8/1 Lovely Sunday Ride - Postponed

I'm going to put off tomorrow's ride.  I've been down with a nasty bug and thought I was getting better when I woke up this morning.  I'm not.

New date TBD.

Another Person's Treasure

On my way out of the office earlier this week I stopped to chat with a coworker.  He lives between my house and the office and walks to work so I often pass him, ringing my bell to greet him.  He commented on the fact that I'm on a different bike darned near every day which of course, started a conversation about bikes in general.  Having been born and raised in the Netherlands and having read the recent big-paper press on bikes lately, he asked if I had a dutch city bike in my collection.  I told him no but raved about the new French mixte.  He then proceeded to launch into a very funny rant of sorts about those "damn old heavy dutch things" he was forced to ride growing up.  "I wouldn't be caught dead on one of those things today."  I laughed and laughed.  It made me think of the time when I probably wouldn't have been caught dead on bikes of my childhood.

Yipee, Skippee, Swoopee Mixtee

I'm on a bike!

The new tires and grips came today so I was finally able to ride my new swoopy mixte.  After a few rounds of routine adjustments (seat, handlebars, etc.) I fell madly and deeply in love.

The tires are Panaracer Col de la Vie and I really like them.  I was considering an all cream tire but since I decided to replace the white grips (which were in bad shape) and white cables all with black, I wanted a tire with black.  They are very similar to the tires that came on the bike.

The back generator light works like a dream.  We have a replacement front light on the way and someone locally has a rack which he thinks will be perfect.  I think I'll also give her a shiny new chain. 

Now, a name.....

Basic Bike Mechanics Class ~ Denver

Hurry, sign up now! We have room for one more in our Mechanics Class. $150 for 5 Thursday night classes, 7-9pm. Starting this Thursday and going through August. Call 303-393-1963 to sign up or for more information.

View from the Flower Garden

My summer flowers are in full bloom!

A Red Tailed Bumble Bee on a cone flower.

Cleome aka "Bicycle Flowers" 

Seeds given to us from a host's neighbor while on a bike tour. 

Shasta Daisies

More happy bees!

California Poppies

Agapanthus

Columbine

Yellow Coneflower

Ice Cream

We're very fortunate to have not one, but two ice cream shops within a few blocks from our house. Our favorite is a coffee shop that sells locally made Liks Ice Cream.  Late evening family bike rides to get ice cream are absolutely one of my favorite things to do in the summer!

Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa

Today is the start of RAGBRAI XXXVIII and I so wish I was there.  As I've written before, this tour was a huge part of my biking life in my 20's.  I did my first one in 13 years a couple of years ago as a celebration of getting back on my bike after inadvertently hanging up my wheels for a few years.  I simply could not make the logistics work this time around though.  Maybe next year! 

In celebration, I dug out some old RAGBRAI photo albums and picked out a few photos from various rides.  These are all from the late 80's and early 90's, when I was young, carefree and could party and ride all week long. 

My first RAGBARI.  I did it on a Specialized Rockhopper!  Oh how times have changed!

If you build it, they will come.  I convinced my downstairs neighbor and good friend to come along that year.  She had no idea what she'd gotten herself into....and loved it.

Is that Shoeless Joe?

After a couple years on that Rockhopper I found a used Bridgestone road bike. 

It totally changed riding for me!  It was a fantastic bike and unfortunately, I sold it years later not knowing what I had.  My brother still rides the old Trek he's on in this photo.

I wore that silly white bandana every year! Oi!

One year I did the ride on my own and hooked up these guys from Minnesota early in the week.  We rode together off and on throughout the week.  One of the things I love about the ride is meeting folks and teaming up, be it for a few hours or a few days. 

The end of the road....for a year, anyway.

Where the Hipsters (and their bikes) Hang

I don't get out late too much.  Well, I suppose I could but I don't.  I have an old friend in from NYC in town and she requested a night out on the town.  We decided a drag show was in order.  The show touted to be the "best" wasn't on last night so we hit the only other show we could find. It was......  Perhaps it got better as the night rolled on but we didn't stick around to see.  We were starving and food definitely took precedence!

We hit it for some Thai food on South Broadway.  The annual Underground Music Showcase was in full swing and the streets were alive with hipsters and other music lovers.  Evidently I know a lot of hipsters and other music lovers because I ran into several friends.  We nommed on some great food, walked with the crowds, weaved in and out stacks of bikes parked everywhere and listened to some really great music.

I think the Baker and I may need to find a sitter for the evening to see my gal Suzanne's band, The Legendary River Drifters.  When I saw her last night, she reminded me of their show tonight. She *always* reminds me of her shows and I never manage to make it, mostly just because I'm old and boring.

The Finale

The finale of the baking extravaganza this week!  We tossed out the coconut milk poached fish which was on the menu and feasted on bread, cheese and wine for dinner.

A challah fresh from the dome. Behind are a couple of sourdough baguettes and an olive loaf.

Stinky cheese and fruit!  

A German Tilsiter, Drunken Goat Cheese and English Wensleydale with cranberries.

Vino!

Perfection

Bliss

(tilsiter and dark chocolate)

This is What Success Looks Like

I serve on the board of a small non-profit, The Bike Depot, whose mission is to support health and active living by increasing access to bicycles, promoting safe, bike-friendly environments and advocating for policies that promote bicycle access and use.  While most of the work I do for the Depot is behind the scenes organizational development and administrative ops type stuff, I generally swing by the shop two or three days a week to see what's going on and check in with the staff management team.  

Whether the scene is Fix Yer Bike, when anyone can come in and have access to the shop to learn how to fix their own bike with our highly skilled mechanic volunteers....Or a program night when Earn-a-Bike participants are learning basic maintenance skills in preparation for taking home a bike....Or volunteers prepping bikes for program distribution or sale...Or a group taking a class on anything from patching a tire to performing detailed and complex repairs....Or our certified mechanics doing commercial service....Or a meeting where our staff and board are creating connections to the community to deliver on our mission,  the energy is amazing! 

The Depot's programs are supported by community grants and donations and  income from retail sales and commercial service.  We carry a nice line-up of both new and used bikes and accessories.  If we don't have it in stock, we can get it.

We always need donations of bikes and bike parts!  We re-use, re-purpose and recycle!

Here are a few pics from last night's Fix Yer Bike:

Baking Frenzy!

The Baker and his back yard brick oven are in high production mode today!  This is round one. Wonder if we're having bread for dinner? 

I think I'll stop at the cheese shop on the way home!

ETA - stage two!

Latch-hookin' for the Lawd!

Now I'm not exactly the religious type but Holli's latch-hook Jesus, which is currently adorning the wall of the Big Hair Monster (my most bestest hair cuttin' shop), is most certainly a religious experience. I mean she stayed home several Friday nights to latch and hook this baby together!

Update on The Swoopy One

After much research and some great help from the folks in the C&V forum over at Bike Forums, I do believe the swoopy mixte is a 1974 PL 45.  The Baker has been busy polishing things up while we wait for the tires to get here. 

Life Lessons

B2 learned an important life lesson yesterday. 

Pretty toes = Happy girl!

Food

Grilled chicken with The Bakers super special secret rub, sweet potato and corn salad and sauteed kohlrabi.  Yum.

Bike Picnic - LGRAB 3

My third entry in round three of the Let's Go Ride a Bike Summer Games is also my final entry in the games as a whole.  It's been incredibly fun to think up ways to incorporate the various challenges into my summer.  Much thanks to Dottie and Trisha!

I had grand plans of a family bike ride with a rather extravagant picnic this weekend but my family revolted.  Evidently 100 degree heat isn't conducive to leisurely biking and picnicing in their minds.  Who knew!  Fortunately I'd done a solitary mini-bike picnic a few days ago so I guess it will have to do.  For lunch I grabbed a few legal bulletins I needed to read, hopped on my bike and pedaled to the other side of the park.  The food was nothing fancy, in fact it was pretty dull - overly creamy leftover macaroni salad, some carrots and a plum, but the reading was exciting....well, exciting for anyone who thinks employment law is cool.

Another Vintage Find

I was digging through one of my father's drawers while home and came across this old Coca-Cola bottle opener.  I'm sure this was out of the refreshment shack at the baseball field (the field which now carries Dad's name.)  I brought it home and mounted it in my kitchen.  Good memories.

Wrenchin' Lesson

 B1 and his first tube repair and brake shifter adjustment.

Getting these beefy tires off the rim is no small task.

Learning how to find holes in the tube and the fine art of patching.

Success!

A little adjustment here and there and the shifter is back in business as well.

B really enjoys tinkering at the bike bench and it's fun to watch him learn and grow.  I think I was in college before I ever learned to change my own tire, let alone patch a tube!

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I took B1 and a buddy (and met his Buddy's Dad, sister and a friend) to Waterworld yesterday.  I seriously can't get enough of a good water park and Waterworld is definitely one of the best but this year for the first time ever, I'm overwhelmingly exhausted.  I do believe I have a water park hangover!  It was totally worth it though.  Hours flying down slides at the speed of light, floating in a giant wavepool without a care and even a little mini-nap.