People are nice in Boston.

   I was there to visit with some friends from the Bike Forums 50 + crowd.  Every year we put together a ride and people from around the country come to ride..  This year it ended up in Boston, but only 5 of us actually made it.  We made the best of the situation and had a great time.  I suffered an interminable 20 hour drive through the orange barrel jungles of Indiana and Ohio to get there and missed an evening of festivities.  That's Ok, I needed a drink and some rest.  On Saturday our host for the event, Jim, took me on a leisurely tour of Boston proper to help me get my bearings straight.  I was staying in Sommerville where I was able to find lodgings at an incredibly cheap rate, but more on that in a later post.  I was amazed at how bike friendly Boston had become.  It should make sense since Boston is THE college town, and students have begun to embrace cycling for urban transportation.   We got together at Jim's place on Commonwealth near Kenmore Square to make the trip through the countryside to West Acton.  Mass Bike had put together a charity ride and it was a real success.  We all agreed to ride the 30 mile loop to keep the group together

 and were in no hurry to break off the conversations and fun.  

Jim, Diane and Tom Kenton and myself  made the ride.

 The route wound through the neighborhood streets of Carlisle, Concord and Lexington, which were beautiful enough, but the highlight of this ride was the trip through the Minuteman Park.  Throughout the ride we had a chance to ride trails leading us past not only preserved historical cottages and road houses,

 but along the trail where the battles of the early revolution were waged by the citizen militia.  

The trails ranged from hardpacked gravel to some very sloppy sandy washouts.  

The Hunq had no problem with 40mm tires but the others were riding road bikes and had to be a little careful with the 25mm tires knifing into the soft spots.  The trail led us from one historical marker

 to another

some where the dates and times of individual incursions were recorded. 

We gained a real sense for the sequence of events involved in the conflict.

This all created some lively conversation and discussions and 

there were rules to ignore and places to explore.

At one point some re-enactors were providing a firearms demonstration.

Despite starting late and taking our dear sweet time, we made it back to grab the last of the BBQ provided for lunch and a couple beers donate by Sam Adams.  It was a great day, the weather was perfect and we had little trouble keeping the group together.  Tom and I have very similar climbing styles (we can't) and played the role of sweepers while Diane and Jim danced up the hills like they had never seen a french fry.  After the ride back to our respective rooms, and a couple hours of recuperation, we met at Jim's again.  He took us on a subway ride to the North End (Nahth Eind) for a look at the 

Saturday night revelry and a late night dinner.

I was again really impressed at the city.  Here, late Saturday night,

groups of families, couples and women all looked perfectly comfortable

exploring the streets of Boston and enjoying the selection of bars and restaurants.

The night ended too soon, the Kentons needed to leave in the morning, Jim had to spend time with his daughter and go into the office to get his work caught up and I was left with Sunday to myself.

I slept in, but around noon made a large loop around Sommerville and Cambridge on my way downtown.  Cambridge reminds you that  just a few centuries ago this was rural countryside, they paved over the cow paths and forgot about making sense of it when they became streets.  I was constantly scratching my helmet and wondering how I got on this street.  I did bring my small tablet with me, in case I got too disoriented I could rely on Google Maps to find myself.  Again I had beautiful weather, and took the scenic route through the parkways on the Charles after covering most of Cambridge.  I found a great network of Hubway cycles parked and used throughout the city.

Yep,  they are just "begriming" the crap out of everything, the evil monsters.  But at least they aren't blue.

I rode past the band shell in the park where the symphony was performing a free concert and went downtown to see if the city streets on Sunday were as lively as the night before.  They were.

The Chieftans were performing a free concert on one of the squares.  I hung out, had a $4 shot of lemonade  and enjoyed the music before searching out the South End.  The South End has become the Brooklyn of Massachusetts.  Fully gentrified with grown up hippies, it has developed it's own selection of trendy restaurants and shops selling handmade stuff and bottled unicorn farts.  I like it! Screw Portland, Boston is real! While coasting around, admiring the community garden set between rows of brownstone condo's, I realized that Cambridge is not the only place with paved cow paths and I had no idea where I was.  So I reached out to check with my tablet and found it gone!  Begrimed is a mild word for the feeling.  I shook my head at my own stupidity, while enamored with the casual ambiance walking around the Commons or the Chieftan concert, some bastard nipped it!  Resignation set in and, although it wouldn't end my world, there was about $700 tied up in that little Daytimer case.  It was my own fault and as I was walking my bike along a sidewalk to find a cafe I saw this.

Lock your bike in Boston?  Forgetaboutit!

While feeling no less violated, I wasn't as lonely.

After getting a bowl of soup and an iced tea, I was wondering how long I had before my accounts were cleaned out and I had to have my son wire me money to get home; then the phone rang.

A state police officer called to let me know my tablet and case had been turned in and they would have it at their office near the Science Museum whenever it was convenient for me to come by.

What!?  Let's try that again.

A state police officer called to let me know my tablet and case had been turned in and they would have it at their office near the Science Museum whenever it was convenient for me to come by.

Sorry about the bike buddy,
 but it goes to show that the vast majority of people make responsible moral decisions every day.
 How else would the world work?

Boston has nice people.

Ridin' a RAT

This past weekend was a great time to go on an adventure.  It was the end of the passing heat wave, a storm came through Friday night and knocked out the power for half the city.  Fortunately, I had plans to leave town on Saturday morning and wasted no time getting away.  So while my son sat around wondering how long the battery of his laptop would last.

I took off for a weekend on Fisherman's Island on the northeastern coast of Lake Michigan.

It's a really beautifully wooded peninsula which used to be an island until the water levels in the Great Lakes began to recede.  Don't worry though, if Al Gore has his way, it will be an island again.

It's about 5 miles south of Charlevoix, a beautiful little village which has a reputation as a great Chicago Society getaway.  Several notorious gangsters are famous for hanging out in the area back in the '30's and Ernest Hemingway spent most of his childhood summers in the area with his family.  Many of the Nick Adams stories refer to or were set in the area.

But this weekend, I found the city filled up with a gigantic annual car show.

The downtown and marina area were overflowing with examples of the auto crafts.

Moderns mixed with street rods and 

I especially liked this old Cadillac two seater with a rumble seat in the back.

I thoght this would make a great center piece for a bike expo.

We'll call it the "Future of Motoring."
Apparently the reputation as a home for one of the greatest minds in the history of human existence means nothing to the populous.

They built a monument to a cherry pie.

Ernest doesn't pay the bills around here I guess.

Actually I came up to ride the RAT (Ride Around Torch lake).  It's an annual ride held by the Cherry Capital Cycling club which encompasses Torch Lake a few miles south of Charlevoix.  I had been through the area last year on my ride back and forth across the state and was impressed enough to check up on any organized rides in the area.  Sure enough there was one.  On Sunday, I drove to Elk Rapids, another tourist getaway on the big lake, and met a friend,

Steve Sawyer, who is from Detroit.  We had a great day, with temps in the mid '70's, no humidity and some very moderate terrain to cover on the metric century.  The event is really well managed.

There are 3 stops set almost exactly 15 miles apart with a good selection of refreshments the most impressive of which is an early sampling of this years local produce.

I'll be back just for the cherries, they were perfect.  There is another peculiar attraction,

This ride is particularly female friendly for some reason.

Steve and I both noticed there were more groups of women here at this ride than any we had seen.

I don't know if it's just because of the area and the season or something about the terrain makes it more popular for the girls.

They were certainly out to support this one, more so than any ride I have attended.

That can be a good reason to come back as well.

Monday morning came around too soon and I had to come back to reality, hoping the power had been restored to my home.  It had, and I am settling in to get ready for another trip.

For the next week I will be trying my hand at mobile blogging and hope I can provide 

 daily posts from my upcoming trip

A really Cool idea!

A friend of mine mentioned these to me, and I thought it sounded like a crock of shit.  The idea is called "cooling sleeves"  which is like hosiery for your arm.  They are made to keep your body temperature down, by cooling the skin on your arms.  Uh Huh.  It gets worse, they are supposed to be made of a new weave of special fabric (etc. I assume it's a material as yet undiscovered by man!).  Well, I was skeptical

but looked it up on the interweb thing the kids use.  It makes sense in some creepy scientific way.  I found some on Amazon for $9 and free shipping, I could risk that (if they had charged for shipping it may have been a different matter).  The pair I bought are made by Elixer, come in a one sized fits everybody on the planet size, and had reviews which ranged from "fraud," "crappy," to "nice product."  My skepticism grew.

They came three days after I ordered them,

 look good, have none of the flaws the other reviewers complained of

 and even fit reasonably well.

I've worn them two days now and am very impressed overall.  They fit my arms just below the bicep which is fine since I wear golf shirts with longer "short" sleeves.  Of course, the UV protection is quite obvious but I was surprised at the cooling effect.  These are made from one of those magic "tech" fabrics which wick moisture from the skin.  They are woven with what is called a 3D weave which I assume is a nano tech term for a mesh weave which allows more air to enter the fabric.  You can actually feel the effect when a breeze comes up or you are accelerating down hill.  Does this have a cooling effect on the body?  Well, logic would say yes.   Since it is cooling a large skin area, the capillaries should continually cool the blood flowing back to the heart and the entire body should benefit.  In theory, it's like the radiator on a car.  A more dedicated reviewer would have ridden with a thermometer stuck in somewhere to check, but I'm just not there yet.

There are several brands available.  I plan to wear them anytime I am out more than an hour.  With my complexion, the UV protection is enough motivation, the cooling effect is an extra special bonus.

Morning meet 'n greet...

To beat the heat, that is the only thing to get me out of bed at 5 AM or earlier.  I haven't been out to meet anybody but the daytime before it became dangerously hot.   Michigan has been in the grips of a wicked heat wave pushing temps into the 90's daily with heat indices reaching over 100.  It's not a good time to be on the asphalt.  I have a trip coming up soon, so I don't want to loose my "competitive" edge. 

 I have a loop mapped out meet the morning sun and ride 50-60 miles using the local trail system.  That way, I can be sure of  nice shade and wind cover to help beat the heat.  I'm usually on the road before 6 and get back around 10 or 10:30 depending how often I stop.

I return in time for second breakfast and a nap.

Taking these rides every other day, keeps my body and mind in tune for long days coming up and allow me to avoid the dangerous heat.

While we are on the subject...

    Our local club helps to sponsor a real live Criterium race every year.  It was notable that, while sending out press releases for the club all year for this event and that activity, it's no surprise that the race drew the most media attention.  While the other events like the annual bike camp for beginner cyclists or Bike Week activities focusing on general bike usage, got some attention and coverage from the press, the Race drew requests for interviews from radio and television. It's not a real surprise, but it is a surprise there was such a small crowd of spectators.  A bit disappointing for the $6K in prize money and some really exciting racing.  Once again they had no category for me (no ancient or dead women entered the race)

 so I was reduced to a spectator 

and forced to enjoy watching everybody else make work of it.

   One notable entry was Chris Gottwald who is notable, not only for setting a new world record for 100 mile track riding, he is more notable for being a really nice guy.  What are the odds, a world record holding professional athlete would give all the money he earns to his favorite charity and celebrate his victory at a picnic with his kids?  It's just nice to know people like him exist.
   The race is a fun afternoon and I am amazed at the speed these guys will attain shoulder to shoulder,

They run the race the wrong way intentionally so the riders 

are not intimidated by the speed limits on the course,

and forced a Beemer driver to lead out the race, probably paying penance

 for some rudeness to cyclists in the past.

Oh yeah, that thing in France is going on again and in the headlines Chris Froome denies being on drugs. (yawn).

Racing in the USA

    Honestly, racing is what cycling means to most Americans.  The subject came up while I was on a ride over the weekend with a friend who is a devoted randonneur.  While he was intent to document his ride with receipts from local merchants along the way, I was content to just enjoy a nice long ride and conversation.  We have very little success getting other club members to join us on rides like this because most club members are "pretend racers."   Most people in this country take up the sport as both a social and fitness activity and relegate their riding to brisk rides around a certain course a couple of times a week with their friends.  Most buy road bikes built for speed rather than comfort, and take delight in tracking the improvement of their speed from week to week.  Very few ever venture out to unknown places or search out strange sites because it's unknown, strange.  They just aren't comfortable with that.  The American rider likes to think of himself in competition, he wants to beat his friends, improve, get faster, and assert himself. There is nothing wrong with that, but unfortunately there is so much more the sport has to offer.
   The American cyclist is a competitive consumer.    We don't buy cars for transportation, we buy them as a social statement.  They are sold for their sex appeal.

 To most people, cars are a visible interpretation of their owners, a calling card which they very self consciously wash and meticulously maintain to provide a good impression of themselves.  It is a rolling fashion accessory.  There's nothing wrong with that, except that such a huge portion of middle class budgets are drained from the family and compromise so many other aspects of their lives.  Bicycles are the same.  It's socially acceptable to ride "the latest, greatest thing ever"

 around in a circle with a few friends a couple times a week.  It's a statement that we can not only afford expensive toys, we have the leisure time to enjoy them.   Some people blame the racing industry, but they just have an entertainment product to sell, it's the American consumer who makes the decisions.  A few years ago I was in an internet discussion on the subject and woman from Amsterdam chimed in with a question: "What is the deal with all the pregnant men over there riding racing bikes?"   As Michael Coleville-Anderson pointed out, it's instructive to compare the Raleigh USA website to that of Raleigh Denmark, or Netherlands or UK.  The difference is dramatic. The USA website merchandises racing gear and fitness equipment while the European versions focus on transportation and utilitarian goods.

     Riding a bike for transportation has been considered an act of desperation.  Why would one do it unless they had to?  I get compliments for being environmentally conscious, conserving energy, saving money, and maintaining exercise, but never has anybody guessed that I enjoy it.  Cyclists in this country look at the pleasure of the pretend race, not just the simple pleasure of riding their bikes and feeling the lie of the land beneath them rather than watching it through the windshield.  The aggressive development of cycling infrastructure in cities like New York and Chicago indicates that it may be changing.  People may be realizing that although they don't need to ride a bike, they don't need an automobile for most of their travel.  If the trend develops, future generations may see the automobile as what it is, a failed experiment in urban transportation.

"Time keeps on slippin, slippin into the..." abyss.

Technology makes life easier.   I have a gadget to clean my shower, a robot to sweep my floors and am waiting patiently for a robotic duster (I envision a toy monkey with a Swiffer for a tail).  Honestly, spraying the cats with Endust never gets the desired result.

Should've bought a dog.

Freds of the world may now be totally enveloped by the elimination of distractions with the Recon Jet.

Yes, for only $499 during this limited time offer, you can have:

You can have your statistical data float across your eyes, a series of digital mirages saying;

 you really aren't as good as George Hincape;

                    no matter how much expensive crap you buy.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the sensors built into the temple contacts of the glasses will allow thought control of the wireless shifters and brakes.  Yes, it will all be less distracting and alleviate you of the need for hands, and perhaps pedals and legs as well.

I see utilitarian applications, like monitoring and compiling your shopping list on the way to the grocery store, reviewing and editing various production reports on your way to the office (during rush hour, in the rain).

Call me old school but I have always enjoyed cycling for the meditative escapism it provides.

It's just me, the road, the machine, the environment and a chance to focus on an activity in a world without the information overload with which we are bombarded.   

But hey, I am the guy who hasn't accepted index shifting as viable tech.

Now if they hook my head to wireless friction shifting...I'm all in!

We got 'em by the yarbles now me brothers

I had to share the continuing rant of Dorothy Rabinowitz, she has repeatedly deemed us as the "all powerful" bike lobby manipulating a totalitarian regime.  BP and Exxon-Mobile have nothing on us now.

I think her constant rants on the WSJ Live are an obvious plot to document her dementia and incompetence.
So, maybe her paranoia is justified.