Bicycling

Creepy Nutcracker

If you have small children it may be best if you don’t let them check the mail for the next few weeks, unless of course, unlike me, you don’t think this year’s Christmas Nutcrackers Stamps are creepy.

We went out this afternoon and cleaned the rest of the leaves off the driveway and sidewalks and such. Afterward I pulled the car out of the garage and gave it a washing. It was pretty dirty from the rains of a couple weeks ago and the drenching it got last Saturday on the trip back from HHI. Maybe tomorrow I’ll pull it back out and give it a wax.

For the first time in a while we went for a bike ride today. At first we were going to ride our single bikes this afternoon, but changed it to the tandem tonight. We went out around 7 PM when it was fully dark and cruised a couple neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 54

Exodus – Part 1

Episode 23’s off island flashbacks feature a lot of the main characters in the Sydney Airport getting ready to depart while on island we see the last frantic construction on the raft as it gets ready to depart. Meanwhile the crazy French Chick arrives with a warning that the “Others” are coming. Jack thinks they should all hide in the hatch, but it still can’t be opened prompting a French Chick lead trip to the black rock to get some dynamite.

We rode the tandem to work today and it was chilly enough (low 50s) that I wore tights and we both wore some light knit gloves. We have been using a NiteHawk Pro Dual for commuting that we have had for what seems like ages (maybe 10 years?) It is starting to show its age as the light output is nearly non existent when we pull into the parking lot after just under a half hours worth of riding. You can buy a replacement battery for $55, but even when brand new it was only good for an hour and a half (plus the battery weighs about 2 lbs.) Instead I decided to try one of the newer LED lights, after a bit of internet research I opted to try a Cateye EL-530 which I found at Nashbar for forty bucks.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 388

Confidence Man

Show eight and that finishes up the second DVD. This one was about Saywer mostly, both on and off island. And after several shows that included scenes where the attractive female cast members showed some skin (as much as you can get away with on network TV), this episode featured the ex model Josh Holloway looking good in a suit and totally out of it.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and today’s Augusta Chronicle was printed on pink paper. I thought maybe I’d get in on the fun too and changed the background to pink for the next 31 days. Ladies, get a mammogram, it may be uncomfortable (OK, maybe even painful), but early detection can literally save your life.

The top on the car didn’t transition today because it spent it in the garage.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 372

Pilot – Part 2

Show 2 of 82. Does this photo look familiar? I think it does. Just six days ago I posted a photo I had taken of the Shannon Rutherford “Action” Figure that was based on the scene from this episode.

After Sunday’ games the FRS had a magic number of 1 for clinching a wild card playoff spot. They were also only 1-1/2 games out of first place and winning the division was once again in play. But last night they lost and Tampa Bay won dropping them back to 2-1/2 games behind. Because the Yankees had the night off the playoff clinching magic number remained at one. Tonight the Yanks are winning and Tampa Bay has won the first game of their doubleheader and although the FRS are winning, they are making it look hard, they are up by only one run and the Indians have loaded the bases the last two innings. Update: The FRS managed to stave off defeat and are going to the playoffs.

The weather has turned positively March like all of a sudden here, High near 80, low in the upper 50s and 20 MPH winds. Even though it is our long days and 1 hour earlier start, we got up even earlier so we could ride the tandem to work. The good thing about the extra hour early start, there is nobody, and I mean nobody, on the road at that time. The good thing about the wind is it is coming from a direction that makes it a tailwind on the way home.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 360

Pardon The Interuption


Flicker Field in Hitchcock Woods.

That’s a photo from last Sunday’s hike. We went for a bike ride this morning, but are planning on a walk in the woods tomorrow. Sorry for the lack of words recently. Suffering from a little bit of BA.

 

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 355

Dude Where’s Your Car?

That’s right, we rode the tandem to work today. Even though Tropical Storm Hannah has weakened and there was only a 30% chance of rain we still got slightly damp on the ride home.

Hannah also played havoc with the MMC’s scheduled trip to the Food Lion Auto Fair in Charlotte, NC. The Club (and I use that term loosely) had planned on going to the Spring version earlier this year, but it was going to be a rainy day, so we canceled and rescheduled to go to the fall version. Well, somebody is trying to tell us something, like don’t go, because there is a 60% chance of rain there tomorrow too.

If it was only, say an hour away, we might have taken a chance, but to get there it is at least 2-1/2 hours which is just too long a trip to end up in the rain.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 340

Where’s The Car?

We rode the tandem to work today and the Emperor spent the day in the air conditioned luxury of the garage at home. The ride in was great, because it is our early week we started riding at a few minutes before 5:30 AM, there was zero traffic and the temperature was 70° with a little bit of fog. The ride home wasn’t too bad, even though it was sunny and 90°.

Donna and I took our usual walks around the perimeter of the parking lot all three times today and each and every time we came to the far corner I would see that empty parking spot and for an instant wonder what happened to the car.

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 299