off to...

Swan, Flint River, Snowshoes

Crashed

The transit way was empty and free of snow, but I crashed nevertheless.  For some reason, my cold hands slipped and snagged something on my handlebars, turning my wheel 90 degrees at 15 mph.  The front wheel hopped once against the pavement, I spun sideways and then flipped over, landing hard on my backpack in the middle of the road.  The casualties included some grease on my jacket, a bit of fender busted in the road, and a smashed box filled with tapes of Romeo and Juliet that I was going to mail to my  niece.  I picked myself back up, assessed the bike, then got my frozen ass back on and laughed the rest of the way to school.  

This is my bicycle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The Perfect Circle from Matthew on Vimeo.

oh geez

Where have I been?  Even TypePad has changed.  List!

• baking breads from scratch
• playing video games
• writing my dissertation
• writing articles
• swimming yards
• baking pies
• biking miles
• smiling and laughing
• going to parties
• throwing parties
• winning swim races (in my age group)
• taking vitamins
• starting a research wiki
• saving water
• swimming in triathlons
• planning a new class
• juggling balls
• growing my hair
• cutting my hair
• planning a trip to Vegas
• flying kites
• reading reading reading

It's been a fantastic summer so far.  Can it just not end this time?  Do I really have to go back to school?

May 12-16: National Bike to Work Week

Give it a go!  You'll never get to work o home from work happier.  I guarantee it.  But wear a helmet, take the lane, and make eye contact with all drivers.

Twin Cities Bike Walk Week

Bike Month

Anniversary

I sold my car a year ago today.  It was a clean break, and, sadly, I don't even have any pictures of the white '95 Ford Escort Wagon Sport that carried me from Madison and back many times and that rode like a hero when I strapped a small red paint trailer on her one stressful summer.  I've not regretted it.   

Carousel

First ride on a carousel since I was five.  My reaction was somewhere between these two:

Pensive

Not-so-Pensive

Brave as Traffic

VW Day

What you're viewing is the crack in winter's front, a front that has held strong since November. As this photo attests, the "Alley of Ice," a backdrop for many an early morning battle, is in retreat. Soon the alley will be free of ice and puddles, and it will be rideable again. Complete victory over the 2007-08 Winter is near. But it could not have been achieved without the help of a number of people: Matt and Jill, Kyle and Laura, Krista, Paul and Leah, Paul A., Jessica, Salma, Chris and Lydia, and Liz all helped me get to where I needed to go. They made sure that no social event or trip to visit family was missed. Thank you all.

But much of the real credit must go to the bike, which carried me faithfully through snow, across ice, and against zero below wind chills. In the process, it has endured one fall, numerous flat tires, three dropped chains, and has acquired a serious rear wheel wobble. Heroic is the only word for it. It'll get washed and tuned up soon.

Ice and Blood

No one else was biking on the Greenway at 12:30 a.m. last night.  That means no one saw me fail.  I made it through two major patches, which built my confidence, and then spilled down laughing on a sea of bumpy ice.  And as the bike spun away, round and round, I muttered: "Of course."  Skinned my knee, ripped my jeans, bruised the bike, showed up to my destination bleeding and smiling.  It's a small injury, completely unheroic, but it makes me laugh.  I think I might keep it.