Tuesday, August 31, 2010

GRT - Current Pedal Stroke

This past weekend a couple friends of mine (Ray and Buck) and I rode the Greenbrier River Trail. This a beautiful "rail to trail" nestled in the mountains of eastern West Virginia. We parked my truck at the southern end of the trail near Caldwell and arranged for Chuck, owner of Appalachian Sport, to shuttle us to the northern end of the trail at Cass to begin our slow trek southward.

At least I thought it was going to be a slow trek southward. This was my companion's first bike tour and they were focused intently on getting to our destination. As a result, much of the first day my view of them was such...

While I was left to...

My companions, at least initially, failed to realize that on a bike tour, "your current pedal stroke is the best place to be".




Saturday, August 21, 2010

Saddle Up

This past week, company travel found me saddling up at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole, WY. I use the term "saddling" literally cause the bar stools were as follows:
As I sat there enjoying a cold beer, I couldn't help but think how much more comfortable I'd have been sitting on one of these:
and resting my feet on a set of these:
I ain't built it yet, but the idear be a percolatin...

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Cargo Bikes Carry More Gas

That's 5 gallons of gasoline!!

One of the reasons I ride a bike is to reduce the US's reliance on foreign oil. With that in mind, I know it seems contradictory to be using a bike to carry gas. However, I still have grass to cut and one of these doth not grace my Harem.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

It's All About the Letter "B"

This past Sunday I took my "B"ike, laden with "B"ottles
down to Yorktown where I rode the "B"attlefield Roads
after which I walked down to the Yorktown "B"each
kicked back, sipping on ice cold "B"eer
while surrounded by "B"ikini clad "B"londes and "B"runettes

(no pic of said "B"londes and "B"runettes - this is a rated G blog after all, that, I might add, my wife occasionally reads)

Friday, August 6, 2010

Commuting Apparel

For the last 20 years of bike commuting, street clothes have been my normal attire. I like to keep things simple. To wear cycling specific clothes goes against that simplicity mantra. I would have to figure out a way to carry clothes, I would have to take the trouble to daily pack clothes. I would have to change upon arriving and leaving work. All these "I would have to" statements run contrary to my psyche.

It's just so much easier for me to get up, get dressed and jump on the bike. That being said, recently I've endeavored to change my commuting apparel. I've thrown my street clothes in a pannier and donned cycling shorts and jersey. Over the last week I've:

- forgotten my underwear one day, thankfully I found a spare pair in my desk drawer. Not sure how they got there or if they were dirty. Wasn't about to give them the sniff test to find out.
- forgotten my belt twice and spent the entire day walking around with my legs spread apart and constantly pulling up my pants.
- spent more time fishing out my keys and wallet and such upon arriving at work, home and a sundry of destinations in between.
- changed clothes in my office once while totally forgetting to shut the door. I realized this impropriety as I was standing there butt naked. Thankfully, it was the end of the day and everyone else was gone. I hate to think of the envy my stellar physique would have caused upon the middle aged men in my department. Even more I shutter to think of the incapacitating lust that would have ensued upon the poor females in my department were they to gaze upon such wonderment.

All that being said, I'm back to street clothes.