Saturday, August 23, 2008

My new niece

Friday, I had to ride to Research Medical Center after work. My sister in law had an emergency Caesarean section and delivered her new daughter, who she actually named after my wife. She's a preemie, and weighs in at a scant 4lb, 1oz.





I was initially planning on catching a Metro Area Express bus to get to Brookside, from where getting to Research Med would be a piece of cake. After missing the bus, then passing it at a good clip, I decided to ride the whole way. This would be a new adventure for me, as I don't have much experience riding through midtown. My commuter intuition didn't serve me as well here as it does in the suburbs, what with the mess of one-way streets and all. I managed to find some great roads in not-so-great neighborhoods (not that I felt threatened or afraid), some horrible roads, some big hills and some roads that were probably more traffic-loaded than I'd have liked. I got to the hospital in one piece, though.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Most enjoyable morning

I kicked off my morning with mild temperatures, lower humidity, and a great sunrise that I wish I could have caught on camera. The Twelve handles a lot differently with loaded panniers. Note that prior to this week, I hadn't ridden this bike at all since June 4th, and today was the first time with panniers on it since I started using it on Monday. It feels a lot more like the bike I remember, but it's completely different from the bike that I'd been getting used to.

As this is a relatively small frame, I had to adjust the rack quite a bit from the recommended settings. It's up quite a bit higher than my old rack used to be (adjustable-length main stays) and back as far as it will go, just so that my feet don't hit the panniers. The spring-loaded rack is nice, but it makes for an interesting time attaching the panniers, too. I think I've finally got that part figured out.

Now, we see how long this rear wheel holds up. I have a feeling that a static weight load combined with Kansas City's craptastic roads are both part of why I keep trashing spokes and ruining wheels.

Pics of the new setup coming tonight.

Random Tunage:
Denki Groove - Niji
Orbital - Lush 3-1

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Coming together!

Wow, guys! The Twelve's got a rack, tail lights, a decent multi-tool and even a replacement polar bottle and some other goodies thanks to Sallymander and her husband. No more achy, sweaty back from lugging my gear to-and-fro in a backpack, and no more freaking out about lack of safe lighting. Tomorrow morning's commute will finally feel normal and comfortable.

My wife is taking the camera along to a family event tomorrow. When I get home, though, I'll try to post some pics of the new, improved Twelve.

It's still cool for the middle of August, but the wind and humidity this afternoon more than made up for it. Still a great afternoon for a ride, and better than shoe-horning myself onto a standing-room-only bus.

An endo with an audience

I almost chickened out this morning. The pavement was really wet, and I couldn't tell if it was condensation or rain. The air was foggy, bordering on mist but I couldn't actually feel water droplets when I was stopped. It's the kind of morning where your bike and your eyebrows accumulate moisture straight out of the air. I'm glad I opted to ride in, but the humidity was overbearing. I still think I may have been better off with flippers and a scuba tank than a bicycle and backpack.

John in Calgary, Jason, and Dave: You guys seriously rock! I've got most of my commuting essentials back, and The Twelve seems to be holding up well despite my attempt this morning to test it's resilience. That brings me to the headline:

I did go to the same-old coffee shop this morning, and I locked my bike (and Lorin's as well) to a place that's agreeable to security AND still in eyeshot. I suppose that's the best I can do for now. On my way to work, I took the shortcut through one of the two-level parking garages in town. This one has a 3-inch "lip" going into it, where the asphalt has sunken down but the concrete going into the garage has remained at its designed height. Usually, I take it really slow, pop the front wheel up, then pop the rear wheel up and I never even touch the lip. Today, I was going too slow or hopped too early. Whichever it was, the result was the same.

Ready to lift the rear wheel by tucking my legs and pulling up on the clipless pedals, my handlebars were loaded. The front tire hit the lip (at less than 2 miles per hour) and then the inevitable happened. My front wheel acted as a perfect fulcrum. My bike was the lever, and I was the load. It was such a slow endo that I got unclipped and caught myself on my hands. Chuckling, I got up and realized a few people saw me take the spill as they were smoking in their cars before trudging into work. I'm sure they'll have something to talk about in the office today. None of them were direct cow-orkers of mine, fortunately. No harm done to me nor The Twelve except for what I assume will be a bruise above my left knee where I hit the handlebar.

These mild days are the kind of thing I'd expect from Late September. I'm really hoping this isn't a harbinger of a really harsh winter.

Random Tunage:
Ecano - Run
Lisa Loeb - How

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Lights, camera, action!

I forgot to post this photo this morning. It seems that pigeons have made the old Lane building their home. A large crack in the facade (not visible) makes for a great nesting place.


Brent Hugh (Director, MO Bicycle Federation) and I met up with a reporter and camera crew from NBC Action News (KSHB 41 in Kansas City) after work. The last time they covered bicycle commuting, it was more of a "Whoa, people actually do this?" kind of thing.


This time, they wanted street-level video. A camera man tapes a pinhole camera to Brent's helmet light.


They also set my bike up with a camera on the handlebars:


Their goal this time around is to cover bicycle commuting safety, what kinds of challenges bike commuters face, and what bike commuters can do to make things easier on themselves. We'll see how many of our answers they use.

I was running almost a full hour behind schedule today because of the setup, which means a lot more traffic. On the ride out of downtown, Brent and I experienced traffic that's pretty typical of Kansas City's evening rush hour. This was complete with a few motorists taking wide right turns a little too close for comfort across our path, lane crowding, and a few honks. Both of us were diligent with hand signals and traffic laws, and I think the video that was gathered should turn out well. the reporter doing this piece is a recreational cyclist, but those are the very same people who seem to be adopting bike commuting right now.

I don't know exactly when the piece will air, but it sounds like it's part of a bigger story that will hit the local news early-to-mid September. Having Brent there was a big help. He's got a lot more experience than I do. He's also an LCI whereas I have learned most of what I know from making mistakes and learning from them without having ever taken any classes. The rest of what I know comes from other cyclists both local and in online communities. I'm sure plenty more learning opportunities exist in my future. Hopefully not too many of them result in things like a stolen bike, missing teeth and a broken face. I can do without those learning experiences, but sometimes that's what it takes.

Time for a new coffee shop?

I've never been a huge fan of Starbucks, but in downtown KCMO, they get the job done better or at least with more consistent results than anywhere else I've found that opens before 7:00 AM... This is usually fine and well with me, but occasionally something goes wrong and they do NOT open before 7:00 AM. This time, the manager was running late.

No, I'm not going to get bent out of shape because they didn't open on time. Since they didn't open on time, one of the "security guards" was there, waiting with the employees for the manager to show up so that she could be chief of the queue to quaff her caffeinated concoction. Upon my arrival, the security guard came out, asking in a pleasant tone if I was there for Starbucks. I affirmed her suspicions, then asked if the manager was running late. That's when things got ugly. The imp switched gears in a vain attempt to become the biggest five-foot-one authoritarian the world has known, and told me I can't park my bike against the building. This is a practice I've engaged in for two years now, and I let her know it. Apparently, no security guard, in the dozens of times monthly I see them shooing off panhandlers and loiterers, has ever witnessed as many as four bikes all parked there at the same time, because according to her "none of us have seen your bike here before, it's against corporate policy."

Now, I do realize that she has been granted authority to act in the best interest of her company. I do realize that sometime, somewhere, discussion about bicycle parking may have come up and someone probably said that they don't want bicycles parked on their property. The wonderful thing about security guards, however, is that you can often hoodwink them or at least get them to agree to your antics temporarily simply by telling them what you are going to do, regardless if it goes against what they just told you that you're not supposed to do.

Me: "I'm going to park my bike here today. I will not move it to a location I cannot see."

Guard: "Do you have a lock?"

Details surrounding my ability to lock my bike are not even remotely pertinent to this situation. Being locked to a tree around the corner does not make my bicycle secure or safe from theft. Sitting 3 feet from my bike on the other side of some glass and being able to jump up and get outside within 5 seconds DOES make my bicycle pretty secure. I responded "Pending my discussion with the building manager today, I will determine if I can or cannot park here in the future, and we won't need to have this discussion again."

She agreed. Looks like I have some phone calls to make after 8:00 this morning. I'm really looking forward to seeing the written corporate policy outlining bicycle parking.

All of this really got me thinking about the other coffee shops in the downtown loop, though, and maybe a few that are "on my way" even if they are out of the loop. "The loop" I'm speaking of, is the part of Kansas City that resides within the boundaries of I-35, I-70, US-71 and I-670. In reality, I'd like something that's more within the boundaries of 7th and Truman, Broadway and Grand. Here's my list of "tried and hated" coffee shops around downtown based on the metric of being able to provide a reliably tasty Mocha before 7:00AM. Anyone in KC have some suggestions that I'm missing?

  • Coffee Girls.
  • Scooter's.
  • Nine Muses in the KC Library.
  • Country Club Cafe in Country Club Bank.
  • YJ's Snack Bar.
  • McDonald's in City Center Square.
  • PerkUP!
  • Black Coffee.
Black Coffee is the closest one to work, and SOMETIMES has mind-blowing drinks. Other times, it's bland or just plain bad. Regardless, they don't open early enough for my schedule. I never did get my fix this morning. At 7:00, the manager called one of the employees to inform him that he'd be there in about half an hour. I may swing by Black Coffee soon.

I haven't mentioned it lately, but I really, really miss Sandy, the lead barista at Johnson County Community College. I got my morning dose from her (or her well-trained staff) pretty much every single day before I left the college for greener pastures.

Oh, and my ride this morning? It was nice and quick. I'm afraid we might have some rain for the ride home, though. There's also some other stuff potentially going on this evening that could be considered exciting. Stay tuned.

Random Tunage:
Say Anything - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur
Plumb - Cut (Bronleewe & Bose Radio Edit)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

God Bless America... and Bikes.

It looks like this guy takes both his bike and his patriotism almost as seriously as his bald buddy takes his truck-bed La-Z-Boy recliner. He might even take his American flag as seriously as I take my Jolly Roger.


I got some sandwiches by bike, too. Black Dog coffeehouse makes some good sandwiches, but they changed their packaging. They barely fit in my cheapo messenger bag.


Taking a quick little sidewalk shortcut to get back home.


Random Tunage:
Orbital - Remind
Sarah Brightman - Snow On The Sahara (Cover of Snow On The Sahara by Anggun. Better than the original, IMHO)

Chilly?!

61°F this morning. I actually had to warm into my bike ride. Coming out of winter, I usually use 50° as my guide to determine whether or not to wear long pants and sleeves. This morning, however, I was kind of chilly for the first few minutes of riding. Karen e-mailed me yesterday saying she'd be on the road this morning and wondered if I'd wait up for her. I stopped at 79th street and waited.


While waiting, I noticed a car down the road with its hazard lights on. It's the one in the left lane pointed away from the camera.

As we rode past, it was obvious that the car's transmission was shot. The acrid stench of caramelized Mercon, the characteristic whirr of the transmission's front pump grinding against itself (not getting any fluid) and the mechanical ratcheting of computerized solenoids and a valve body struggling to make sense of it all. This car wasn't going anywhere without some help. I was not prepared to offer such, and the occupants of the stopped car to the left (perpendicular to traffic) seemed to be offering assistance.

The Sun is coming up later and later. My puny 5W halogen bulb is not ideal for this kind of riding, but with the sun coming up later, I get a good view of the earlier phases of the sunrise.


Although we weren't running behind schedule and our average speed was typical (about 17 MPH) we still managed to run into a train on Southwest Blvd. My guess is this train was running behind schedule.


Daybreak over the Power & Light district


Lorin getting his grub on at Starbucks.


Random Tunage:
Sarah McLachlan - Possession
Active Sight - Take The Day As It Comes

P.S.
The Active Sight track is my new favorite spine-chilling trance anthem. Ranks right up there with Ferry Corsten's Galaxia and the Hiver & Hammer remix of Kate Ryan's Only If I -- All of which are tracks you should take a listen to if you enjoy electronic music.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Photos - Aug 18, 2008

A cicada shell found along Turkey Creek Trail during my homeward commute.


The bank lobby was closed and I had business to conduct. I rode through a drive-through lane.


Monday Night Ride photos.






You'd hardly know it's August what with the mild temperature today. Also, Jason gave me the hookup on one of his old tail lights so that I won't feel so vulnerable out on the road pre-dawn. Thanks, buddy! I sense a full round trip tomorrow.

Good to go

The Twelve's got about 6 miles, and everything seems to be working properly. I did forget that when I'm wearing a backpack on this bike, I can't see anything with my Take-A-Look mirror without temporarily sitting far upright (moving to the flat center of the handlebars)

I've forgotten what a different attitude and riding position this bike has compared to my flat-bar bikes. I also forgot how much I really love a precisely dialed-in STI shifting system. I didn't get any photos this morning, but I plan on riding the whole trip home, and I'll be riding the Monday Casa Paloma ride if The Twelve holds together. More action shots coming soon!

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Dŵr Budr
B-Movie - Nowhere Girl (Adam Freeland Remix)

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Naked!

That's how The Twelve feels.

You guys kept asking when I was gonna break out the road bike again. Well, here it is.



I spent a LOT of time on the rear wheel, a lot of time trying to tweak the rear brakes to work properly, and it's KIND OF usable. The Twelve is anything but "alive", however. The rear brake still needs some more work and the proper solution to my woes is still a new rear wheel.

Along with Hybridzilla, I lost a lot of stuff that I've come to rely on. Getting The Twelve back into commuter duty was an interesting game of digging through some old stuff that I'd upgraded, scavenging stuff off of the carcass of The Goat, and simply learning to deal without some stuff.

Gone:

  • DiNotte 200L
  • Trek Incite 11i computer
  • Headland CMT wedge pack (and all its contents)
  • Blackburn Crossrack
  • Trek DiscoTech tail light
I reverted back to the NiteRider headlight, but all it has is a 5W bulb in it and I can't find the 15W bulb right now. I had it set up with the 5W bulb for a few of the longer rides I went on this summer, as a backup to the DiNotte. With this setup, it should run for close to 5 hours. 5W isn't a lot of light, though.

I had a Trek Incite 6i on The Goat. That came off and went into the 11i's mounting bracket just fine. I'm missing all the extra features of the 11i, but hey... I still have a bike computer, I guess.

I also stole the small wedge pack off of The Goat. The theif made off with my CO2 inflater, pedro's levers, multi-tool and glueless patches. I picked up a new inflater and patches today. I have plenty of tire levers kicking around.

The lack of a tail light is freaking me out. I have a small blinky on my helmet but eeh. You know. The lack of a rack is going to be a serious cramp to my (pannier-loaded) style. I really don't like the backpack. The Park MTB-3 got me out of so many binds that I think it's going to feel a little odd knowing I don't have it. The headland CMT held a TON of stuff.

Taking inventory of the stuff I need to get back into the game full force in my perceived order of most pertenent to least:
  • Tail light (got my eye on the PB Superflash)
  • Rear Wheel (Shimano Acera, something cheapish?)
  • Rack -- Okay, scratch that -- John in Calgary hooked me up
  • Multi-Tool. The MTB3 rocked.
  • Eventually, another DiNotte, before the mornings get too much darker and the nights start coming on too much sooner.
I have put a link to my Amazon wishlist to the right. I really suck at begging, but I can't afford not to right now. Don't feel obligated, though.

I'm going to ride to the bus tomorrow morning, I may ride all the way home. I haven't really gotten to shake The Twelve down yet, so I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road tomorrow with a wheel that's buckled into a pile of spoke-spaghetti, 7 miles from home, 7 miles from work, and 4 miles from the nearest bus stop.

I'm hoping I can get Hybridzilla back, but this will have to work for the time being.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Hybridzilla - Stolen

My Red Diamondback Outlook was stolen sometime today, right in front of my apartment near 87th St. Pkwy and Quivira Rd.

It's a cheapo bike I snagged off craigslist, but it's my primary mode of transportation, and I'd kind of like it back.


  • 1999 Diamondback Outlook - Red
  • Weinmann ZAC19 Wheels
  • Forte Slick City ST Tires
  • White bottle cage
  • Clipless pedals with the test platforms still on them (for tennis shoes)
  • Giant(tm) Fenders
  • Blackburn cargo rack
  • Lots of reflective tape
It's unmistakably set up as a hybridized commuter bike (I called her "Hybridzilla"), and she's pretty hard to miss. I'd imagine all my accessories (DiNotte headlight, etc) are long gone, but the bike will probably be around somewhere. If you see a red Diamondback Outlook around (especially if it's set up anything like I described above), let me know. I've attached a photo.

All my other bikes are down and out in need of repair, so the sooner I find her, the better off I'll be.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Geekery

Had a nice ride home, my first round trip commute in quite a while.  I was energetic and spunky all the way home.  Did intervals for the first part of the ride, then took it a little easier once I hit Turkey Creek.


My wife went to Aldi (a store selling pretty much only generic food) while I was in Las Vegas.  She scored these Crescent Rolls, which I made last night to go with leftover spaghetti that I made Monday night.  Bueller?  Bueller?  (I know, it's not spelled the same, but I laughed)


The admission badges that we got at DefCon this year are all electronic and completely programmable.  The key?  You had to solder your own USB port onto it first.  I did, and it worked, but it was kind of a sloppy job.  I decided to clean up the solder job last night.  Yes, I use butane instead of electricity when I solder electronics.  Call me paranoid.


When you hook it up to your computer, you can see a console log of what the badge's on-board program is doing.  This isn't like anything I've ever seen before.  I love it. 


The badge is powered by a Freescale JM60 microprocessor, includes an SD Card reader (on back), 8 LEDs as well as an IR transmitter and receiver.  With the built-in program, it will send files from your SD card to other badges via IR, or it can be used as a TV-B-Gone, transmitting all the known TV power-off codes from its IR LED.  I'm probably going to spend a lot of time in the next few weeks figuring out what kind of reprogramming I can do.


Yes, I know I'm a nerd.  This is how I spend my evenings.

This morning, Lorin and I grabbed some coffee.  Yes, I caved in again.  I needed the boost.  I had a nice but humid ride in to work.  It's overcast today and it looks like it could be raining for my ride home.   The ride home will be interesting as well, because I need to swing by the Plaza and go to a meeting out there.  I'll probably get home after dark.  I really should start poring over some maps and figuring out how I plan on getting home.  My intuition usually serves me pretty well when it comes to navigating unfamiliar residential areas, but that's no excuse for not checking things out ahead of time.
Random Tunage:
Binary Finary - 1998
Accuface - Desire 

Yep, 1990's four-four trance music is in full effect.  Oontz Oontz Oontz Oontz!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I can has sanity nao?

I think I'm finally shaking the side effects of last weekend and finally regaining my sanity and health. I managed to actually crawl out of bed at 5:00 like I should. I had time for a real bowl of cereal. I was able to finish packing my bags and shove off by a little after 5:30. The first thing I noticed is how dark the sky is getting in the morning. It wasn't long ago that the 5:00 sky was brighter than the below photo (taken at about 5:41)


Although I woke up with (and still have) a bit of a frog in my throat and have some kind of sinus thing going on, I managed to get out and actually ride all the way to work for the second time in almost three weeks. Karen has been at it the whole time. I'm getting back into the swing of things now.


It was actually a very clammy morning. Cool and humid at 64°F with almost no wind to speak of. On my way in to work this morning, I saw two other bike commuters I'd not seen before. One road-bike-riding guy going south on Quivira with lights, vest and all. The other one was riding a mountain bike on SW Blvd near Mission Rd with a bottle holder duct-taped to his seat tube. I actually haven't seen that trick before, surprisingly. No wrong-way cyclists this morning.

I should be game for the full round-trip commute today. I'm feeling quite a bit better, but still not 100%. I did cave in and get a mocha this morning. So tasty. I probably won't be back there until Friday. DefCon really stretched the family budget. We really couldn't afford it despite my best efforts. I went anyways and it was worth every penny, but I really don't have the funds to indulge myself much.

Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place
Steve Porter - Drama Queen

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Ugh. Not today, either.

Getting recovered is taking me longer than I thought it would. I suppose I get what I deserve, as I was pretty hard on myself at DefCon:

  • Lots of walking in the dry heat means there was some dehydration
  • Drinking a little every night didn't help. Although, I only had about 2 drinks per day until Saturday night's party, where I was a VIP and had (and used) an open bar badge.
  • I wasn't eating enough or getting enough water
  • I was barely sleeping
  • From Phoenix to Kansas City, I sat on a cramped, stuffy Bombardier CRJ900. Not only was it cramped, but the APU was not working, so for the 45 minutes I sat on it before take-off, there was no air circulation or filtering at all.
I have a pretty good case of the airline crud, and it's not getting any better. I can't afford another sick day, so I am going to bus it again (probably both ways today) and I'll probably crash early tonight.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Back in KC

Well, I'm back from Defcon, and I had a really slow start. One could easily say I have a case of the Mondays.

On one hand, I come back to KC, really revitalized with a new passion for the kind of work I do. On the other hand, I am recovering from getting 2-3 hours of sleep per night while in Las Vegas.

I got to meet a lot of really cool people, many of which are "thought leaders" or who carry "big names" in the security industry. I got to interact with them on a panel:


...In full-on technical talks and presentations:


Even more people in a bit of a round-table discussion kind of way over a nice sushi dinner:


And yet others, such as Jon King here, on a very casual social level (such as at a rave):


I even got to experience Transit out there in Las Vegas. Their express bus service uses double-decker busses and is called "The Deuce" - I just about crapped myself laughing when I read it. In the afternoon, it's a surprisingly fast way to get around Vegas. After dark? You might as well walk. It's so crammed and so slow due to how clogged The Strip gets at night. I also gave the Taxi a try a few times. Dangerous and expensive are the only words I can use to describe it. Also, the i-Hacked.com guys and I took a Limo to In-n-Out Burger on Thursday. We had enough people to split the limo fare that it ended up being cheaper than a taxi. Plus, he waited for us while we ate. Big Pimpin'

I rode to the bus this morning, but will be riding the whole way home. The weather got really nice in KC while I was out in Las Vegas. It was less than 70°F when I woke up and I think it's barely in the 80's now. You won't find me at the Monday night ride tonight. I just don't have it in me today. Tomorrow will hopefully begin the return of daily bike-only commuting.

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Style
Real McCoy - Another Night

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Vegas!

Wish I had my bike out here. The bicycle police are out in full force. These guys got busted!


Random Las Vegas photography.




One of the DJs at the HackerPimps party last night:

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Getting ready to head out of town

My flight leaves tonight -- a genuine red-eye that'll land in Vegas sometime between 11pm and Midnight. Def Con doesn't start until Friday morning, but that doesn't mean I can't schmooze with some big names in the information security industry all day Thursday.

I have a camera again. Here's some stuff from yesterday and this morning:

Office movers


Grammar Fail.


Squishy tire on the way home (only ended up being down to 55 PSI, but max is 85)


Messing with our cat, Dora. Not manipulated. This was camera motion (intentional)


Red-light runner (but only barely)


Great morning for a ride to work.



Random Tunage:
Morningwood - Nth Degree
Libra - Anomaly (Calling Your Name)

Monday, August 04, 2008

A day off...

Well, pretty much everything is lined up for the convention later this week. I had everything ready to go for this morning, and had a lot of trouble sleeping last night thanks to a combination of the heat and a killer headache. I was planning on making the full ride to work today, then taking the bus home. It just wasn't in the cards. I took a sick day.

I did a lot of pedaling on Friday night, most of it after dark. I took the bus to get closer to home. With a heat index over 100 Degrees and only one water bottle with me, the whole trip home would have been miserable. I rode to The Maul to hang out with some friends before grabbing supper at the Chinese buffet. Once we were done eating, I parted ways with that group to go meet another batch of local nerds at Daily Dose. All in all, I rode more just navigating to my various social events than if I'd ridden all the way home and used my car for the night's festivities. Even after dark, the heat index stayed in the 90s until well into the night. I'd hardly call it a cool evening ride.

I've started to realize while experimenting on the roads that suburban bike commuting gives you a pretty keen sense of what residential roads go where, even if you've never used them before. In neighborhoods carved up with mile-after-mile of winding, maze-like cul-de-sacs, I can usually find a pretty direct path through without the help of a map, and usually without getting dead-ended anywhere. Friday night's after-dark jaunt through Johnson County's "Windham" subdivisions would prove to be no exception to this rule. Of course, part of my navigation skill could have come from my two years delivering pizza in Olathe, but I feel like I've learned a lot more about the lay of the land in the last 8,000 miles or so on a bike than I did covering 2,000 miles a month in the car.

I'll probably ride to work Tomorrow and Wednesday, but opt for the bus on the return trip. Wednesday night, I head to Vegas.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

July Recap

This was originally written on 7/31, but Blogger was on the fritz and wouldn't let me post it. Here it is, a few days late.

Oh. Hey. It's July 31st. Here's my weaksauce:
Miles Ridden this Month: 539.5
Commute/Errand/Recreation: 374/93/72
Bike-Only Commutes: 12
Bike-Bus Commutes: 9

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