Journal
10 May 2008 | 8:41 PM
Some More Thoughts
~~~
Day’s Verse:
"First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life."
Matthew 8:22 (context)
~~~
I was going to write a blog about how awful my week has been this week to explain why I haven’t updated for a while now, but then I realized nobody would want to read that. We all have bad weeks. I also rode 72 miles today to Nashua, NH, but I very much doubt anybody wants to read about that, either. So that’s that.
---
When I was in high school, Mom wanted to listen to NPR in the morning on the way to school. Colleen and I complained and howled about how boring it was. In fact, in some of the few moments of solidarity we experienced for many tumultuous years, we preferred to set aside our individual musical preferences and ride in silence for 30 minutes rather than listen to NPR. Even so, Mom prevailed occasionally, and after I left home I never thought I’d want to listen to NPR again.
Oddly, though, in the last few weeks, Ian and I started listening to and enjoying to our local NPR station. I like the diverse topics covered—everything from a program on bells (I was disappointed that we arrived at our destination before we could hear the promised bells underwater) to a discussion of cheerleaders at cricket matches to political assessments—and hearing local, national, and international news. I find something compelling about the smooth flow of words coming from the speakers. We listen to Prairie Home Companion on Saturday evenings (when we remember), and All Things Considered or whatever’s on when we drive around. Then sometimes we discuss what we’ve heard, and have whole conversations with NPR topics as jumping-off points.
Does that make us middle-aged yuppies?
---
Bike highlights:
I saw a plywood cut-out of a Scottie dog squatting over with a little poop coming out of it. Across the dog’s body was written the word NO in huge red letters.
Riding on a crappy road—one of those remarkably horrible roads that seems to be all patches on top of patches, with lots of deep cracks among them—that set my teeth a-chattering from the vibration, I came upon a house that had set up a big sign in their front yard: “REPAVE GOLDSMITH STREET. IT’S AN EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR TOWN.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Eight miles later, the road I was supposed to take ended, just next to a huge transfer station. A rusty gate hung across a dirt and gravel path that looked beautifully suited to mountain biking. That necessitated a hasty consultation with Ian, who gave me instructions that I boiled down to this, since I couldn’t remember all the street names:
Right
Right
Bear left
Bear right
Right
Unsurprisingly, I got lost. Fortunately, the wrong road eventually encountered Route 113, which was on my map and got me back on track.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
"First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life."
Matthew 8:22 (context)
~~~
I was going to write a blog about how awful my week has been this week to explain why I haven’t updated for a while now, but then I realized nobody would want to read that. We all have bad weeks. I also rode 72 miles today to Nashua, NH, but I very much doubt anybody wants to read about that, either. So that’s that.
---
When I was in high school, Mom wanted to listen to NPR in the morning on the way to school. Colleen and I complained and howled about how boring it was. In fact, in some of the few moments of solidarity we experienced for many tumultuous years, we preferred to set aside our individual musical preferences and ride in silence for 30 minutes rather than listen to NPR. Even so, Mom prevailed occasionally, and after I left home I never thought I’d want to listen to NPR again.
Oddly, though, in the last few weeks, Ian and I started listening to and enjoying to our local NPR station. I like the diverse topics covered—everything from a program on bells (I was disappointed that we arrived at our destination before we could hear the promised bells underwater) to a discussion of cheerleaders at cricket matches to political assessments—and hearing local, national, and international news. I find something compelling about the smooth flow of words coming from the speakers. We listen to Prairie Home Companion on Saturday evenings (when we remember), and All Things Considered or whatever’s on when we drive around. Then sometimes we discuss what we’ve heard, and have whole conversations with NPR topics as jumping-off points.
Does that make us middle-aged yuppies?
---
Bike highlights:
I saw a plywood cut-out of a Scottie dog squatting over with a little poop coming out of it. Across the dog’s body was written the word NO in huge red letters.
Riding on a crappy road—one of those remarkably horrible roads that seems to be all patches on top of patches, with lots of deep cracks among them—that set my teeth a-chattering from the vibration, I came upon a house that had set up a big sign in their front yard: “REPAVE GOLDSMITH STREET. IT’S AN EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR TOWN.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Eight miles later, the road I was supposed to take ended, just next to a huge transfer station. A rusty gate hung across a dirt and gravel path that looked beautifully suited to mountain biking. That necessitated a hasty consultation with Ian, who gave me instructions that I boiled down to this, since I couldn’t remember all the street names:
Right
Right
Bear left
Bear right
Right
Unsurprisingly, I got lost. Fortunately, the wrong road eventually encountered Route 113, which was on my map and got me back on track.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
04 May 2008 | 6:44 PM
Ugh.
~~~
Day’s Verse:
Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!
Deuteronomy 6:5
~~~
If you read nothing else, skip to Number 4. I want to hear what you guys think of that craziness. That said...
This ride involved more than its fair share of many—well, let’s generously call them “experiences.” I did experience them, but they were way more than that.
First, the hills. Oh, lord, the HILLS! I conservatively estimate that I ascended about ten zillion hills, totaling approximately 100,000 feet elevation gain. Over 65 miles, and following yesterday’s 62-mile ride, my legs felt about ready to fall off by the time I crept up the little hills in Marlborough. However, since church is higher than home, I did have a net loss of elevation, which meant that I also had some really exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking, descents. I didn’t break my all-time speed record of ~40 mph, but I did hit 35 mph without really pedaling on most of the downhills. I haven’t used my new big chainring at all. It’s so big usually have a very hard time pedaling in that gear, and by the time I know a downhill will be big enough to warrant it, it’s too late to shift up (I learned the hard way that shifting in the front while pedaling fast downhill results in your chain falling off on the outside, ending that fast downhill ride quite abruptly). So I dub this the Ride of Many Hills, perhaps nothing compared to the hilliness of a Seattle ride, but plenty challenging nonetheless.
Second, the wind—or more accurately, the headwind. This also slowed me significantly at times on downhills; at times it felt like I dragged a huge parachute behind me, or I had a flat rear tire, I had to work so hard to keep going forward. Mostly we’re not talking about a really high wind, but it was unceasing and seemed to come steadily from the northeast, while I headed either north or east into it. I just checked the weather, and sure enough, the whole time I was out sure enough, the wind came from the northeast the whole time. Boy am I good.
Third, the weird road names and sights. I rode on the Central Turnpike, which far from being anything like Route 20 (also called the Hartford Turnpike), Route 9 (the Boston Turnpike), or I-90 (The Turnpike), tended towards the small and rural. Fine by me. This road also happened to be called, for a while, the Masonic Home Road—a most apt name, since it passed by a gigantic complex of sprawling buildings vaguely modeled off of local barns but much, much fancier and huger. It turns out it’s a Masonic retirement home called the Overlook Life Care Community. Who knew the Masons had their own whole healthcare system?
I also rode through a depressingly-appropriately named town called Hillsville, past the Buffumsville Reservoir, and on Mugget Hill Road (yes, it did have plenty of hills). Reading road names, where they’re marked, keeps me plenty entertained much of the time. Bacon Slip continues to be my all-time favorite weird road name.
Fourth, the drivers. Mostly they were pretty polite, although in—I think it was downtown Spencer—somebody did shout “Get of the road, bike!” I ignored that. I’ve heard it enough to not take such cat-calling seriously. Moreover, there was nowhere else for a bike to ride on that stretch of road, since riding on sidewalks is often illegal in downtown areas. The more exciting encounter, though, went thus:
To set the scene, imagine a four-way stop. I’m in some confusing little downtownish area, with few helpful road signs and a couple major intersections coming up, so I stop and pull out my map for a quick look-see. I’m maybe a foot from the “edge” of the road, which isn’t really clear, since it shades from grass to a wide strip of leftover sand to asphalt. I’m not far from the wide strip of sand.
Standing there, scrutinizing, I was surprised to hear a rather angry honk behind me. I glanced back and sure enough, a big red SUV was stopped behind me. I waved them to go around me, then turned back to my puzzlement. Maps, bicycling, turns in roads, and I do not mix well, so I’m very careful when making turning decisions (this is also why we make routes that involve as few turns as possible); I pretty much totally ignore cars around me while mapping.
Imagine my surprise, then, when the honk sounded behind me again, if possible more irritated than before. I decide to explain that I’m going to be here a bit, so I show them the map, point to it, and wave them around me again. I even say, “I’m looking at a map,” although I doubt they can hear me through a couple tons of steel. Then again I go back to my map.
Somewhat shockingly, the SUV remained stopped behind me and this time the driver actually opened the door, and stuck her head out. This, incidentally, is the first time I’ve had somebody do this. She said, very angrily, “We’re in an intersection! Pull over!”
“I’m looking at a map. Go around me,” I told her, amazingly calmly considering she’d just honked at me and now was shouting angrily at me.
“Move over!”
“Go around me.” I look back at my map, decide to go straight through the next couple intersections, and tuck the map away. As I do so, I hear, furiously:
“Do I need to call the cops?”
My jaw dropped. The cops? For me standing on the right side of the road, not blocking the intersection, while checking a map? Yes, I could certainly have moved completely off the road, onto the grassy strip on the side. But, I’ll be honest here, after she started honking at me, I started feeling remarkably stubborn. I wasn’t angry at all, but darn it all, I was NOT going to move off the road, her irritation be darned! I guess that probably wasn’t very Christian of me, but doggone it. I don’t like being honked at any more the next person, and I have NEVER had anybody threaten to call the cops because of me. My most egregious law-breaking is tied between speeding in a car and riding my bike the wrong way on a one-way street. So I refused to move. In fact, I’m not sure what made me do it, but as I pulled away, I shouted, “GO FOR IT!”
By strange coincidence, I happened to see a state police car almost immediately after that, as well as two more local police cars in close succession. Each time I wondered, “Did she really call the cops?” I wasn’t worried, but—but—honestly. Call the police, because I was somewhat in her way? Goodness me.
I made sure to stay well off the road the next times I pulled over. Actually I did get honked at one more time, when I paused at an unmarked intersection on a detour because I wasn’t sure where to go. That time I pulled off the road and the driver waved at me. After they passed me, I was able to follow the other cars on the detour back to the main road, so that played out just fine.
Later, I actually spoke briefly to an Upton cop who had closed a road because of a huge accident. She said I’d never get through the blocked-off road, that there was tons of glass, and pointed me toward the detour. I decided to not push my luck, so I went down the detour. It turned out fine, thanks to all the other detouring cars on those little neighborhood roads that showed me where to go.
All in all, it was a hard, long, tiring ride. I took my jacket off partway through, but had to creatively tie it to my bike since it doesn’t fit in my vest pocket. I didn’t even see any tennis balls.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!
Deuteronomy 6:5
~~~
If you read nothing else, skip to Number 4. I want to hear what you guys think of that craziness. That said...
This ride involved more than its fair share of many—well, let’s generously call them “experiences.” I did experience them, but they were way more than that.
First, the hills. Oh, lord, the HILLS! I conservatively estimate that I ascended about ten zillion hills, totaling approximately 100,000 feet elevation gain. Over 65 miles, and following yesterday’s 62-mile ride, my legs felt about ready to fall off by the time I crept up the little hills in Marlborough. However, since church is higher than home, I did have a net loss of elevation, which meant that I also had some really exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking, descents. I didn’t break my all-time speed record of ~40 mph, but I did hit 35 mph without really pedaling on most of the downhills. I haven’t used my new big chainring at all. It’s so big usually have a very hard time pedaling in that gear, and by the time I know a downhill will be big enough to warrant it, it’s too late to shift up (I learned the hard way that shifting in the front while pedaling fast downhill results in your chain falling off on the outside, ending that fast downhill ride quite abruptly). So I dub this the Ride of Many Hills, perhaps nothing compared to the hilliness of a Seattle ride, but plenty challenging nonetheless.
Second, the wind—or more accurately, the headwind. This also slowed me significantly at times on downhills; at times it felt like I dragged a huge parachute behind me, or I had a flat rear tire, I had to work so hard to keep going forward. Mostly we’re not talking about a really high wind, but it was unceasing and seemed to come steadily from the northeast, while I headed either north or east into it. I just checked the weather, and sure enough, the whole time I was out sure enough, the wind came from the northeast the whole time. Boy am I good.
Third, the weird road names and sights. I rode on the Central Turnpike, which far from being anything like Route 20 (also called the Hartford Turnpike), Route 9 (the Boston Turnpike), or I-90 (The Turnpike), tended towards the small and rural. Fine by me. This road also happened to be called, for a while, the Masonic Home Road—a most apt name, since it passed by a gigantic complex of sprawling buildings vaguely modeled off of local barns but much, much fancier and huger. It turns out it’s a Masonic retirement home called the Overlook Life Care Community. Who knew the Masons had their own whole healthcare system?
I also rode through a depressingly-appropriately named town called Hillsville, past the Buffumsville Reservoir, and on Mugget Hill Road (yes, it did have plenty of hills). Reading road names, where they’re marked, keeps me plenty entertained much of the time. Bacon Slip continues to be my all-time favorite weird road name.
Fourth, the drivers. Mostly they were pretty polite, although in—I think it was downtown Spencer—somebody did shout “Get of the road, bike!” I ignored that. I’ve heard it enough to not take such cat-calling seriously. Moreover, there was nowhere else for a bike to ride on that stretch of road, since riding on sidewalks is often illegal in downtown areas. The more exciting encounter, though, went thus:
To set the scene, imagine a four-way stop. I’m in some confusing little downtownish area, with few helpful road signs and a couple major intersections coming up, so I stop and pull out my map for a quick look-see. I’m maybe a foot from the “edge” of the road, which isn’t really clear, since it shades from grass to a wide strip of leftover sand to asphalt. I’m not far from the wide strip of sand.
Standing there, scrutinizing, I was surprised to hear a rather angry honk behind me. I glanced back and sure enough, a big red SUV was stopped behind me. I waved them to go around me, then turned back to my puzzlement. Maps, bicycling, turns in roads, and I do not mix well, so I’m very careful when making turning decisions (this is also why we make routes that involve as few turns as possible); I pretty much totally ignore cars around me while mapping.
Imagine my surprise, then, when the honk sounded behind me again, if possible more irritated than before. I decide to explain that I’m going to be here a bit, so I show them the map, point to it, and wave them around me again. I even say, “I’m looking at a map,” although I doubt they can hear me through a couple tons of steel. Then again I go back to my map.
Somewhat shockingly, the SUV remained stopped behind me and this time the driver actually opened the door, and stuck her head out. This, incidentally, is the first time I’ve had somebody do this. She said, very angrily, “We’re in an intersection! Pull over!”
“I’m looking at a map. Go around me,” I told her, amazingly calmly considering she’d just honked at me and now was shouting angrily at me.
“Move over!”
“Go around me.” I look back at my map, decide to go straight through the next couple intersections, and tuck the map away. As I do so, I hear, furiously:
“Do I need to call the cops?”
My jaw dropped. The cops? For me standing on the right side of the road, not blocking the intersection, while checking a map? Yes, I could certainly have moved completely off the road, onto the grassy strip on the side. But, I’ll be honest here, after she started honking at me, I started feeling remarkably stubborn. I wasn’t angry at all, but darn it all, I was NOT going to move off the road, her irritation be darned! I guess that probably wasn’t very Christian of me, but doggone it. I don’t like being honked at any more the next person, and I have NEVER had anybody threaten to call the cops because of me. My most egregious law-breaking is tied between speeding in a car and riding my bike the wrong way on a one-way street. So I refused to move. In fact, I’m not sure what made me do it, but as I pulled away, I shouted, “GO FOR IT!”
By strange coincidence, I happened to see a state police car almost immediately after that, as well as two more local police cars in close succession. Each time I wondered, “Did she really call the cops?” I wasn’t worried, but—but—honestly. Call the police, because I was somewhat in her way? Goodness me.
I made sure to stay well off the road the next times I pulled over. Actually I did get honked at one more time, when I paused at an unmarked intersection on a detour because I wasn’t sure where to go. That time I pulled off the road and the driver waved at me. After they passed me, I was able to follow the other cars on the detour back to the main road, so that played out just fine.
Later, I actually spoke briefly to an Upton cop who had closed a road because of a huge accident. She said I’d never get through the blocked-off road, that there was tons of glass, and pointed me toward the detour. I decided to not push my luck, so I went down the detour. It turned out fine, thanks to all the other detouring cars on those little neighborhood roads that showed me where to go.
All in all, it was a hard, long, tiring ride. I took my jacket off partway through, but had to creatively tie it to my bike since it doesn’t fit in my vest pocket. I didn’t even see any tennis balls.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
03 May 2008 | 5:26 PM
More Bike Stuff!
~~~
Day’s Verse:
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
~~~
Ian’s new bike, the Gary Fisher Nirvana, is here! It is... HUGE. The top tube on an Ian-sized frame, as it turns out, comes up to my hips. The handlebars come up to my waist. The bike, which does not have a name yet -- too new; how can we know its personality yet? -- is also very pretty. It has a sort of navy blue and silver color scheme, with the front third silver and the back two-thirds navy blue. I guess the distribution hides dirt better or something. The front shocks are pretty fancy, too; you can lock them so they act like a normal fork, or you can change the amount of give depending on how much bounce you want. A combination of cannibalizing from the parts we have and purchasing what we lacked (many useful things disappeared, alas, with the theft of Ian’s old bike) now also finishes the new bike out with water-bottle holders, front and rear lights, a bike computer, a pump, a multi-purpose bike tool, tire levers, and a handy-dandy under-seat bag to carry everything.
Sadly, however, the weekend has turned out gray, rainy, and miserable: Not exactly conducive to taking the new wheels out for a spin*. But good weather will come soon enough, and with it lots of bike-riding opportunities. Hooray for Ian having a bike that will be fun and comfortable for him to ride!
*I took myself out for a 62-mile spin today, dipping into Woonsocket, RI, before heading back north. I have developed something of a prejudice against Woonsocket. It is ugly, the roads are confusing and not clearly marked, and I don’t like it. On this ride I passed up three tennis balls and three good photos of crazy things. This was also the first ride I stopped to use a bathroom, and no, I felt no compunctions about dashing into a Subway, using the bathroom, and leaving without buying anything. Sixty-two miles felt pretty long by the end.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
~~~
Ian’s new bike, the Gary Fisher Nirvana, is here! It is... HUGE. The top tube on an Ian-sized frame, as it turns out, comes up to my hips. The handlebars come up to my waist. The bike, which does not have a name yet -- too new; how can we know its personality yet? -- is also very pretty. It has a sort of navy blue and silver color scheme, with the front third silver and the back two-thirds navy blue. I guess the distribution hides dirt better or something. The front shocks are pretty fancy, too; you can lock them so they act like a normal fork, or you can change the amount of give depending on how much bounce you want. A combination of cannibalizing from the parts we have and purchasing what we lacked (many useful things disappeared, alas, with the theft of Ian’s old bike) now also finishes the new bike out with water-bottle holders, front and rear lights, a bike computer, a pump, a multi-purpose bike tool, tire levers, and a handy-dandy under-seat bag to carry everything.
Sadly, however, the weekend has turned out gray, rainy, and miserable: Not exactly conducive to taking the new wheels out for a spin*. But good weather will come soon enough, and with it lots of bike-riding opportunities. Hooray for Ian having a bike that will be fun and comfortable for him to ride!
*I took myself out for a 62-mile spin today, dipping into Woonsocket, RI, before heading back north. I have developed something of a prejudice against Woonsocket. It is ugly, the roads are confusing and not clearly marked, and I don’t like it. On this ride I passed up three tennis balls and three good photos of crazy things. This was also the first ride I stopped to use a bathroom, and no, I felt no compunctions about dashing into a Subway, using the bathroom, and leaving without buying anything. Sixty-two miles felt pretty long by the end.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
01 May 2008 | 8:06 PM
First Impressions
~~~
Day’s Verse:
Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
Matthew 7:6
~~~
I'm trying out Ian's snazzy new computer. It is very cute. If Ian was writing this blog, he would tell you all about the dual-processing thingies, the fingerprint reader (that is pretty neat), the two gigs of memory, other specs, etc etc. But since I'm writing this, I say it's cute. Diminutive, I think, is the word that first comes to my mind. My KEYBOARD at work is bigger than this. It's also very shiny everywhere in a way only new electronics can achieve. How do they get them so pristine? Surely those low-paid Chinese workers have to handle it at some point.
I have played some with the handwriting recognition stuff, but it would take me between two and three hours to write this using that so far, so I'm just typing on what feels like a very, very small keyboard (although I'm sure if I text-messaged more I'd feel it was grand and spacious). Anyway, my first impression is that it's shiny, both the hardware and the software. This is our first foray into Vista, and I'm not yet sure what I think of it. Only time will tell.
Now I've spent more than enough time fiddling around on a computer after already spending eight long hours bugging my eyes out at work. Time to EAT.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
Matthew 7:6
~~~
I'm trying out Ian's snazzy new computer. It is very cute. If Ian was writing this blog, he would tell you all about the dual-processing thingies, the fingerprint reader (that is pretty neat), the two gigs of memory, other specs, etc etc. But since I'm writing this, I say it's cute. Diminutive, I think, is the word that first comes to my mind. My KEYBOARD at work is bigger than this. It's also very shiny everywhere in a way only new electronics can achieve. How do they get them so pristine? Surely those low-paid Chinese workers have to handle it at some point.
I have played some with the handwriting recognition stuff, but it would take me between two and three hours to write this using that so far, so I'm just typing on what feels like a very, very small keyboard (although I'm sure if I text-messaged more I'd feel it was grand and spacious). Anyway, my first impression is that it's shiny, both the hardware and the software. This is our first foray into Vista, and I'm not yet sure what I think of it. Only time will tell.
Now I've spent more than enough time fiddling around on a computer after already spending eight long hours bugging my eyes out at work. Time to EAT.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
30 April 2008 | 11:05 AM
Random Thoughts
~~~
Day’s Verse:
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
James 3:7-10
~~~
People wearing those Bluetooth phone attachments in their ears look like cyborgs.
Tennis balls continue to appear on roadsides along my route. I continue to collect them.
I suspect, but cannot prove, that a Charles River employee stole my bike tool from the emergency kit on my bike. Although I didn’t notice the bag was unzipped until Saturday, I hadn’t ridden my bike on Friday and hadn’t touched the bike tool for several weeks—since putting another water-bottle holder on when we had a hot spell. Yet somehow the bag unzipped itself and the tool vanished. Conceivably I forgot to zip the bag up at some point and the tool just fell out on its on, although I would expect a fairly a big heavy piece of metal falling from my bike to catch my attention. In any case, I’m now looking at my coworkers with paranoid eyes, wondering, “Did you take it? Or was it you?” I park Davey in our apartment at night, but he stays in the stairwell of the card-access-only employee entrance all day during the working day, ripe for the pickin’, apparently.
Ian got his new tablet PC on Monday. He could hardly sit still all day, and kept counting down the hours until he could get home to play with the new baby. It’s small, but very shiny, and we named it Serenity. He’s only gotten to spend a couple hours on it so far, but with each new feature he discovers, he says “Wow! It does this, too!” And we marvel over how cool technology is. I think this new computer is orders of magnitude better than my current desktop at home.
Ian’s new bike is the Gary Fisher Nirvana. Rick at Spoke ‘n’ Wheel successfully placed the order Monday morning. When she found out, Allison at Landry’s Bicycles told me, “We can still be friends.” Very magnanimous. I’ve spent enough money on bike maintenance at Landry’s to buy a whole new bike.
Mario Kart for the Wii looks pretty. I have yet to try it out, but I saw Ian give it a whirl the other night. We need a darker day to use the projector.
Every fourth Tuesday of the month, Ian and I lead our life group. This Tuesday I had to foist most of the leadership responsibilities on Ian, because it covered a book we’re reading called I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. I’d say that all we got was this lousy book—I have nothing nice to say about this book. OK, one nice thing: He has some good points, even if they aren’t at all new. I won’t get into why I dislike it, but suffice it to say that life group meetings based on discussing the book involve me sitting silently, mouth firmly shut, telling myself, “Other people find this meaningful. Don’t say anything nasty to ruin it for them.” It’s a good exercise in self-restraint (refer to Today’s Verse).
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
James 3:7-10
~~~
People wearing those Bluetooth phone attachments in their ears look like cyborgs.Tennis balls continue to appear on roadsides along my route. I continue to collect them.
I suspect, but cannot prove, that a Charles River employee stole my bike tool from the emergency kit on my bike. Although I didn’t notice the bag was unzipped until Saturday, I hadn’t ridden my bike on Friday and hadn’t touched the bike tool for several weeks—since putting another water-bottle holder on when we had a hot spell. Yet somehow the bag unzipped itself and the tool vanished. Conceivably I forgot to zip the bag up at some point and the tool just fell out on its on, although I would expect a fairly a big heavy piece of metal falling from my bike to catch my attention. In any case, I’m now looking at my coworkers with paranoid eyes, wondering, “Did you take it? Or was it you?” I park Davey in our apartment at night, but he stays in the stairwell of the card-access-only employee entrance all day during the working day, ripe for the pickin’, apparently.
Ian got his new tablet PC on Monday. He could hardly sit still all day, and kept counting down the hours until he could get home to play with the new baby. It’s small, but very shiny, and we named it Serenity. He’s only gotten to spend a couple hours on it so far, but with each new feature he discovers, he says “Wow! It does this, too!” And we marvel over how cool technology is. I think this new computer is orders of magnitude better than my current desktop at home.
Ian’s new bike is the Gary Fisher Nirvana. Rick at Spoke ‘n’ Wheel successfully placed the order Monday morning. When she found out, Allison at Landry’s Bicycles told me, “We can still be friends.” Very magnanimous. I’ve spent enough money on bike maintenance at Landry’s to buy a whole new bike.
Mario Kart for the Wii looks pretty. I have yet to try it out, but I saw Ian give it a whirl the other night. We need a darker day to use the projector.
Every fourth Tuesday of the month, Ian and I lead our life group. This Tuesday I had to foist most of the leadership responsibilities on Ian, because it covered a book we’re reading called I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. I’d say that all we got was this lousy book—I have nothing nice to say about this book. OK, one nice thing: He has some good points, even if they aren’t at all new. I won’t get into why I dislike it, but suffice it to say that life group meetings based on discussing the book involve me sitting silently, mouth firmly shut, telling myself, “Other people find this meaningful. Don’t say anything nasty to ruin it for them.” It’s a good exercise in self-restraint (refer to Today’s Verse).
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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
27 April 2008 | 4:23 PM
More Riding. Blah.
~~~
Day’s Verse:
Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Matthew 7:12
~~~
My route today involved 1,069 feet of elevation gain over about 3 miles. That was not fun. Then after about 10 miles, I lost 1,500 feet of elevation over about 4 miles. That was fun. I found nothing interesting, saw nothing new or fascinating. The rain, however, held off and heavy clouds kept the temperature cooler, which I appreciated. Not a bad ride, but nothing dazzling either. I am tired. I did get to use my super-bright front and rear lights, though, which is always nice.
Tonight Ian and I meet up with our life group at Wright’s Chicken Farm, supposedly a legendary eating place. We shall see.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Day’s Verse:
Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Matthew 7:12
~~~
My route today involved 1,069 feet of elevation gain over about 3 miles. That was not fun. Then after about 10 miles, I lost 1,500 feet of elevation over about 4 miles. That was fun. I found nothing interesting, saw nothing new or fascinating. The rain, however, held off and heavy clouds kept the temperature cooler, which I appreciated. Not a bad ride, but nothing dazzling either. I am tired. I did get to use my super-bright front and rear lights, though, which is always nice.
Tonight Ian and I meet up with our life group at Wright’s Chicken Farm, supposedly a legendary eating place. We shall see.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
Posted by Katie ::
Ian’s Bike Choice
~~~
Day’s Verse:
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are — no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
Matthew 4:5
~~~
As you may remember, while ago, somebody stole Ian’s old bike from in front of our apartment. This loss disappointed us more because we had intended to donate it to Bikes Not Bombs, not so much because Ian loved and used the bike often. The bike itself was far too small for Ian, who had owned it since he was a young teenager. When we went to the Cape in October for our biking weekend, we rented a right-sized bike so Ian wouldn’t suffer too much.
Now that the summer seems on its way in -- and with gas prices increasing steadily -- Ian has started making noises about commuting the six miles to work by bike. I have enthusiastically encouraged him and get all excited at the prospect. So this week we undertook the arduous process of winnowing through the literally hundreds of bike models available to pick some that would suit Ian. We probably wrote thousands of words in emails to each other discussing bikes, and spent hours (not productive working hours, of course) looking around online. After much discussion, Internet research, and consulting two separate bike shops, we finally narrowed it down to three first-level choices:
Trek 7300
Specialized Crosstrail Sport
Gary Fisher Nirvana
We had a couple of back-up choices, but as it turns out, Ian was able to test-ride all three of these bikes in approximately the same size/model he would buy. At Landry’s he rode the Specialized and the Trek (and a secondary choice, the Specialized Globe); at Spoke ’n’ Wheel he tried out the Nirvana (and another suggested by Rick at S’n’W, the Cobia). In short, between Friday evening and Saturday morning, Ian sat his butt on plenty of different bikes, and narrowed his choices to two: The Crosstrail or the Nirvana.
At that point, some serious agonizing had to take place before he reached a decision. Either bike would serve him well, so either way he would end up happy. But still, we re-checked the specs on each bike, evaluated the price, talked about the pros and cons of buying from Landry’s (Crosstrail) vs. Spoke ’n’ Wheel (Nirvana), looked at the specs again ...and eventually he settled on ordering the Nirvana. While I went out for my 50-mile training ride, he called Spoke ’n’ Wheel to place the order. What a relief to have that settled!
...Except that it isn’t settled. Because when Rick looked up availability for this year’s Nirvana, he discovered that only three of Ian’s size remained anywhere in the country -- and they were all in California! Rick speculated that they had stopped making the 2008 model because the 2009 version would come out soon. In any case, Rick couldn’t place the order until Monday morning, which means that those three bikes could easily be gone before he can order it.
This leaves us in a suspenseful place, unsure of whether Ian’s order will go through, or if he should wait for the 2009 model to come out, or if he will just go with the Crosstrail through Landry’s. Oh, the suspense is killing me! I am rooting for him to get the Nirvana somehow; I like Gary Fisher better than Specialized. But I like Landry’s for service, and Allison there was lightly teasing us about purchasing from another bike shop. My loyalty is torn! Spoke ’n’ Wheel has a home-owned, down-to-earth feel, like your uncle (who happens to be an expert on bikes) is helping you out with your bike. Landry’s is a larger chain and feels more retail-ish and slick, but they also do a great job, especially doing fittings and fast-turnaround repairs. I frequent Landry’s these days because it’s on my way home from work. However, Spoke ’n’ Wheel is much closer to Ian’s work, so he might end up using them more often.
Actually, I’m just excited at the prospect of Ian having a comfortable bike that he will want to ride. Here almost two years ago I started dabbling in commuting to work by bike, and now Mom and Dad both commute and ride recreationally -- Dad is training to do the STP with me in July -- and Ian’s going to be joining us soon. It’s so cool that they’ve just started doing it, without me urging them or anything! Now if only some of my coworkers would start catching that enthusiasm, too...
Bike talk.Yesterday’s ride was nice. A little cooler, and I had a head- or side-wind most of the way out, which made the riding more difficult. Also my lunch didn’t sit too well at first, so I took my first 10 miles or so easy until my stomach settled down. I got turned around a few times, and had to call Ian once, but otherwise it was a fine ride. These 50-mile rides still tire me out, but they don’t feel as difficult as when I started them a few weeks ago. That’s good, because next weekend I ride 60 miles each day, and the weekend after that 70 miles each day -- in training for the STP, I’ll ride almost the whole length of my MS bike ride. Weird. The MS ride should be relatively easy, thanks to the STP training schedule I’m following.
Oh! And on my ride, I found another treasure: A pair of really nice, almost-new bike gloves, too big for me but too small for Ian. I’m going to mail them off home to Mom and Dad, whose hands will hopefully appreciate them.
Alas, though, the road claimed one of my treasures and almost claimed another. Looking in my bike bag before I left this morning, I realized my all-purpose bike tool, which I love and use quite often, and got on sale as a great deal at REI, had disappeared. My paranoid self said that somebody at work had stolen it -- I have come down in the evening recently to find that somebody had played with my bike during the day. But my realistic self said I had just left the bag unzipped and it fell out somewhere on my ride this week. In either case, I mourn its loss (as begrudge having to buy a new one!).
I also almost lost my brand-spanking-new Planet Bike Superflash Stealth rear light, which I finally got on Friday from Landry’s as a special-order. I had read that the clip for mounting on a bike-bag left much to be desired, and I have lost a good rear light in the past when I went over a hard jounce and it bounced off the bag onto the road. Yesterday I happened to go over a very big, hard bump and luckily heard a faint plastic thump. I immediately stopped, checked, and sure enough my light had fallen off. Fortunately, in stopping so quickly I wasn’t far from where it fell. I rescued it and put it securely in my pocket. When I got home, some strategically-placed electrical tape secured it so no amount of bouncing could shift it free. Still, the experience unnerved me. Nary a day old, and I almost lost it! Gah!
I bet somebody feels that way about their gloves. Hmm.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
-----
Day’s Verse:
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are — no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
Matthew 4:5
~~~
As you may remember, while ago, somebody stole Ian’s old bike from in front of our apartment. This loss disappointed us more because we had intended to donate it to Bikes Not Bombs, not so much because Ian loved and used the bike often. The bike itself was far too small for Ian, who had owned it since he was a young teenager. When we went to the Cape in October for our biking weekend, we rented a right-sized bike so Ian wouldn’t suffer too much.
Now that the summer seems on its way in -- and with gas prices increasing steadily -- Ian has started making noises about commuting the six miles to work by bike. I have enthusiastically encouraged him and get all excited at the prospect. So this week we undertook the arduous process of winnowing through the literally hundreds of bike models available to pick some that would suit Ian. We probably wrote thousands of words in emails to each other discussing bikes, and spent hours (not productive working hours, of course) looking around online. After much discussion, Internet research, and consulting two separate bike shops, we finally narrowed it down to three first-level choices:
Trek 7300
Specialized Crosstrail Sport
Gary Fisher Nirvana
We had a couple of back-up choices, but as it turns out, Ian was able to test-ride all three of these bikes in approximately the same size/model he would buy. At Landry’s he rode the Specialized and the Trek (and a secondary choice, the Specialized Globe); at Spoke ’n’ Wheel he tried out the Nirvana (and another suggested by Rick at S’n’W, the Cobia). In short, between Friday evening and Saturday morning, Ian sat his butt on plenty of different bikes, and narrowed his choices to two: The Crosstrail or the Nirvana.
At that point, some serious agonizing had to take place before he reached a decision. Either bike would serve him well, so either way he would end up happy. But still, we re-checked the specs on each bike, evaluated the price, talked about the pros and cons of buying from Landry’s (Crosstrail) vs. Spoke ’n’ Wheel (Nirvana), looked at the specs again ...and eventually he settled on ordering the Nirvana. While I went out for my 50-mile training ride, he called Spoke ’n’ Wheel to place the order. What a relief to have that settled!
...Except that it isn’t settled. Because when Rick looked up availability for this year’s Nirvana, he discovered that only three of Ian’s size remained anywhere in the country -- and they were all in California! Rick speculated that they had stopped making the 2008 model because the 2009 version would come out soon. In any case, Rick couldn’t place the order until Monday morning, which means that those three bikes could easily be gone before he can order it.
This leaves us in a suspenseful place, unsure of whether Ian’s order will go through, or if he should wait for the 2009 model to come out, or if he will just go with the Crosstrail through Landry’s. Oh, the suspense is killing me! I am rooting for him to get the Nirvana somehow; I like Gary Fisher better than Specialized. But I like Landry’s for service, and Allison there was lightly teasing us about purchasing from another bike shop. My loyalty is torn! Spoke ’n’ Wheel has a home-owned, down-to-earth feel, like your uncle (who happens to be an expert on bikes) is helping you out with your bike. Landry’s is a larger chain and feels more retail-ish and slick, but they also do a great job, especially doing fittings and fast-turnaround repairs. I frequent Landry’s these days because it’s on my way home from work. However, Spoke ’n’ Wheel is much closer to Ian’s work, so he might end up using them more often.
Actually, I’m just excited at the prospect of Ian having a comfortable bike that he will want to ride. Here almost two years ago I started dabbling in commuting to work by bike, and now Mom and Dad both commute and ride recreationally -- Dad is training to do the STP with me in July -- and Ian’s going to be joining us soon. It’s so cool that they’ve just started doing it, without me urging them or anything! Now if only some of my coworkers would start catching that enthusiasm, too...
Bike talk.Yesterday’s ride was nice. A little cooler, and I had a head- or side-wind most of the way out, which made the riding more difficult. Also my lunch didn’t sit too well at first, so I took my first 10 miles or so easy until my stomach settled down. I got turned around a few times, and had to call Ian once, but otherwise it was a fine ride. These 50-mile rides still tire me out, but they don’t feel as difficult as when I started them a few weeks ago. That’s good, because next weekend I ride 60 miles each day, and the weekend after that 70 miles each day -- in training for the STP, I’ll ride almost the whole length of my MS bike ride. Weird. The MS ride should be relatively easy, thanks to the STP training schedule I’m following.
Oh! And on my ride, I found another treasure: A pair of really nice, almost-new bike gloves, too big for me but too small for Ian. I’m going to mail them off home to Mom and Dad, whose hands will hopefully appreciate them.
Alas, though, the road claimed one of my treasures and almost claimed another. Looking in my bike bag before I left this morning, I realized my all-purpose bike tool, which I love and use quite often, and got on sale as a great deal at REI, had disappeared. My paranoid self said that somebody at work had stolen it -- I have come down in the evening recently to find that somebody had played with my bike during the day. But my realistic self said I had just left the bag unzipped and it fell out somewhere on my ride this week. In either case, I mourn its loss (as begrudge having to buy a new one!).
I also almost lost my brand-spanking-new Planet Bike Superflash Stealth rear light, which I finally got on Friday from Landry’s as a special-order. I had read that the clip for mounting on a bike-bag left much to be desired, and I have lost a good rear light in the past when I went over a hard jounce and it bounced off the bag onto the road. Yesterday I happened to go over a very big, hard bump and luckily heard a faint plastic thump. I immediately stopped, checked, and sure enough my light had fallen off. Fortunately, in stopping so quickly I wasn’t far from where it fell. I rescued it and put it securely in my pocket. When I got home, some strategically-placed electrical tape secured it so no amount of bouncing could shift it free. Still, the experience unnerved me. Nary a day old, and I almost lost it! Gah!
I bet somebody feels that way about their gloves. Hmm.
----
Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
----
-----
