The "Other" Park

today, after 8 good miles in the a.m., 'Lance' and i, actually i, decided to get some mileage in exploring up to Iroquois pk. it's a park i used to know well, having been a prime training area back in the day of the earlier '90s. after having done a couple long rides on the riverwalk, i needed a change in scenery, as well as the need to avoid potential water probs. so off to 4th street we went, and then up the Southern Pkwy 'bike path'. now, under most circumstances, i'm one to use the road and stake my claim to my lane. 'Lance' is a little more casual, so we went up the side. frankly, i think it creates all those observations abt the probs with bike paths: bad crossings, pedestrians, and the like. anyway, we go into the park and around the bottom and then up to the top. it's such a pleasant ride up Iroquois, so gentle and easy but still a "climb". back down and towards 3rd street.

we decided to explore a little more, which is to say not go straight home, so we meandered up Southside and over to Crittenden. that can be a little hairy, but hey, stake you lane and ride responsably and it works out. across Phillips to Blemer???, something i don't remember but basically working our way south of Audabon CC, crossing Trevilian and to home through the neighbhorhood. all in all a great afternoon of riding, not too fast, but some pick ups here-n-there to get the blood flowing. and great sunny weather to boot.

hope of of you are commuting to work, sticking it to the gas man, and giving up your addiction to the Middle East crack. i've done my part for the day, and at $3.10/gallon, it feels pretty damn good

30.1m total 8 a.m., 22.1 p.m. 85degrees and sunny

Ominous Monday

well, i HAD to ride today b/c the weather portends great calamity this middle of the week in the sloppy leftovers of hurricane Katrina. from what i can tell, it's going to rain like hell both Tue and Wed. so, off on the bike i went this a.m. fact is i checked the radar on the web to make sure and saw a nasty clump of storms just south of town. really, i rode pretty damn hard this morning, pushing the big ring on occassion on the SurlyCrossCheck, especially after feeling just a few drops here-n-there. once i got about a mile from the school, the drops turned to drizzle and such. i really buckled down on Barret into Hill and pushed it all the way to work. don't know my avg b/c i had leftover pokey mileage from friday, but that certainly had to be one of my harder a.m. rides. just after i was inside the heavens opened forth, so luck-- and hard work-- was on my side.

the p.m. forecasted possible probs as well. after a slow but enjoyable sidetrip with fellow commuter, i found myself running the whole of Baxter/Bardstown. FUN to be had. in fact, a car in front of O'Sheas seemed to have cut off my path, though maybe not at all directed at me. so that became my marker on my journey. fact is i raised the ante, doing 19-21mph on Bardstown, which is pretty damn fast for me on the commuter set up. so i got in front of said sedan at Eastern Pkwy with him waiting for the light. actually, i stayed in front of him until i pulled off around Douglass Loop for a breather from one fine interval all the way down Bardstown. not bad, hard ride a.m. and a damn good 'fartlek', as the Swedes called them in the p.m.

tomorrow does NOT look good.

14.5m total, 7 a.m., 7.5 p.m.

Coffee Rides

as much as i wanted to put in some mega miles today, i ended up taking a rather nice, 'laid back' coffee ride this a.m. after many months of neglect, i got out the old Rans Rocket, pumped up the tires, checked the package over just a little, and headed off to the best coffee joint in the 'Ville, Sunergos on Preston. i met a friend there for some lively conversation and some excellent brew, augemented by 2 nastily wonderful maple donuts from Nords Bakery. my friends, there is no single greater alimentary experience than Nords donuts and Sunergos' coffee hand in hand on a sunday morning.

given that i hadn't been on the Rans in a good while, i found myself enjoying it quite a bit. i was able to occassionally get in the big ring and make some progress, and the laid back thang proved the perfect way to go coffeeing. i admit i've never become a full convert to 'bent riding, as the handling- to the day- doesn't suit me, too twitchy. but it was a really nice, and taxing ride (as i was late). i returned home having broken bread (donuts as it were) with friends and having used the bicycle for what it was intended-- transportation. perfect

10 miles, who knows the avg b/c i don't have a computer on the Rans

the FAIR

spent the better part of the day preparing, attending, and post-attending the state fair. man, there are a whole bunch of REALLY ugly people there. really kind of makes you feel good about yourself, b/c you can finally see that there is worse world out there.

i've spent the better part of my evening coveting, lusting after a Surly Long Haul Trucker that's for sale on Ebay. last day is tomorrow. it's my size- or close to it- and is a perfect set up for a new commuter bike. do i NEED a new commuter bike? well, no. i have other bikes i can ride to work. but, you know, at 6.30 a.m. you have to have a rig you're comfortable with, one with. it HAS to carry you through thick-n-thin so you can get to work. in my case, since i have students @ 7.25, i REALLY have to be there. the one thing i don't like abt it are the flat bars. in my size it's set up for 26" wheels, and therefore flat, mtbike style bars. i would far prefer road bars, but overall it's a great set up, fenders, Deore, generator hub, for so far a good price. that's what we'll have to watch. if it stays lowish, then we'll go far it. if i do buy it, then i'll be selling a couple old bikes that really won't get any future use, including the present C'dale commuter that i'm just tired of. it's still a very usable bike with a quality alum frame. the hope is to get some decent cash from it.

we'll, big day tomorrow and we'll see. could be a new rig coming my way.

oh, and with the FAIR and the boys later, no ride. could've done so this a.m., but didn't take place. i think a 7-9 ride tomorrow is in order. vamos a ver

que bueno que sea viernes

pues, mis planes me perdieron. iba a montar para Oldham Co. por Rose Island esta tarde, pero durante el dia me canse y decidi, "no puedo". en vez de un gran viaje, tome unas 3 cervezas con los de la escuela y "crawled home", excluso un buen caminito en Bardstown a 19mph. por la manyana, el radar mostraba que iba a llover, asi cuando fui al trabajo, me esforce tanto. Lo empuje a lo mejor.

13.5 m 6a.m., 7.5p.m.

Nada

Bueno, hoy dia pensaba nadar despues de la escuela. anoche decidi no montar en bici a la escuela, porque despues, iba a nadar y despues visitar la Feria del Estado. pues, ninguno me sucedio. eso es. manyana, mejores planes para hacer una gran excursion por la tarde. vamos a ver por la lluvia.

Another sunny day

Another great day for a long ride in the saddle. 85, sunny, breezy again. 7 miles in the morning. in the afternoon 3 short miles with the commuters, and then the two of us (name not revealed for privacy reason- we'll call him Lance) spun out to Chickasaw and back the Riverwalk. I hope the Riverwalk has done some to open up the Shawnee area of the west end, because they're many nice homes down there, many with similar architecture to those in the Highlands but at 30% the price. Right now the low trail of the Riverwalk is quite nice, free of detritus and slickness. in fact we came across 4 or 5 bikers and cyclists. Too bad it doesn't span the breadth of our whole riverfront.

35 miles total

Ahhhhh

Great day. low 80's and sunny in the afternoon. morning the typical. in fact the shortest possible 6m. in the afternoon the 3 of us (the "commuters") head home. later, my co-worker and i head in to Cherokee, wynde our way (wynde is the ridiculous, pretentious spelling for those subdivision dwellers who have Sub names like that) into Seneca with a lap around the loop. very low key but gorgeous day for a commute. Surly working out very well as a commuter machine.

total miles 20.5. 85 degrees and sunny. perfect commuting day

Long Monday

yesterday i changed over from the C'dale to the Surly for commuting purposes. hopefully that will get me more comfortable for some longer distance after work.

this morning had an uneventful 7 mile ride to work. afternoon was good though. rode 26+ miles on the Riverwalk with co-worker. these were flat, easy miles, but the total for the day is 33 or more miles, so that looks good.

also, after reading some interesting commentary about helmet-mount mirrors, i decided to duct tape the one that's been laying about and try it out. after taking a while to get the angle, i found that i enjoyed it. i think i need to remount it a little higher on the helmet, but really it's a try-out period before buying a Harris mirror from Ohio, as that's the one recommend by many. we'll see how that goes.

total miles 33.5. weather 85, sunny and mild breeze. nice day, and a good start to the week

Sunday Off

Well, no ride today, but decided to change over from the C'dale to my faithful Surly for commuting. i hope to get some more miles in in the afternoon, and the Surly will let me do that. moreso, i'm coveting a Surly LHT on Ebay that's on sale for a few more days. a $600-700 frame fully tricked out right now for $250. i have to check the frame size, as it's a 52 and unfortunately i think i'm a 54. vamos a ver.

with the gas prices as they are, and prob will be, biking biking biking to work has to be the way to go. good for me, for the pocketbook, for the anti-oil industry, for the anti-GWB industry, and ultimately good for the earth, one tiny teaspoon at a time.

pues, manyana tenemos un dia bastante facil que realizar, digamos.