Sunday, March 17, 2024

philly bike expo

 Between the demands of moving (to another part of the same county we live in now), failing fitness (I can't reliably ride at the rates, or for the distances, that I could even less than a year ago), and various weirdnesses with friends and associates that I won't elaborate on here, I've been anywhere from out-of-sorts to completely crazy for a few days (The Excellent Wife [TEW] and I suspect there might be a nickel's worth of a seasonal affective disorder in the cocktail). So when I mentioned that the Philly Bike Expo was this weekend, TEW insisted that I take a day and go. So I did.

I chose to go on the Sunday, because there was to be a presentation entitled Bikefitting for Cycling Literacy. I don't know much about bikefitting, and thought that would be the main topic... but it wasn't. The presenter was a Brooklyn bike fitter who's gender-non-binary, and makes a point of engaging people into cycling who are atypical for the endeavor - not just the LGBTQ+ folks, but women, short and tall people, heavier people, long- and short-waisted people... in fact, anybody who's not a white, heterosexual male over the age of 40. 

It was a great presentation. I teach the Basic Bike Maintenance course for the Princeton Adult School, and this presentation changed the way I will teach. I'm co-manager of the New Brunswick Bike Exchange, and this presentation will affect the way I deal with customers, neighbors, and volunteers. 

And I came to another realization. Most of the folks I ride with regularly, ride together almost all the time. When the club has all-paces rides, and people come together and and ride together who don't normally do so, these friends generally do their own thing. It is undoubtedly riskier to ride with comparative strangers. But first, we were all strangers once. And second, it is elitist to leave out newer riders from these in-groups. And third (and probably most important), I like to meet and ride with new people! I like to see new riders on those first few rides, when their skills and behaviors improve so dramatically. 

Similarly, I like the big ride-for-a-cause supported rides: I like seeing all the different riders and bikes (and different kinds of riders and bikes) that come out, and I like going places I wouldn't normally go, and I like the new rest stops, and even the (often terrible) provided lunches. There was a table flogging the American Cancer Society Philadelphia Bike-A-Thon, and it sounds like a great time.

I plan to do more of the biking I like. That was one of the gifts I got at the Bike Expo today.

There were also, of course, beautiful bikes.











...and beautiful parts:


Above, King Cage; they make hand-bent bottle cages in steel and titanium in a number of styles. Yes, cages can be had for $4, but they're not these. Below, the titanium dustpan they made, because they could.




Above, Silca. Once upon a time, they were known for expensive, but serviceable and repairable pumps and bike accessories. As far as I'm concerned, in 2024, they make jewelry: the stuff works, and it's beautiful, but it's ridiculously expensive for what it is. They've also taken the process of waxing chains, and made it complicated in an effort to make it easier.

Below, the Bike-A-Thon I referred to above.


I hooked a pocketful of stickers to decorate my workspace in the new garage, and bought a replacement for my Suzu Crane bell, with a tone and sustain that defies description. I got out cheap.

A good day.



Sunday, March 3, 2024

change of plans

 Between going back to work, and the various hassles of selling one home and buying another, and some requests for bike work, it was Thursday night before I managed to post a ride for Sunday morning. I planned to start at the Claremont School in Franklin, and go to that nifty Italian Bakery in Raritan, over a route that crosses both the Blackwells Mills and Griggstown Causeways.

But The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I went out to Philadelphia yesterday, to go to Czerw's, and then to the Reading Terminal Market, and then to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a no-special-show-but-let's-go-anyway visit... and it rained the whole day, and then some. I knew the Griggstown Causeway would be flooded today, and I suspected the other might, as well.

So when we got home, I sent out an email to all of the ride registrants, and changed the listing. Instead of starting at the Claremont School, we'd start at Veteran's Park in Montgomery, although the route would still go by the Raritan Italian Bakery.

I had one cancellation... and no other news. And nobody was in the lot, when I arrived, 30 minutes prior to the ride start. Then, one by one, cars and bikes came in... until all fifteen of my registrants appeared for the ride.

It was windy to start, but a great day, with less traffic than I often have on these roads. And the weather was warm: where last week, the temps didn't get above about 35°F, we had about 45°F at the start, and about 64°F at the end. Many riders were complaining about being overdressed (including very truly yours, Plain Jim), and more than one stripped off layers, or rolled up leggings, or what have you.

At the stop:








So with moving, Claremont school wont be as convenient for me as riding a few minutes from my garage. I'll be much closer to Village Park in Cranbury, and even to Etra Park. But I still plan to lead some rides from this area... and maybe I need to plot some more routes from Veterans Park.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

meet singles over 50?


 So this came up in one of my feeds: "Meet singles over fifty on Ourtime".

In that picture on the right... are they both single? Have they met somebody on Ourtime? Are they looking to meet someone else? Is the purpose of this website, uhh... not what I think it is?

I have so many questions.

Sunday, February 25, 2024

some of 'em come out on cold days


 The thermometer showed 28°F when I left the house this morning to lead today's club ride. I don't generally go out if it's coder than that, and, since I know it was going to be cold, I chose a shorter, 30-mile loop, and didn't plan a rest stop.

And, as the photo attests, people actually thought this was a good enough idea that they showed up.

Partly because of the cold, I think, it wasn't a chatty ride I (I know a number of you faster folks are shaking your heads and saying, "If you're able to talk, you're not riding hard enough", but you guys would be miserable on my rides for more reasons that just that). Still, we were friendly, and mostly well-matched. 

We rolled down to Kingston, then back up to Rocky Hill on the other side of the river... and then up to Millstone and back. I started to bonk on the last bit: I'd underestimated the demands of this shorter ride on this cold day. On a 40-ish mile ride with a stop, I'm generally having some sugar and empty calories at about mile 25 or so. So having no stop for 30 miles, on this cold day, meant I should have caloried up... but I didn't think of that, until my misery made it clear that I'd made the mistake. (On the way home, I stopped at the bagel place, and put in the calories I should have done a couple hours before.)

Tuesday night, I start teaching my "Basic Bicycle Maintenance" class at the Princeton Adult School; we chatted a bit about that on the ride, and about my upcoming move to Monroe. My intention is to lead some rides from near there, and others from this Claremont School in Franklin Township location, as some people really like this start. But I doubt I'll hit my goal of 40 leads this year.

Go and check out the route.

Monday, February 19, 2024

i don't like it either

 This commenter from GCN shows why high-viz isn't the protection we think it is.


See it on Youtube here.


Thursday, February 15, 2024

overheard this morning

 The Excellent Wife (TEW) has a habit of streaming movies and whatnot as she prepares to go to work in the morning, and this morning she's been streaming Harvey, a 1950 film based on a 1944 play of the same name by Mary Chase. I overheard two lines close to one another in the play, and each is worth remembering.

Elwood P Dowd, the main character, has a friend who's a puca, a creature with the shape of an animal (in this case, a human-sized rabbit), who's invisible to most people. After Dowd is brought to the psychiatrist Dr Chumley, Chumley gets to see Harvey as well, and exclaims at one point, "Fly specks, fly specks! I've been spending my life among fly specks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts at 18th and Fairfax!"

A little later, Dowd is talking to someone (I don't remember who; I was overhearing, not watching), and says, "Years ago, my mother used to say to me — she’d say, [...] ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.’ Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant."

I'm spending a little time musing on these this morning.



Sunday, February 11, 2024

parade pace

 I'm sorta back to my usual lead-rides-for-the-club-on-Sundays schedule. Now, Canal Road going up to the Blackwells Mills causeway is supposed to be open again. My suspicions are aroused, because it was supposed to be open earlier in the week, and then it wasn't... and all the "Road Closed" signs are still up (but I've seen that some of the "Road Closed" and "Detour" signs for other local projects are still up years after the construction is complete; it seems the budget never allows enough money at the end for sign removal). So I decided to give it a little more time before using one of my routes that crosses Blackwells Mills, and picked a route that goes down from my usual start at the Claremont School in Franklin, to Princeton, and then to Hopewell and back across the Griggstown causeway.

I had fifteen, and then I got a number of cancellations (most of the faster folks chose a better option, a faster-rated ride out of Mercer Park), and then I had some late registrants, and I wound up with eleven.






I led 'em out, and we took off at a pretty good clip... but shortly after we made a turn onto Canal Road, I found myself in the back with two others, and the rest of the group was disappearing ahead of us. The would politely wait at turns, chat for a bit, and whatnot; perhaps they'd let me lead for a few hundred yards... and then someone would decide to give me a lesson in what real riding looks like, and a few others would follow, and then a few of us in the back would be rolling up to the politely patient group waiting at the stop.

(I know this kind of behavior gets rage and eyerolls from certain ride leaders, but it really doesn't bother me. I ride at the advertised pace, making sure the folks who are also riding that pace are doing OK, and the folks up ahead are not my concern. If they go too far off the front, they're off the ride, and if they follow the route, they will get back to the start. I used to try to keep up, but I generally don't any more.)

We went down to Princeton, and across the ETS campus.

 



And we stopped at the Boro Bean in Hopewell, where this vendor was selling plants out front:








The day was not frigid, by any means, but it was cold, and is it possible it was colder after the break? Some felt so, and sped up to generate extra body heat. I, and a few in the back, proceeded at what I chose to call a "parade pace." You can see the ride page here.

I had hoped to get forty ride leads in this year, but rainy January and other responsibilities may interfere. I'll do what I can. It surprises me, though, that this many weeks into the year, I only have two leads in. Oh, well.