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cycling / Monday / photo / Twitter — Comments Off on Welcome to August? Somehow?
1
Aug 22

Welcome to August? Somehow?

I wiped out a little spider web with my pedal just before my morning ride on Saturday. I looked down and saw two small webs close together, oriented horizontally, on top of the wet grass. I was wondering what sort of insects the spiders would get in webs arranged that way, when my left pedal went right through one of the webs. The little spider will have to build again for his supper and I felt bad about that.

I also picked up this blade of grass on my bike shoe in the yard.

It stuck there because of the morning dew. It stayed until I hit 24 miles per hour. Either the dew dried, or the breeze got under the blade, or it just gave up, or even got to where it needed to be. It hung on for about a mile, though, and I felt good about that.

At one point I thought I’d caught up to my lovely bride, but it was another rider. I blame hypoxia. And the fact that this other person also had long hair, and was wearing something similar to one of The Yankee’s kits. But, after thousands and thousands of miles on bikes, most of it chasing her around, I figured out my error … because it wasn’t her pedaling style.

Which meant she was still somewhere ahead of me, which meant I was still behind, which meant I had to pedal even harder.

Caught her just at the end of the ride.

Wrapped up the Tour de France Femmes this weekend. Anthony McCrossan, a British commentator who was the world feed voice for both the men’s and women’s Tours, had a perfectly characteristic go home line.

Let’s do a quick check with the cats, so that we might satisfy our most enthusiastic visitors. They’re having a grand ol’ summer.

Though I’m not sure what they were doing here.

It’s always a bit weird when they do the same thing. It’s never obvious what they’re up to, and given their normal dynamic, this always feels a bit creepy.

Phoebe had a great nap yesterday. Not sure how this is comfortable, but, hey, she’s a cat.

Poseidon was a very good listener this weekend.

He listens. He doesn’t process. Doesn’t do what we ask of him. But he listens. Give him that at least.

Anyway, welcome to August. However that happened, I hope you have a big and happy month ahead of you.

Auburn / books / IU / memories / photo / Thursday — Comments Off on 2×𝑚×𝑣2 + 𝑚×𝑔×ℎ = What, exactly?
28
Jul 22

2×𝑚×𝑣2 + 𝑚×𝑔×ℎ = What, exactly?

I had four meetings today. The first was scheduled for me in advance. The second was scheduled for me while I was in the first meeting. Everyone knew about it, it seems, except for me. (Everyone knows more about me than me.) The third and fourth were spontaneous meetings of opportunity.

I was in no condition for any of these meetings, I think. So if my charm or humor or good answers or input were off by six percent, I apologize. I apologize and I blame the big tour I gave yesterday, an event from which I am still recovering.

Not sure how I became the tour guy, but I’m the tour guy.

I saw this bunny this morning. He is perfectly evolved to blend in with the cement. That’s an amazing summer coat, if you ask me.

The bunnies have the most curious sense of personal space. You’re fine in their eyes until you get about 18 inches away, and only then do they do the rabbit thing. Makes you wonder about how that comes to be learned. I bet each one has an experience, learning when to hop away. It’s a valuable lesson. One learned, I hope, in a not-too-painful way.2×𝑚×𝑣2

I looked through some old books today. There’s often a table of books someone is willing to donate. You can pick your way through them and, if for nothing else, it is a nice momentary diversion to read the spines. I picked up one for my lovely bride, and grabbed one or two for me, as well. Not this one. There are only so many writing handbooks I can process.

But this one fits in your pocket!

Does it? Which pocket?

Or maybe your hand!

Well, sure. Most books these days do come with the ability to be manually manipulated.

And we sprung for the spiral binding!

That’s not the selling point you think it is.

Sure it is! You can distinguish it in your bookcase!

I can’t read the non-existent spine, to see if it is the book I need to pull.

But it has this wire spiral! Easy to find!

What if someone already has that in a book.

Who would have another book like that?

I have nine of them in my office bookcase alone.

Oh? Wow. Well, this one is a writing style guide!

Seven of the nine I have in my bookcase have to do with writing or style.

And you still write like this?

Look, fictional book seller —

Fictional book giver-awayer.

Fine, whatever. You’re not really making a strong case here.

I was able to make a 2010 joke this evening, which meant I needed a 2010 photo.

Turns out the specific photo was from 2011, but it fit the point perfectly. My confusion of the date of the particular photo gave me an excuse to spend a few minutes clicking through old photos of happy times, so that was a nice part of the evening.

Also tonight, we discovered the joys of grilled wings, with nothing more than a simple salt and pepper seasoning. We bought a lot of wings, recently, and we’ll probably be returning to this style. I mention it because they were good, and you should know, and we can all want some more wings together.

adventures / cycling / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off on I am a spokes-person
27
Jul 22

I am a spokes-person

This evening we had a one-hour training ride. I sprinted up the first little hill as I always do, and … that was it. My legs and my lungs lost interest for the next several miles. About five of them, to be precise. The Yankee got ahead of me, and I rallied over the next 15 miles. I (truly and sincerely) rode as fast as I’ve ever ridden a half-hour.

I could not catch her wheel. Could not bridge the gap. Couldn’t even keep her in sight.

This is just after a turn around point in the route. She had turned and I was approaching the turn. The timing suggested I wasn’t far behind, which was good, because I already had it figured.

#GoRenGo

There were two little sections of the return route where I would have a chance to catch back up. Two roads that suit my ride a little more than hers.

If I couldn’t do it in one of those two places my only chance was if she got caught in traffic — people here aren’t especially good at intersections and they absolutely freeze up when you add a cyclist into the mix.

Have you ever had this sensation? Your bike feels like it’s floating over everything. Not la volupté, but the sense that your tires are about a quarter inch off the road, when your bike is anticipating the bumps and cracks and turns. Ever felt that? Your legs feel like they are behind you and charging, rather than beneath you driving. Have you ever experienced that? I get it once, maybe twice a year. I assume it is because I’m having a day of nice form. The numbers supported that hypothesis a bit today, as this became one of those days. I was impressed by my splits, but I was still not fast enough.

So watch out, USA Triathlon National Championships. She’s coming for you. And she’ll be fast.

Then she did a one-mile run. (Because I am not training for the national triathlon championships, I got to stay inside.)

IU / Monday / photo — Comments Off on A very lowercase m
25
Jul 22

A very lowercase m

Today I moved up in the world, in a physical sense anyway. I spent the afternoon moving things from one office to another office, one floor up.

There was also a fire alarm. The two items were not related. But my new digs have a bookcase! I lost two bookcases in my last move. I was given, instead, some low flung thing that could best be described as a deep entertainment center with a shelf. But that’s no longer my concern. My concern is stocking this bookcase. So I can bring some fancy books back to the office. That means, more importantly, I can move them out of my home office. And all of this, most importantly, means I am able to take two keys off my keyring. My pocket is the big winner.

Speaking of which … where are my keys? Maybe the cats have them.

Let’s check in on the kitties; I know you’re clamoring the for the site’s biggest feature. Here is our biggest cycling fan, ready to take the Poe-dium.

Poe. Poseidon. Podium. Poe-dium. You get it.

Phoebe heard us talking about tomorrow night’s dinner — the really important stuff — and she, too, is ready for taco Tuesday.

She was snoozing on Sunday, and he tried to sneak up on her from underneath a blanket. He was busted.

So they’re doing well, and we’re doing well and we hope you are, too. Hope you’ve had a great start to your week. See you back here for more tomorrow.

adventures / Covid-19 / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off on The show doesn’t always go on
20
Jul 22

The show doesn’t always go on

We were going out for a frivolous experience. An adventure! Adventures are very necessary. They vary in scope and scale and, as such, grand gestures or big activities do not an adventure make. The best adventures are the smallest ones, generally speaking. And most anything is an adventure in the right company. But today’s was to be a frivolous experience. This would, by my count, be the sixth since the pandemic began. We’re on two hands now!

This is a cornfield we passed today.

Our frivolous experience was canceled. Covid.

Fortunately not us, but someone in the show. We went to Cincinnati to see Barenaked Ladies again. You’ll recall we saw them a few weeks ago in Indianapolis, it was a fine show, had a great time. (I sprinkled video here over the next week, if you’d like to scroll back in time.) Soon after that, The Yankee found some re-sell tickets for cheap. We drove over to Ohio. Guy working in the parking booth at the venue told us the news.

And sure enough, there it was. The word had come down, it just had not caught up to us.

So we spent the evening down by the river, near the baseball stadium, enjoying the warm weather and the park. Got a bite to eat and headed back to Bloomington around 9 p.m. Some of the clouds we saw on the drive back.

It was not the adventure we planned, but it was a great adventure nevertheless.

Saw this at the rest stop. Anyone have any idea what this is meant to do?

Also at the rest stop … Do you ever read rules, or signs, and think, This is about a specific incident? This is about a specific incident. Surely.

We didn’t get the concert, but there’ll be another, at another time. The one we just saw was a 2020 date, twice-rescheduled. This one, I guess, is a 2020 date that will eventually be thrice-rescheduled.

They named this, in at least 2019, the Last Summer on Earth Tour. I wonder if they’ve rethought that at any point.

Since we didn’t see it tonight, here’s the encore from July 1st. Barenaked Ladies closing the show with Toad the Wet Sprocket and Gin Blossoms.

We’ll see them again. Soon, hopefully. Because the 90s will never end, I guess.

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