried Stella yet... mebbe I should google for stella-carrying ;) ... there *is* a single reference to the for "stella-carrying capacity" referring to how much beer one can fit in an apartment...

2008-08-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

New roof is ON and Paid For! (Bank account is shrunken.)

Birds are noisy! Have they simply been rousted about a bit... or rendered homeless?

Time to go get the goods for the smoothies tomorrow, including scrub brushes to make the cooler a little less like unto hazardous waste.

2008-08-15T10:49:00.001-07:00

Xtracycles in the news :) (or more precisely, bands riding xtracycles)

2008-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

And Don't Forget C-U Across the Prairie tomorrow!!!

Lake of the Woods, registration 7:30-10... pay your money, ride the ride, eat the food, share the smiles and miles. I will shop today for smoothie makings. (No margaritas, folks; it's a public park.)

Weather will be scrumptious :)

2008-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

... oh, yea, from cycle-licious...
Feeling even more just-barely-insulated from the "real world" of corruption of power with this news from Denver. This pretty gory incident happened on April 4 but it's 'breaking news' now... .
No, it's not uplifting, especially considering this is just one that was caught on tape - how much other stuff have these guys blithely gotten away with... and then sent their *victims* to jail because their testimony gets believed?

2008-08-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

went around Robin Hood's Barn to get here this a.m. - forgot I was going the long way to pick up bagels so I had to turn back, then went to get the bagels.
Other cyclists describe how frequently they'll watch a driver look at 'em, look the other way, then blithely proceed into the cyclist's path.
I wonder if thigns are different where they are, or whether they (and me?) are selectively attending the way people only remember when the gypsy's predictions are correct. Today there were two folks blithely looking at me, looking the other way, and then sitting there even though they probably could have squirted out there.
The third fellow was in a convertible so I could almost see the cartoon balloon over his head as he decided that no, even though he *could* just take his nifty Mercedes and get out there, since if he waited for me he was going to have to wait for more traffic after that... disgrunt, disgrunt... he waited. I gave him my very best smile and wondered if I shouldn't have done something more dramatic ("May all blessings shower you this day!") since in the convertible he could hear...
Then I saw I wasn't going to make the Bradley light and there was a big ol' soda can so I stopped and scooped it up. Got to school and I was asked if I'd derailed... that he'd have tossed my bike in his vehicle... I said it was a strap loose, not that I was grabbing litter...

2008-08-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

No, Rick, I *hadn't* seen this YouTube before.

Oh
Let's
do
it

I love that they're thinking abotu marketing... that it's "BikeWatch" (a la baywatch) ... let's make cycling SEXY!!!

"They have a better quality of life and they are happier all the time."

Ya, you betcha!!!

(where's my vaca con cuernos?)

2008-08-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

Saw lots of bikes on the way home around 6:00 (got the call from the storm door installing to say they could do it today, which it sounds like the work force is a teeny bit reluctant to have been committed to this long day... door number one is happening. I don't ahve a door number three for my whole world to be waiting behind, thank you...)
I realized that a rather high majority of the bicycles I saw today were real, honest commuters ... and were on the ROAD, not the sidewalk. And most of 'em would be "above average" in Having Learned To Ride on the Roads, including that chick who gave me an "on your left" at the light and then signaled her right turn ('cause it was only 'caues she didn't have to stop that she went by, of course ;) ).
Commuter Chase story (while observing a great "say no to crack" demo by the door install guy, but I'm NOT getting the camera out):
I went by Church on Country Fair and some guy on a nice red bike (as in fairly vintage but road) is coming onto the road as I go by so of course I speed up a bit ... dang, he's 'way back there. But wait! As I coast to the red light at Springfield, he's gotten lots closer... and goes by the stop line to be further out in the intersection... so I catch myself thinking "oh, you wanna-run-the-red-light guerrilla not-worthy-of-my-attention man, I shall not look at you."

Then my other voice gave myself the "You Take Yourself Too Seriously" look (yes, a voice can do that), so I made eye contact which inspired the fellow to ask how many speeds I had on that bike (12?) which I "cranked pretty good" (or words to that effect). (First voice says "see? He had to chase you to catch you :D :D ) He said his trusty bike really got him around well, too, that he did lots of miles, to Pesotum and Mahomet, etc, and that my bike went pretty fast for its size... so I told him that I had done 10,000 miles last year... he expressed surprise as the light turned green and I said it had taken a lot and I didn't think it would happen again and he answered "I don't blame you." Now, there's a reply I'll remember in November, or during the first ice storm ;) And two blocks later Earl's callin' out "Hi Sioux Geonz!!" and I think... gosh, Red Bike Guy, if you'd come this way, you'd know I'm a celebrity cyclist :D
They have successfully figured out the first door ! Now to the back... wish I'd put some of teh Fat Tire in the Fridge...
I realized that I should get 10 of the bike maps and have 'em on the bicycle 'cause Mr. Red Bike and mebbe those other two folks I chased around would want 'em.
Realized these white doors on a house with white siding... TOO MUCH WHITE. Must find Sharpies :D

2008-08-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Back from a weekend without computers or bicycles in the badlands of New MExico. I'm glad to have "seen a bit of the West" and even more glad that it wasn't "seeing" it as a passing-through traveler with all six degrees of separation in place, but hanging out with people doing people things.
In the meantime the NY times does an article about driver / cyclist antagonism (and, I'm glad to say, includes the idea that a big part of teh problem is simply the minority status of cyclists and that both psychologically and perceptually, once cyclists get to be common enough, we'll be *seen* because we'll be expected to be there and cycling will be considered a mainstream manner of travel.

Welp, I *have* seen posted somewhere that hopefully, cars will be the "new smoking" - a formerly embraced habit and social status symbol now regarded as unhealthy, primarily defended by arguments of "personal rights" (much like pro-slavery arguments). So... can public sentiment be swayed?

Of course, only a fraction of the funding and efforts were aimed at cigarette infrastructures (ashtrays, etc) as have been aimed at automobiles.

There is also the question of what percentage of Americans currently *reflect* on anything? Actually, I'm sure most people have been sheep since time eternal, but many of the sheep at least valued thoughtful argument vs. palliative sales pitches... and chose to follow the former. Or did they ?

Got back on the bike at 5:00 ... yuky time to get back in the commuting thing.

2008-08-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

bACK In Champaign-Urbana~! Catchin' up... flying to Albuquerque tomorrow for the weekend.

Yes. Possibly four consecutive days without a bicycle.

Wash. Post has article about the "ultimate bicycle" being a 1969 Schwinn Racer. I am simply amazed. I mean, *I* know that. (I have a 1968... and a 1960 in my garage). Hmmm... must find out who that reporter is and how s/he knows... and I must get that tire fixed on said Racer.

Colorado has hills and wide shoulders without much debris on them.

2008-08-03T20:59:00.001-07:00

I'm in Grand Island... gotta get up oily to try to be back in C-U for that WEFT interview... it's fascinating what online-people are like in real life! (Was it real life?)

2008-07-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

I believe these are the abandoned bikes to be picked up andsorted thru Friday (I won't be there to help :( ). Lots of bikes!

2008-07-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Woke up to Ed Kieser saying (no kidding!) that if I were heading to the west, say the eastern mountains of Colorado, that it will be quite warm and even hot there. I've heard of personalized radio but that's ridiculous - I *am* heading out to Colorado tomorrow.
Yesterday on LM_NET a librarian asked about comments on her blog that seemed to be glorified spam... I suggested delete it, and gosh, today I got some of my own. Don't people realize that form letters have their very own taste and smell? Yes, it's related to my blog but I ain't buyin' it.

2008-07-26T16:06:00.001-07:00

Hey!!! THe widget works!!!

I went to the Trek website just 'cause there's a link... and to check out the "women who ride" blogs. No real surprise that they're not linked to from anywhere I went, including the "Trek life blogs" link. That would require considering those blogs as, um, "real" bicycling blogs, not just some offshoot marketing thing.

2008-07-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Really did wake up in time to go out and do 20 miles before the Saunter. Then after the saunter I took the folder out to test its calibration on those grid roads - seems pretty accurate. Managed to get in 67 miles in the mix - and enough cans so I think I have a dollar's worth.
H - 1.5 right now... Howard rode 8.7 miles yesterday to the memorial service for a bike advocate in Fort Collins who got killed by a drunk driver. (The driver has been arrested. Seems there have only been four bicycle fatalities in ten years in Fort Collins - and that's not because nobody rides a bike. Makes me want to put speed bumps everywhere so nobody wants to drive and so drunk people will throw up.
Leaving for COlorado Wednesday unless I get so packed and prepared that I decide ot go a day earlier. Guess I'll go to my house and get htat process going :)

2008-07-25T13:08:00.001-07:00

Did a can cruise. Snagged 20 of 'em - and saw a big ol' plastic bucket and thought, "A person can always use a big ol' plastic bucket" - except this one still had its contents, except for the three or four 3-inch chlorine tablets that were on the ground next to it, killing hte grass rather thoroughly. I rode the five-mile loop around (confirming that yes, that half mile of Old CHurch Rd. East of Philo is still totally nasty gravel) and then put the stuff on the bike. We'll see just how bleached the saddlebags get. Alas, I am reasonably sure that I touched enough of the stuff and touched my clothing that that particular black blouse will have bizarre and conspicuous white streaks after its next wash. I should hve changed to a cylcing t-shirt :(

I suppose now I'm ready for whatever natural disaster would mean I needed to purify water...

2008-07-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

another urban homestead tangential link (I'm not lookin' for 'em, but they keep plopping by): http://quinceurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/

(and I am *not* going to raise chickens. I am allergic to feathers and it would trigger an entropy field the likes of which the planet cannot handle.)

2008-07-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

And even more mainstream media going xtracycle at salon.com (which is so ad-infested I generally don't bother going there). This fella from D.C. went the Xtracycle route and even got the blender :)

2008-07-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Maps are here!!In Urbana

Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine
Urbana Public Works
Urbana Free Library
Strawberry Fields
Durst Cycle and Fitness, University Avenue
Urbana Business Association Office in Downtown Urbana
BikeWorks
Urbana Park District: Phillips Center, Nature Center, Administration Offices, and Maintenance Building
IMC (coming soon)
theBikeProject (coming soon)

In Champaign

Champaign City Building
Champaign Police Department (coming soon)
Champaign Public Library (information desk, 2nd Floor)
Champaign Public Library Douglass Branch (coming soon) and the Bookmobile
Durst Cycle and Fitness, S. Mattis
Champaign Cycle
Fiesta Café (at the intersection of the1st Street Bike lanes and White Street)

In Champaign CampusTown

That's Rentertainment

2008-07-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

"Time for a little fluff, because my ACHING legs will not allow me to do anything of substance. I am trying my very hardest to be one of those eco commuting biking chicks. For lots of reasons. I'm just fed up with the whole gas thing. Traffic in Seattle makes me homicidal. Parking makes me omnicidal (want to kill everything, not just people.) And, frankly, I'm vain as can be and want the hot bod that all that biking will give me. So, here's some insight into being a successful cycling executive - specifically a CHICK."
From Seattlepi .
I have to agree that what firmly plants some folks in the "cycling is a wonderful concept but beyond me" camp is the fundamental fear of Looking Silly - or of Being NOticeably Different ... or being categorized as being in an "outlier" social group. (Of course, one person's outlier is another person's in group...)
Who knows, enough press like that and helmet hair could be the new "got milk" moustache :)

2008-07-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

From today's "Food for thought" that one of our English professors sends out... this is formal and tastes of testosterone and I still like it... it doesn't necessarily say it's a *good* thing ot be brave...

Let Each Man Remember

There is a terrible hour in the early morning
When men awake and look on the day that brings
The hateful adventure, approaching with no less certainty
Than the light that grows, the untroubled bird that sings.

It does not matter what we have to consider,
Whether the difficult word, or the surgeon’s knife,
The last silver goblet to pawn, or the fatal letter,
Or the prospect of going on with a particular life.

The point is, they rise; always they seem to have risen
(They always will rise, I suppose) by courage alone.
Somehow, by this or by that, they engender courage,
Courage bred in flesh that is sick to the bone.

Each in his fashion, they compass their set intent
To rout the reluctant sword from the gripping sheath,
By thinking, perhaps, upon the Blessed Sacrament,
Or perhaps by coffee, or perhaps by gritted teeth.

It is indisputable that some turn solemn or savage,
While others have found it serves them best to be glib,
When they inwardly lean and listen, listen for courage,
That bitter and curious thing beneath the rib.

With nothing to gain, perhaps, and no sane reason
To put up a fight, they grip and hang by the thread,
As fierce and still as a swinging threatened spider.
They are too brave to say, It is simpler to be dead.

Let each man remember, who opens his eyes to that morning,
How many men have braced them to meet the light,
And pious or ribald, one way or another, how many
Will smile in its face, when he is at peace in the night.

--Josephine Jacobsen (from In the Crevice of Time: New and Collected Poems, John Hopkins Press, 1995)

2008-07-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Somebody else has finally said it: "Cars are the new smoking." Okay, it's wishful thinking - and smoking's grip is a different sort - but I've always found them similar and when folks who didn't like restaurant bans for smoking would say "If you ban smoking you should ban driving," I'd say "sounds good to me!" (Okay, it never happened. THe former was said, but not to me, so I couldn't answer directly.)

Time to prepare for that CO trip. What about those blender accessories I thought I had plenty of time to order and get delivered?

2008-07-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Much rain last night - and much wind, too. Lots of sticks to dodge in the roads and a fair number of bigger things along the side. Roof didn't actually drip yet. Must call roof docs :)

"Garden Girl" site came up when I clicked my "stumble" button. Interesting concept - keep those chickens and your vegetable beds together so tilling and fertilizing happen... less cleanup, less work.

I"m allergic to feathers. My garden is glorious... but then I figure that nothing's been grown in that ground to deplete it. Next year, though, legumes.

2008-07-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, dear. Radar says we could be on a train of storms, and I didn't get that call to the roofers in... welp, nothing is actually dripping yet...

2008-07-21T18:26:00.001-07:00

If this one doesn't set off your bloviated pomposity meter, nothing will ... one of these years I'll figure out how to put a "radio voice" into my writing, eh?

Yea, my rain luck didn't apply this a.m, though it would have if I'd not overslept, 'cause fifteen minutes earlier woulda done it. The storms *did* at least abate to just rain, not "severe thunderstorms."
Then on the way home stopped at WEFT for "life in the bike lane." And I'd wondered if there would be dead air. SNork. More like diarrhea of the mouth :) I'd practiced a "radio voice" on the drive back from MD (hey, it's good for a few miles!) ... and sometimes I could carry that but usually it was the "just a little nervous and trying to anticipate" voice.
If I'm back next week and if it's online as well as on the air, hey, I'll post it 'cause it could be call-in. It would be 6-7 central time... welp, it will be any way, whehter or not I'm the guest!
Of course afterwards I thought of a couple of directions I really wanted to go in... but at least they were directions I thought of before hadn but forgot. I got in the stuff I wanted to get in, like the MAPS of the cycling route, the "selective attention" and lane position information, and the League of Illinois Bicyclists being a worhty org.
But in trying to explain why cycling was a lifestyle change but in a good way, not a "dang it, I *sholud* be doing this, I have to make myself" way... I didn't get to the part about getting back to nature. Okay, two things. Yes, I did get to posing the equestion "is this reason you're giving for not cycling a *reason* that you are open to solution for, or an excuse ... and any one will do?"
But I didn't get to the part where... okay, is your "elephant in the living room" - the *real* reason that you can't admit to - simply that you really are, honestly, simply afraid you'll get run over?
Welp, I'm going to go inside and ponder that... beause if I stay out where where the connection is live I will be devoured.

... pondering that (cut and paste quick! before the 'squitoes find me again)
Pondering that!
I think that the main reason most people don't want to ride their bikes more is that, in fact, they are afraid that they shall be hit by a car and killed or crippled. Or perhaps they're worried that they're more vulnerable to some kind of robbery or assault.
The fact is that the traffic stuff iss a real risk.
The fact is that it requires either denial, foolishness or courage to get on a bike and get on the road.
To me, the benefits of cycling include having to be brave and thoughtful. There are two reasons I embrace the risk.
Many people seek “back to nature” experiences, often with risk involved, where we're forced to think on our feet and what we do actually matters. We revel in it; we're 'More alert' and we notice things we don't notice in day to day life.
I don't know, maybe just getting in nature activates things so it doesn't have to be increased risk for the same hormones to take over – but if that's the case, then I think after a while it doesn't work. Thus people go out and do incredibly stupid things in nature and expect to be rescued...
When I am out on my bike, I am IN nature. It's a different scenario of nature; instead of mosquitoes or storms or bears or avalanches ... it's ... mosquitoes or storms or squirrels or gravel or traffic. Just as if I were camping, I have to plan and have the right gear and think on my feet and think for myself. I have to be more alert and I have to notice things, and I learn all kinds of tricks... and I embrace it because that's living.
And just as when we're out in nature, or facing wild weather, it can bring out the best in community spirit – being on the bike can do the same thing. (It can bring out the worst, too. We have more influence on which one than we think. That would be another essay. Perhaps I shall write a book of Bicycling Homilies.)
Practically speaking, all that practice being brave and alert carries over to all the risks I don't think about in life. Therefore, I conclude that the increase in risk while I'm riding leads to a decrease in risk in all other aspects, leading to a net decrease in risk, especially if factoring in the other health benefits of cycling.
The other reason I do it is a more political/spiritual one. Yea, out on my bike... at any second, a moron in a car in a moment's attention can ruin my life.
I can sit in my padded comfort and sympathize with the people all over this weary world who are many-fold times more vulnerable to risks they have no control over. IN fact, many of those risks are from wars and pestilences that, welp, if we're honest... my lifestyle and my country's politics contributes to. People will ride 150 miles “to raise money” for a cause. Why not just beg for the dollars? Somehow it's better if we do something... People will spend the night in a cardboard box “in solidarity” with the homeless, and it does give at least a small insight into what cardboard feels like... welp, when I'm the little thing on a bicycle and the big cars are whizzing by and I am at their mercy, I lift all vulnerable beings in prayer or something kin to it. All the folks who have to suck up to somebody, no matter what, because of the (perceived or real) control that person has over their lives... and I think there is value in learning to be humble and cultivating honest humility including towards oppressors; The most raging moron out there bein' one of God's children.
Then there's that other angle. By getting out there in my vulnerability, it is sometimes excruciatingly clear just how much horrendous local and world-wide carnage is, honestly, caused by our dependence on the automobile. Slavery sucks – but it's very, very hard to shake. When slavery was part of our lifestyle it was very hard to get people to perceive its inherent evil. We'd have to accuse ourselves (and then forgive?!? and then who *else * would we have to forgive, for what???) – not to mention generations of people we have been loyal to. Most of us can't do it. Talk about risk – the folks at the forefront of those kinds of moral sea change usually pay the price with their their livelihoods, if not lives. But sometimes when I'm riding I almost feel willing to answer that call if it came.
And slavery is just has hard to shake if you're the slave... think for ourselves? Figure OUT what to do without a car? Without this dependence that so happily dictates our priorities?

YES WE CAN.

2008-07-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

Trek "go by bike" challenge...
... I bet CHampaign-Urbana could get their attention if enough of us put our little zip codes in there - our Per Capita Commuting is reasonably good. Of course, I don't need a 7.2 in my fleet, but I could find it a home...

2008-07-18T06:31:00.001-07:00

Have rental car. About to take off for Maryland and its crabs.

Not sure anything would work on days like today but here's a little blurb on sweat-free cycling

It's odd to be in a car. (Um, no, I'm not typing this in the car ;) )

2008-07-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

The spokelits are staying lit now.

They're very big and bright - lots of light for the energy. At this point I'm thinkin' they're worth the seven bucks apiece, though I'll want some night riding when there's traffic and that doesn't happen 'round here in the summer.

2008-07-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Tried the "spokelits" first time.

It was rather difficult to get the red one out of "try me" mode, so it kept going off after X seconds. I *think* I have got it there now, but I"m not sure.

Took a good two *minutes* to install - but only because I had to figure out how to nestle them into those spokes. The're just wedged in, and it probably *Does* matter whether you get them right or not. I have my special skill for getting things upside down and backwards - but I also know the rules and put them on so that the spokes pushed the little wings one way adn the main spoke the middle was on went the other way. (Picture will come - except alas, my flogging camera seems to be doing like the other one and killing batteries. I changed 'em on Friday's trip and these are dead already and they're the ultra-long 'just for elecronic' ones.)

2008-07-15T06:14:00.000-07:00

SPokelits were at my doorstep last night. Opened the box this morning. Seems installation is simply shoving them on and wedging them up into the spokes because the plastic is thick and flexible (sort of like what I'd expect in swimming flippers). First thoughts: how fast do they get brittle? If I shove too hard, will those spokes get stressed?

A reference to them on Team Estrogen said "wouldn't put red on the front." Hmmm... I'm not sure that matters one whit, especially on a spoke and when I've got a headlight. Don't think folks will confuse my direction... but it's worth considering.

In emails to the company, of course I suggested turn signals :-)

2008-07-15T06:12:00.001-07:00

Fourth of July Parade Picture :)

2008-07-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

... and White HEath... if you click on the image and get a bigger one you can see the ridge of cloud up in the sky that created enough shade to keep me from melting. It's where the fine white-heathens come from... some of the finer ones gone to Fiddler's Green...
and if you click on who posted that bit about Fiddler's Green you will get the page with the motto: "Get it off me." Now, there's a motto. And the caption: "...vow to never found and administrate a collaboratively filtered database again. "

2008-07-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ivesdale Post Office and Water Tower. You can almost tell it's hot :)

2008-07-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Next Pic - Paul from Atwood. I think like me he was just "out for a ride." Said a group of Amish guys had called him 'cause they were going to take a bike trip to California and seems that night they were coming by his place to see his slides from his 10,000 mile trip, and hey, he'd only seen 'em once. And that they'd be riding, no doubt, in their reg'lar clothes and Amish hats... he invited me - said "just go to Atwood and ask for Paul, they'll tell you." (Especially since I'd say "I met him on my bike." But I'd be on mine. They'd know.)
Get out and ride - it's how you meet people :)

2008-07-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the preliminary pic to describe lots of my double metric yesterday. Started out about 6:30 without eating enough... but I tossed the rest of the bagel with cheese into the bag.
Carrie and I cruised down 900 (Duncan) South towards tolono and turned East at 800. At First Street she went north and I went South. I aimed for Pesotum from the East. I found some circles with dashes in 'em a la a bike route for somebody so I followed that out of Pesotum and yup, it aimed me towards Sadorus. I went West where it went East, getting a little warm... had some good Gatorade/tea in the bottle and a camelbak half full so I was nicely hydrated. However, heat simply and totally removes my ability to eat.
Got to Ivesdale ... thought about the Blarney Stone but decided to munch on my bagel instead adn drink. I'd seen a fellow on a bike as I pulled down Main Street ... as I munched he reappeared and asked if I knew where I was going... we chatted for a bit. It was Paul from Atwood who I suspect is the fellow who's been written up in the News-Gazette for some of his bicycling adventures, including getting creamed by a driver in the C-U area.
I aimed at Bement... saw INterstate and figured I could count on food... at a gas station there I got some "sweet and salty" trail mix but... no nuts... so I got nuts, too. Nice thing about nuts is you don't feel like you're eating, really... and I was a little boosted by the break and the a.c., but at 40-some miles I was telling myself to pay attention to the heat 'cause I was pretty far away from anything.
I'd planned a direct shot to Monticello on the east side of 105 ... but I think I was looking at a different chunk of map so it didn't happen. I went a few miles further west than I'd intended but operated on hope and vague memories that there weren't endless stretches of nothing... but I got to where "if there isn't a way north in the next three miles I'm turning around." Two miles later, trees and water, and North I aimed... and I was happy to see a slightly faded white arrow of the Peter Davis sort so I knew I was on the Allerton Park route ... and there was the MOnticello water tower and the roads were freshly paved and the wind was behind me.
Pulled into MOnticello and rode around the block three times before finding the Brown Bag ... yea, I was hot. Line was long so I could cool off and contemplate the menu :) Only ate 5/8 of that bagel... did I mention what happens to my appetite? and a bottle of Ginger Ale... poured the half-tea-half-lemonade into the Gatorade bottle and went outside and ... BLACK clouds to the west. Welp, whatever... they weren't close enough to merit bailing so I figured i might get wet.
SNork... I've seen the storms fall apart as they cross the county line on radar - I got to watch 'em just stay piled up behind me for pretty much the rest of the ride. White Heath and then ... yes, it was cooler and I felt lots better, and I still had CUAP brochures to pick up at Office Depot so I went there via Mahomet (but didn't pause at Casey's... some of the clouds were leaking over and I could see a *ferocious* cell to the north with some amazing cloud-to-ground lightning every four minutes or so). The miles down Market Street from Hensley SUCKED. Especially since I wanted to get to 126 and I was only at 100, I should have cut further east and then back at Olympian. Doing the "proper lane position" worked for everybody but the FedEx truck which was too close for comfort, but no, I don't like when cars are backin' up behind me ... lots more outgoing than incoming traffic.
It was drizzling at Office Depot but happliy not enough to get drivers doing the "oh, no, it's raining, so I can't be expected to see everything!" thing, and tho' it was 4:30 and there was more traffic, it wasn't too bad.
Now the sky was totally ominous to the South, though, so with 12 mile to go I didn't go six miles South but did things like drop off some brochures, take the long way to the grocery store for some Fat Tire "enlightend black ale" ... and take that pic in the Schnuck's parking lot because the storm (of course!) stayed to the South.
Not so this a.m. as storms rocked on in... and yea, I better get out to Parkland if I"m gonna do that before the skies liven up again.
COuld I do 300 K? It wouldn't have been fun this time. P'raps with company, more food earlier, cooler weather ... oh, and the blue bike which I am pretty sure would be 2 mph faster all around.

2008-07-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

wlp, actually it seems none of those softwares will work. So I do have to do some realignment with the karma...
Swapped for the Xtracycle at the shop. Oh my!!! the sound of nice bearings... should have taken a picture of the old ones.

2008-07-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Welp, the weather yesterday meant I left in a hurry.
That meant I left my fanny pack in the loo.
That meant public safety called and I went to get it. (Note: the cleaning crew goes in just after 5. That's why they'e found my fanny pack 3 times. They recognize it now...)
I ducked into the bookstore.
Windows is $85 for the educational version.
Last night I *didn't* install the $140 one because... I didn't go get my puter 'cause it was raining.
Even with restocking fees, I'll be ahead.

Good rain!

2008-07-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Got to ride upstream last night. Yea, I got caught in the downpour and subsequent flash flooding. Fortunately I got past the formerly bad-draining Country Fair spot (which still backs up *some* but not as it once did - I'd seen 'em working in that area... this tiem it took, hooray!) but at Round Barn ... welp, I ducked into IGA for a bit until things receded. Plowing up a slight grade in five inches of water flowing quickly towards me on 20 inch tires is interesting.
Then (of course ;)) things abated for long enough for me to get *almost* home ... and I was inside before the lightning got crunchy.
On the very last stretch on Anderson I was passed by a light blue not-too-recent sedan, 779 1986 or 1987, I do believe, who not only passed within inches of my delicate self (and I *did* have the blazing blinky goin' in back and was visible) but when I gave the three-finger (as in "three - three feet") slowed just a tad as if deciding whether to escalate. I went past my abode on the grounds that I didn't want to give that information away... and realized its abode was probably nearby since Anderson isn't that much of an artery.
Of course, other drivers were going out of their way to be cautious, as the weather prescribed.
Hopefully driving through that cleansed my karma from the two doses of ugly I dished out at work... that poor fellow who I put through half an hour of "orientation" stuff before figuring out he was there for math (and I was wondering about his attitude...) and... those words about the bad coding to the tech guy... doesn't matter, you don't say "bad code" to a tech guy unless you're asking for tissues ;)

2008-07-08T05:57:00.001-07:00

("spoiler" - nothing bad happened ;) )

Note to self: *before* it's dusk, jsut make the stop and get all thelights going. Otherwise one can slip into "well, I'm *almost* home... it's still dusk..."

Another local guy posted that he notices people give more room when he's wearing a hi-viz vest (and I'm hearing hi-viz is showing up in the mainstream now - "the new black" ) ... welp, they drive like they don't see you if all you've got is one little string of Christmas lights going. So that guy at the foour-way stop who stopped and then proceeded... welp, from his apologetic gesture I surmise he didn't see me.

Will get that ductape out and stick that light on the Folder. SHould get to pick up the big one today.

2008-07-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Did some looking at a 200K "daisy" ride for Friday. Welp, it will be a two-loop daisy - the smaller one being 38 something miles and a basic "Sidney, Block Philo Tolono" not quite loop 'cause it goes in to Windsor and Duncan where a person could sdo espresso royale or somehting.
The next big loop does Sadorus and Ivesdale and MOnticello before cutting back oh, as far as Bondville Road. Sigh. Dunno why but I *am* thinking "what are the randonneur rules about this?" so I didn't include "easy to take a short cut" stuff. So a person could cut back there... or go on up to Mahomet and then ... oh, I forget :) Yes, (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2050657
) up to Fisher (a hypothetical 'checkpoint') and then East... but remembering the Rottweiler, *not* to Thomasboro. Just back South to LEverett Road and then East to the wonderful 1900... then South to HOmer Lake road and in. That would be 92 miles. So a total of 130.
Of course, it could turn into close to 300K if we went down to Allerton Park... Yea, I figured that route out too. Now I need to compare it to the IDOT bicycle maps ... and get those trail mix ingredients!

2008-07-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Welp, it's time to progress from a hypothesis to a theory.
Five times since May I have replaced tubes on the front wheel of my Xtracycle. First time: since I'd tried to feed my shoe to the tire and the fender had chewed it up, I replaced it. Yes, it was holding air, but in something like four places layers were flapping in the breeze.
This meant the tube was still peachy. So, I considered it "partially inflated" as recommended by the Directions For Fixing Flats, tho' I let all the air out I could through the valve.
Twice, that time, I got the tire on with great effort and fervor and leaving it near the halogen light to get warm... and both times sacrificed the tube in the process.I don't remember if the tube had air in it the second time...
The third time I put in a new tube without any air... and it went on sweetly and easily.
Last Thursday I am greeted with a flat tire and snagged a healthy tube from another bike... it hadn't been inflated since January but there was still air in it.
Tube sacrifice. Six hands tryin' to get that tube on. Fun, but it didn't work.
Next time I got that fresh, new tube and figured I"d even be careful tucking it neatly and deeply into the tire. (THey're 32's, by the way.) My lil' thumbs needed only the usual "we are mighty!" incantations.

I've heard people recommend against buying Hard Case tires 'cause they're so HARD ... to put on... but I wonder if they've tried it with flat tubes.

2008-07-03T19:06:00.001-07:00

So... are bikes more popular? Clevercycles has had to close its doors... well, sort of :) Seems they've sold out of so much they're taking a vacation 'til they can have more inventory. "We are reluctant to present bicycling for transportation as a response to hardship, because it is a pleasure and privilege. But gas prices are on so many lips, we can’t pretend that they have nothing to do with this year’s blistering business. Word is that some local bike shops who sell car racks and bikes appropriate to them aren’t doing so well. Easy driving is over. Few of our customers are refugees from rising motoring costs, because we live in a city. But everything’s connected, and even urbanites have family, or friends, or enemies of friends hooked on the “freedom” of driving. Too many of them live in cities, too."

Couldn't get tire on Xtra without destroying tube again. If the new-tubed tire goes on as easily as it did before, I shall operate on the assumption that it's because there's NO AIR in the tire that it's workable.

2008-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous weather ... fast commute, when I remembered to go fast. I remember the year I was pushing most commutes to get 'em under an hour. THose days may return since there are more humans out there riding and htey do activate the rabbit response ;) That fella out in jersey and spandex on the fast wheels on campus peeled off just before I would have passed him...

2008-06-30T09:01:00.001-07:00

Oh, my other favourite from that collection: " Expect Delays." I suspect it's safe to say the sign was done independently of critical mass, but in a place where the police do the corking for cm, maybe not...

2008-06-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Mind warp picture of the day :-) If i were to unicycle, that would probably be how I could manage it...
(this from the "bicycling in halifax nova scotia" blog from their critical mass)

2008-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Went out for a ride yesterday for a hundred miles as a rough draft for a "faux brevet" (since there aren't any official ones around). Silly WILL said winds would be from the South so I went East. Well, the winds were from the southwest. Got to HOmer Lake by 7:00; tried to get to Block but landed back on HOmer Lake Road, so I went out to the Sidney Slab and tried again... but settled for Sidney. Then to Philo and Tolono and Sadorus, where I got to turn and catch the tailwind. I cut West again at Windsor to swing by and say a blessing by St. Boniface, then out to the Seymour slab. Got to Kirby and considered swinging wider through Sidney ... but knew I'd be setting myself up for the South Wind in my face, and showers to my west which were waxing and waning... and I'd gone a purty long way on the morning's noodles and the Casey's Gatorade. So I aimed myself home and pulled into the house at 81 miles, had a bagel and cheese and tall glass of tea and tall glass of Gatorade and spun South for my concentric loops that just happen to be 19 miles, and figured that 100 is about as far as I can go "spontaneously" and happily... longer and I would do better to oh, carb load and get food to bring along since they don't put rest stops along the way and I have trouble forkin' over convenience store prices ;)
I was done at 2:00 and maybe could have done another 25 for 200K but figured I'd save the pleasure ... and eat more along the way for that. Maybe even carb load :) So I cracked a Fat Tire Enlightened Black Ale and called it a day.
TOday I just did the saunter and this ride out to Parkland... but on the folder, so even that little bit of chafing isn't bugging me. However, I just might try some of that chamois butter they always hand out at GITAP if I can find it.
So... the plan is to do a real faux brevet a week from Friday... as a reward for getting a few postponed projects progressed...

2008-06-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

I read the trib story about the big guy in Jersey ... didn't know there was a slide show with audio to match. Just do it!

Hills? What hills? If a person gets on 150 from 700 or the little road that cuts off there, and rides about 200 yards on the shoulder, there's a left turn on Lindsey. That particular road has things that honestly could be confused with hills, getting to the highest point in the county. I like 'em because there are three with breaks in the middle - so a person can either recover or charge through them. I did 'em a few times wtih my favorite pink-socked recumbent rider (okay, he was riding the bacchetta for that, *not* the tricycle with the parasol ;) ) getting ready for his ride across NOrth Carolina.

2008-06-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

post 667 ...
gorgeous day with just enough tailwind for a good time. Rode the folder for commute and the Monday Moderate ride, where I confess I was the Bad Rabbit pulling people off the front. Why do they sell me these bicycles that insist on speeding up on hills? And yea, it was "life imitating literature." An English teacher could have found a lot to write about watching the ebbs and flows. The endorphins were enough to inspire another verse ..."I got a folding bike for my travelin' rides, It's got that looooong seatpost that can slide right down inside... but they're such little tiny wheels, and I don't mean to be snide but I"m still lookin' for my carbon fiber frame."
Gosh, my Gazelle doesn't have its verse... but perhaps that will be the bike that satisfies so I no longer search - tho' more likely that sweet Xtracycle once I get those bearings happy again.

2008-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Dropped in at Kent's Bike Blog 'cause of the Day-hon reference; included random thoughts from the "toward car-free cities" conference. One of my favorites: we've got "ghost bikes..." - what about "ghost cars?" Of course there would be "too many." Soem people already put up roadside memorials... and I'm remembering somebody's "is this a spoof?" idea for putting out an "apology" memorial... I think Kent's skull & crossbone stencil idea has too many other associations. Perhaps, simply, a headstone with a car... words or not? ("R.I.P.", "one fewer passenger..." "Slow TF Down...")

Okay, time to see if I can figure out the camera thing...

2008-06-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

GITAP 2008 - happy trails!!

My sunburned lip and poison-ivied foot and the rest of me are back from GITAP 2008.

This is a big fundraiser for the League of Illinois Bicycliststhanks to Chuck Oestrich and a whole lot of volunteers (myself included, sort of - I spent two days doing rest stops and helped give out door prizes, but since that also meant getting in at half price it wasn't "free" for LIB - they had to feed me all those days :))

I had many inquiries about the "smoothie making bicycle" (tho' I wasn't riding it) - happily, about its utilitarian and world use as well as its margaritability - enough to make me want to figure out a way to take it next time, hills or no hills, even if it doesn't fit on a bike rack. And it would seem the hub may be the source of the screaming (bearings) ... which would explain why it seemed harder to ride for a while. I'm not getting old, my bearings are :D It was definitely not hte bike to take on a high-mileage tour, especially since the mechanic there wouldn't be likely to have that genre of Bike Stuff on the "travel team."
Velosophie was good, too. I am wondering what was different about hte selection process, since this year's readings ... welp, they were different; many more infusions of life and hope than the usual offereings. "Walking Woman" was one selection. I liked it 'cause it reminded me a little of Dave Carter's "River Where she Sleeps" (that's not Dave Carter, just the song) which I love because it takes mysterious sacred people off pedestals.

Soap really does help poison ivy. Reckon it cuts that nasty oil stuff.

A fine week of sun and pedaling and social stuff though I am happy to have space and quiet right now.