Whee!

The S24O starts tomorrow! I'm excited! I have confirmation from more than 12 of the 17 who have shown interest and many of them have made it clear that they're okay with a rain-or-shine situation.

I had a clothing malfunction (bad tear in some shorts) and my first flat in something like a year this week. The rear tire valve stem had finally had enough. The tube, age: 6,000+ miles is survived by three Park Tool glueless patches from my Bontrager Select days and the one and only heavy nail that managed to weasel its way through the defenses of my last set of Bonti Hard Case tires. The current rear has over 3,000 miles on it as well. It should last me through the summer, I hope.   I patched the tire on the bus ride home and was back on the road in no time.

Also, my new Cascadia fenders are delayed. Not too big of a deal. The weather is nice and I can handle getting wet in these temperatures. I rode for more than a year without fenders. I think I'll survive.

Hopefully, those are the last of the setbacks for a while. I'll keep you updated with a few posts from the road over the next few days!

Since people are asking what to bring on an S24O

I've had a few emails from people asking what they should be prepared to bring on their bike camping trip. This applies not just for S24O adventures. These are things you might want to take if you're backpacking or doing a short overnight camping trip too. Obviously you won't want ALL of this stuff, but it's a good place to get some ideas.

Essentials

Bedroll

• Camp pad
• Sheet or light blanket (or sleeping bag, depending on climate)
• Small pillow

Lightweight food that doesn't need refrigeration

• Sandwiches
• Dehydrated Fruits and jerkies
• Dry Soups
• Specialty: Freeze Dried Meals or MREs

Recommended

A change of clothes. You aren't really going to go the whole trip in your bicycling/hiking digs are you? 

• If so: Ew. Icky. Gross. Camp far away from me. :P

Fire is Good

• Flint/steel starter (sometimes with magnesium)
• Waterproof matches
• Windproof lighter

Tools

• Knife
• Basic multi-tool
• Bike stuff (tubes, patches, air pump or CO2?)

First aid

• Antiseptic
• Bandages
• This list can get very long. Don't over-do it. You're camping.

Nice to have 

Shelter

• Tent
• tarp
• bug net

Some way to cook, prepare or eat food if required

• mess kit
• pot
• stove
• fork

Hygiene (fellow campers will thank you)

• Mouth wash
• soap
• comb
• towel
• rag

Activities

• Swimwear
• Camera
• Book
• Binoculars
• Frisbee
• Fishing gear
• Flashlight, book light or small lantern (for after dark)
• Marshmallows for roasting
• Star charts
• The list goes on and on...

This time, I am packing:

• Bible
  
• Tent
  
• Light fleece sleeping bag
  
• Small pillow
  
• Shorts/T-shirt
• MRE/Freeze-dried meals
  
• AA Mini-Mag Flashlight
• Mess kit (with a Lexan SPORK!!! Sporks are AWSOME!!!)
  
• Penny Stove
• Fire (lighter and flint)
• EVERCLEAR. (it's fuel and anti-septic, I promise.)
• Small fist-aid kit
• Extra Socks
• Camera
  
• Radio
• Mouth wash (or should I use everclear? I promise I'll spit it out.)
• Comb
• Rag
• Bike Bottles
• Single-person Coffee press (and maybe enough coffee grounds to go around. maybe.)
• Frisbee
• Fishing gear
• Swim trunks
• Mobile Phone
• Cable lock
• My usual wedge pack commuter bike fixing stuff

Thanks to some research, warmer weather, and cheap/free lighter-weight gear, I've figured out how to get my load scaled down significantly, allowing me to pack some more fun goodies.  Props to Apertome for pointing out the old "strap the tent poles to the top tube" trick. 

That may sound like a LOT of stuff (and it is) but rest assured it is a mere 23 pounds added to the bike -- about 8 pounds less than the last time. Honestly, I've probably had the bike weighted down with 23 pounds a few times on my commute. To compare, this is how my bike looked last time:

Last time, both panniers were stuffed almost to capacity. This time, I actually have enough room in them to pack the bedroll and tent within, but I figure it's better to keep them on the rack and avoid puffing out the panniers too much.

I took the bike for about a mile ride with this gear, and it handles quite well. Riding with the poles attached to the top tube will take some getting used to.

On "being green"

Some of you may know I don't consider myself "green" but it's usually the first thing people assume about me when they find out I use my bike for transportation.

I run into a lot of people who think "green" is cool. I also have started running into people who see environmental impact the same way I do, or close enough.

Here are some examples.

A guy I won't name is a pretty big sustainability geek. He's looking at any way to get as much as possible off the grid. Rain barrels, "alternative alternative energy sources" (think peltiers, piezoelectric, ambient/atmospheric electricity harvesting and the like) and some of the more efficient sustainable power generation technologies. Hint: Solar isn't there yet. Talking to him for a few hours, he told me I'm probably greener than I give myself credit for. I say bullcrap. I think he "gets it" when a good chunk of his peers fail at stewardship.

While having my mop chopped a few weeks ago, my stylist said he needed a new car and was looking at Toyota. I kind of rolled my eyes. He mentioned Scion and I breathed a sigh of relief. The conversation turned to fuel economy and eventually sustainability. He thinks people buying hybrids are playing an important role by beta-testing (and somewhat bankrolling) the technological bootstrap for highly efficient vehicles, but he doesn't understand why people think they're being green. He's also as perplexed as I am by on-grid charging of plug-in EVs and hybrids -- The fact is, they're practically coal-fueled and a lot more inefficiency is introduced in the delivery, conversion and storage of that electricity. The stuff just doesn't add up. This guy gets it.

Explaining how my bicycling habit affects the parts of town I'd be willing to move to to someone this afternoon, I had to bite my tongue when the gentleman sitting across from me decided to pipe up about his myopic adventures in being green. Recycling: okay. Civic Hybrid? Really? When he bragged about gas mileage, I couldn't resist telling him I can cover 30 miles on the energy contained in a decent-sized sandwich. The truth is, his hybrid gets worse mileage than some other small cars that use a small, efficient gasoline engine. They cost quite a bit less, and you don't send toxic batteries to the landfill (or at best, some re-processing plant) every 5-8 years or so. This guy doesn't get it.

Despite greenwashing's best intents, there are a lot of people shuffling resources around without actually doing anything good -- robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak -- people being "green" themselves without realizing that their actions cause problems elsewhere, to wit:

• Manufacture and disposal of large battery packs for cars that get such "good" (not really) mileage
  
• Allowing old, inefficient appliances and/or cars to remain in use (giving away or selling) or take up space in a landfill
• Manufacture and disposal of mercury-loaded CFL bulbs

I guess that's my curmudgeonly rant for the night. It comes down to stewardship, really. As a civilization, we've inherited something great. It's a gift to us, really. We can either do things that make it a better place or we can trample on it. Let's just make sure our efforts aren't all for naught.

Speaking of off-grid energy. I found a good deal on one of these:


I don't really want it because it's sustainable. I got it because it was inexpensive and I love gadgets. Plus, some cool features that will make it a serious camping winner:

• Small and light
  
• Hand-Crank charging
• Solar charging
• Flashlight
• AM/FM/Weather Radio
• Has a USB port so you can charge things with the hand-crank.

Playing around with it, it appears that it will take a good deal of cranking to pump a few minutes of talk-time into a dead mobile phone. The weather radio on this picks up a better signal than any other weather radio in my house, aside from the one built in to the alarm clock -- but it's powered by house current only.

Feeding The Fish

This afternoon, my wife decided she'd like to take the bikes out and go fishing at Black Hoof Park. It's been an exceptionally awesome weekend as far as the weather goes. I really hope that next weekend is just as nice.

I hit almost 40 MPH by tucking and coasting down Prairie Star Parkway on my way to the lake. Most Lenexa riders know this hill well. It's a slog-fest coming back up it, but it's a blast to go down.


MUP tunnel under the railroad


Climbing up 91st street west of Woodland, I happened across a Ferrari F430. I'd say "you don't see that every day" however it was in a notoriously affluent slice of town where I used to deliver pizza. I saw plenty of cars more expensive than the F430 (with an asking price of a paltry $200,000 or so) -- No pics. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough.

I came in off the east side of Black Hoof Park and stopped to take this panorama. Click for big.


Goofing off with color curves.


Spillway zoom


More spillway, from mezzanine level.




A li'l bit of the ol' off-roading


Bikes :) hard to tell, but my wife's non-collapsing fishing pole is in the bucket on my rack.


While I was at Black Hoof Park trying out my new fishing set-up again, I also decided to fire up the backpacking stove and make a batch of French-Pressed coffee. I am now quite confident in this stove's ability to perform, and it all packs into the mess kit. I am going to be daydreaming of this S24O all week.


Oh, and we didn't catch anything at the lake. Schools of small panfish were making quick work of our bait -- their tiny mouths resistant to our best efforts and our smallest hooks. We were basically out there just feeding the fish. Hopefully, some larger specimen at Hillsdale Lake become my dinner next weekend. If not, I have a backup plan.

Final update: One Ton Paceline S24O: Camping at Hillsdale

We have less than a week to go, so here's how it'll go down Saturday (July 25th, 2009)

Those who care to follow me can meet at the Lenexa Senior Center (Santa Fe Trail Drive and Pflumm just north of 95th St) at about 11:30 AM. We'll take Santa Fe Trail Drive / KC Road to Ridgeview, down to 159th and backtrack over to Mur-Len.

We will all try to meet at Price Chopper at 159th and Mur-Len and leave there at 1:00 PM. At 10 MPH or so, people joining me in Lenexa will probably arrive at Price Chopper with time to spare for bathroom breaks, snacking, or topping off bottles. We'll continue south from there, probably on Mur-len.

Here is an updated map, but we'll take Mur-Len south to 175th and then cut back over to Ridgeview, probably.

Recap:

• Lenexa Rendezvous: Meet at Lenexa Sr. Center, depart 11:30 AM
• Southern Olathe Rendezvous: Meet at Price Chopper, 159th and Mur-Len, Depart 1:00 PM

If you plan on joining us at any other point along the way, let me know in advance.

For those who've asked, this one is going to be rain-or-shine. The extended forecast isn't terribly reliable this far out, but it doesn't look like rain. Either way, I'm camping.

I'll have my phone on. If you have any questions leading up to this or along the way, don't hesitate to call (but e-mail probably works better throughout the week).

Obviously, I'm not giving my mobile number out over the Internet. If you need it and plan on attending, let me know ASAP.

Maybe it's the new backpack?

When I get to work, I often come to the office in a T-shirt or a synthetic running shirt, and shorts -- usually cargos, depends on my mood and the state-of-the-laundry-pile, though. In a strictly biz-casual environment, I often get a few comments about my bicycle commuting regalia. Backpacks aren't uncommon around here, but panniers look strange when you're carrying them -- especially TWO of them. So I'm no stranger to getting the odd comments. I always head straight for the locking bathroom and change. People know my routine.

This morning, the comment was a new one. "You look ready for a hiking trip! I want to work in that department!"

I chuckled before explaining my situation. Maybe it was my new backpack (scored cheap at Costco last night, the Purchase Order was approved by my lovely and wonderful household CFO)



I got my Kensington Contour for Christmas back in December 2006. It's served me quite well, but it's kind of ratty and I've made some impromptu fixes to it along the way. Last night, a buddy of mine asked if I need a new backpack for my birthday, jokingly poking fun at how tattered it's become. I suppose it was about time for a new one anyway.

Usually, I'm an avid fan of the panniers. When it rains, I often use my backpack and take the bus. I use the backpack because it's a pain to remove both panniers and bring them onto the bus, and a bigger pain yet to get them back onto the bike for the two-block trip to the office once I get downtown. It also sucks to leave one or both panniers out in the elements on the front of the bus, especially since one of them contains a wallet, mobile phone and often a fairly expensive laptop computer.

This is all to say that there are times when the backpack simply makes more sense. Short jaunts to the bus certainly qualify. I'd have likely rode all the way in but I got barely a wink of sleep last night. I tagged Lorin and we hit coffee. I doubled my caffeine intake with a quad-shot beverage, and augmented my backpack with a few cans of Mountain Dew from the fridge for good measure.

I think I'm probably going to go to sleep right after work tonight. 6 hours of sleep in the past 72 hours is NOT good for the mind, the body or soul.

If any of the dozen-or-so people who reads this happens to be from Las Vegas, I'll be in town again for the annual DEFCON conference at the end of July into the beginning of August. And like last year I'll be sure to take lots of pics. I picked up some last-minute side-work that will cover the trip's expenses. The conference schedule is packed pretty tight, but let me know if you'd like to meet for lunch on Friday July 31. There's a block of time in there over the early afternoon hours (starting about 1:30) where there's not much interesting stuff going on.

Fender Gerrymandering

The past few mornings have been adequately soaky. While I've missed the downpours themselves, the pulpy roadway with all its grime has been right there, waiting to make a mess of me. I never came right out and said it, but I recently stripped the rear fender from my bike -- or rather, I removed the three or four fender pieces from my bike based on their inability to stay in one piece, keep from rubbing the tire and actually keep stuff from splashing up onto me.

Fortunately, I was ahead of the game yesterday morning. When I heard the thunder outside, I still had about 10 minutes to get out the door. I stripped the mudflap from my mountain bike and snapped it down to the top of my cargo rack with the spring clip. It didn't keep grime off the back of my legs, but it did keep me from getting the stripe up my back.


Meanwhile, JR ordered a pair of Planet Bike Cascadia fenders for me. I hope I like them as much as other commuters do. Many of the people whose blogs I read seem to use and love the Cascadias. I had bad, bad luck with the SKS Commuter fenders. Even though they were Plastic-covered aluminum and not just plain plastic, they still cracked into pieces. The front is still only cracked in one place, and being held together by some black duct tape. Gerrymandering, indeed. My poor Twelve.

What they're saying...

Scathing review of the official Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride. (Found via kcbike.info) Ouch.

It makes me even happier that people came out to make the alternative ride so fun.
Commuterdude loved it.

Warren loved it. And got some photos worth looking at.

I forgot to mention that Mark gave me a nifty home-made coke-can alcohol stove after the ride.

Last week, I built a stand to hold a pot over a can of sterno (using bike spokes, of course!)


Sterno sucks (12 minutes to boil 2 cups of water?!) so I had to put Mark's coke can to the test. While Methylated spirits, HEET
and many other forms of alcohol will burn just fine, I opted to try the good old standby: Everclear (95% Grain Alcohol).


I had a good flame and boiling water in just about 5 minutes. After I did my boiling test, I opened a can of soup and heated it up for lunch. I just need to make a decent windscreen for this rig. As it stands, all of the stove bits (mason jar lid, can stove, and pot stand) fit inside my nesting mess kit.


When you're camping, Everclear has several advantages over other fuels. First off, it's food grade, so it isn't tainted with toxic chemicals like denatured alcohol, so I don't need to worry about contamination. It burns well, as you can see. It's also great for cleaning wounds, as a solvent, and maybe even to mix in with a beverage =)

Now, to find something to store it in that's convincing enough to detract the Park Ranger, since Hillsdale Lake bans hard liquor. Gee... let me think...

Midnight Cave Ride recap

A.k.a. Slippery When Wet

CC Attribution: Bikes Are Slippery When Wet by Jim Carson

I was looking over my bike last night in preparation for the ride and saw that my bike computer read 11:08 already. I had been dealing with a problem at work (I'm the primary on call for my security group) and I must have lost track of time. So much for arriving at 11:15, or 11:30 for that matter, without hammering it.

This was the first time I've really had my Blackburn Flea out on truly dark stretches of road before. I must say that for a relatively wimpy 40 lumens, the strobe mode is certainly eye-catching and illuminated reflective signs very far away.

When I got to Merriam Marketplace, it was only 11:03. Then I realized that I was looking at my odometer earlier, which I intend to reset monthly, but often forget.

A few minutes later, "Wildcat" Al showed up.


And then Badger and his wife... This is one of the color schemes offered on the 2009 Trek 2.3 WSD. I like it. A LOT. And it comes close to matching Badger's Sea-foam-green Rivendell Atlantis.


Drew and his friends showed up via Turkey Creek Trail.


Lots of mingling was going on by 11:40 or so.








Mark Rainey's Trucker. This is how his kick-stand works.


And you also have to love the headset bottle opener.


Warren, (who's been podcasting Bicycle Commuting In The News at LimitedWarrenT.com) was adamant that I called this the Un-Lenexa Midnight Ride yet still wore his Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride shirt? Iiiiiiiinteresting :)


Eric is a relatively new bike commuter who's heeding my advice to stick to a mountain bike on this ride. He recently scored a nice Technium on Craigslist. Like Jason and I, Eric does InfoSec work. I know of one other infosec bicycle commuter in town, too, but he doesn't have a website.


At Midnight, I gave a little talk. The typical "Two abreast. We stay together and re-group. Try not to break too many traffic laws. I hope you got lights and helmets." Schtick. Then we rolled out. By my count, we had a total of 25 riders. It was at least that many, but I could have missed a few. Some joined us part-way through the route.

Our first re-group was at the new gas station near Roe and Southwest Blvd. The traffic light split our group.




Sorry for the blur. This was taken at the entrance to the cave. Seeing the faint shimmer of moisture on the slope, I gave a warning for people to be mindful of their speed and to try to stay away from using their front brake if possible. (Braking with the front on slick surfaces can lock the wheel up easier and cause a problem)


There were two decent wipe-outs coming down the hill to the cave. It's been slicker than it was last night, but it was still a bit challenging. One group bit it at the bottom of the hill while a few others wiped out half way down. Everyone was okay, save for a few scrapes. We all got our selves together and continued the route through the cave.




Most of us walked our bikes out of the cave. Good Call.

Return Trip: We got split up at Southwest Boulevard and Rainbow. Only a few of us made it through the light. This was the rest of the group:


C'Dude, Warren and his son Peter


Riding through Rosedale:


Back at the Marketplace, cDude shows his battle scars (he got taken out by a wipeout in front of him)


Reed is huge on Twitter.


After we got back, some of us went to Denny's for some post-ride carbs. Mark and Nancy locking up.


When you go to Denny's (or pretty much anywhere open 24 Hours) at 2:00 in the morning, you never know who you'll run into. This couple wanted me to take their picture, too. I gladly obliged and handed him one of my cards. The Cigarette was just for show -- he whipped it out for the photo. I thought it was funny. Nice to meet you!


With that, there was much pigging out and discussion.








And looky what we have here! We got a ride report from this family about the official Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride. The official word: Lenexa PD says Midnight is too dangerous. The '07 and '08 rides both had something interesting happen with things NOT related to the ride that could have put the riders in jeopardy. One year, a search party was looking for an escapee in the area. The next year, a high-speed chase on Renner bisected the ride when police were forced to shut down the intersection for a few minutes. The word is that Lenexa is looking at moving this to an early morning ride -- say 6:00 AM or so (that's early?!) and returning to the cave route. That might be acceptable.


Again, big thanks for all who came out, spread the word, and had a good time!

Midnight Un-Lenexa Cave Dark-Side-Ride-o-Rama of Awesomeness

We've had a few last-minute sign-ups, a few who are confused on the date, and some who didn't get the last round of e-mail. I'll just post it here for everyone to see. I'd still like it if everyone was accounted for, though. PLEASE SIGN UP if you think you'll be attending.

"Midnight" is a confusing word. So let me clarify. The ride will start at the stroke of midnight SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. That means get to Merriam Marketplace LATE Saturday night. I'll get there sometime around 11:15 or 11:30. I recommend not getting there any later than 11:45 PM.

This ride is a combination of July's Dark Side Ride, and an alternative to the traditional Lenexa Midnight Ride, because they changed their route and location in such a way that detracts from most of the features that made it fun. Sure, riding on a bicycle in the dark rules, but after that, the Lenexa Midnight Ride has nothing. We're going to fix that by adding a cave.

To discuss more dark-side rides throughout the year (most of which do NOT include a cave, start earlier in the night than Midnight, and usually have a distance of 25-40 miles), sign up here.

Check your lights (and batteries), brakes, tires, chains and quick-release levers in advance. No one will be inspecting bicycles for safety at this event.

Show up at Merriam Marketplace with enough spare time to get your bike set up. I recommend showing up no later than 11:45 PM on July 11th, 2009. It's Saturday night.

At the stroke of Midnight July 12, we will all depart, riding northeast on Merriam Drive. We'll take it all the way to Kansas City, MO (where it's known as Southwest Boulevard) with re-group points along the way and turn right on 31st Street.

There's a large hill on 31st street. We'll re-group at the entryway to the cave and I'll unlock the door if it's not already open. We'll ride through the cave loop counter-clockwise, then come back out to return to Merriam Marketplace.

Every time I've been in the cave, there's been a thin, slick mud on certain parts of the roadway. I've never wiped out on it, but my road bike's narrow tires have gotten squirrelly in some parts. I'd recommend using a mountain bike for this ride. Also, the hill coming out of the cave is pretty steep.

Afterwards, some of us will undoubtedly be hungry, and for some of us, it wouldn't feel right not to wolf down some pancakes or breakfast after the ride. There is a Denny's at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Eby that's open 24/7 which is riding distance from Merriam Marketplace. Feel free to join some of us there for the after-party.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me via the form on the right, or here in the comments.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes!

I was up late last night working on a proposal for something that I'm happy to say panned out quite well. In fact, today has been nothing short of awesome for a multitude of reasons I won't bother enumerating here. Suffice it to say, I am happy and will refrain from using sarcasm for the day. Oh, and my *everything* hurts from my wimpy workout yesterday. But that's okay. Because life rocks for now.

We cyclists had a unique "problem" at the bus this morning. Lorin and John C were both waiting at the bus stop with their bikes. This doesn't surprise me. John C and I were both on the bus with our bikes yesterday and Lorin usually takes an earlier bus. Today, Lorin had agreed to meet me for coffee. That means trying to get three bicycles on a rack made for two.

That didn't happen. John C brought his singlespeed on board the crowded bus. I think he got the short end of the stick because he's the skinny one who happened to be the most unburdened of the three of us. We all gathered for some pre-work caffeination with JR -- who hadn't shown up by the time I took this picture, but he'd have parked out of fram anyway.


I've been seeing more bike commuters lately -- many of them are of the suit- and business-casual attire wearing variety. It could be due to the lofts downtown, or due to transit. Regardless, more and more people are riding downtown with every passing week, so it seems. I would have taken more photos but I was all out of battery by the time I took the one above.

Also, fellow bicycle commuter, security nerd and blogger Jason would like some help trying to identify another bicycle commuter who got taken to the hospital on his watch a few days ago. I'm not one to tell people what to do or how to ride, but seriously? Helmet: Good

I See You Ate One Too

Clever. I ride past this thing a few times per week, but never have stopped to photograph it.


100pu Week 1 Day 1: 6/6/4/4/5 - My abs were still sore from the initial test from Wednesday night. This batch of pushups was a butt-kicker. I just need to tell myself that it's "the good pain" ... isn't it?

One Hundred Pushups

Anyone who knows me well knows that I haven't lost significant weight in the past year. Initially, I started bike commuting out of necessity, then I kept doing it because I was losing weight (and lost about 60 pounds at my best), and somewhere I just quit caring about the health benefits. I bike and bus all over the place. I get more exercise than many people in America's Fat Belt, but I've succumbed to complacency.

This has left me with muscular legs, a heart that's stronger than it's ever been before, above-average lung function, and yet I still don't have a lot of core strength. My weak, useless arms and flabby belly remain from my decade of lethargy. I haven't GAINED any weight in the last year, but I haven't actually improved my fitness, either. To that end, hammering more miles won't get me where I want. Sure, a refined diet and more calories burned would eventually start melting away my excess weight but it wouldn't do much for my upper body.

So, the goal is simple. Last night, I started the 100 Pushups program. It was my initial assessment, and I was able to execute 10 well-formed consecutive pushups. Weak, but you have to start somewhere. The goal is this: in 6 weeks, be able to do 100 in a row.

After doing just ten measly pushups for the initial test last night, I'm already feeling it this morning: abs, pecs, arms -- all of them are letting me know they're accounted for.

Has anyone tried this program before? Any luck?

Independence Day and Monday Night Recovery Ride

As usual, I participated in massive amount of explosives and fire on Independence Day. While we didn't have professional-grade stuff like last year, my friends and I all got to set off a bunch of smaller things. And I mean a bunch.

Jon is actually made of explosives. :)


A few repeater cakes (pre-fused multi-shot aerial displays) staged in the yard.


Jon, Angji and Joel setting up a few bottle rockets.


This made me laugh, particuarly seeing Jon cheer as the projectile launched. I made it from a sequence of images taken with an intervalometer script on my camera (thanks to CHDK)


Angji shows off her Twitter Glitter. By the way, this was just about the most underwhelming piece of the night, aside from one ironically called "The Migraine". Both of them were basically a 4-shot roman candle. At least Twitter Glitter could be described in 140 characters or less.


Crackle.


Boom.

This afternoon, Chris was jonesing for a ride. He's on the road to recovery from knee surgery (yikes!) so he showed up at my place around 6:00 and we rolled out to meet the Monday Night Recovery Ride folks. Talk about a perfect night for a ride! We had about 20 participants.


My next vacation day isn't until September. Thankfully, it looks like I have some fun weekend bicycle trips planned to pass the time until then. The Midnight Cave Ride is this weekend, and we're looking at 30+ participants for that ride. We're still lined up to have quite a few participants for the group S24O camping trip at the end of July, too.