Fare De Well Summer

Most people consider Labor Day weekend as marking the end of Summer. The event that I somberly celebrate is much more personal.

The temperature is a pleasant 83 F. The winds are mild and there be not a cloud in the skies.

Let not this weather fool you. It is not a balmy July day. The lack of humidity is proof of that. It's 5:30 in the afternoon and the sun is already low in the skies.

It's the middle of October. Any day now I'll wake up and it will be cold. In a couple weeks, the time will change and it will be dark when I ride to work in the morning and ride home at night.

Today is the perfect day to celebrate one last time my favorite Summer ritual. I stopped at a local convenience store to purchase some liquid refreshment. Rode to my favorite picnic table nestled among the trees at a nearby park.

I sat back and silently replayed the memories if this past Summer. I pondered the long, cold, dark winter that lay ahead. Here I sat between the two. I guess that's what life is. It's lived on the precipice between the past and present, neither of which I can change or control. The only thing I can affect is the here and now. What I choose to do with each moment of the present. For this moment, I choose to open another beer and enjoy the interlude. In a little bit, I'll ride away from this spot and in all likelihood will not return until new leaves begin to bud on the trees around me.

Fare well Summer - until we meet again on the other side of Winter!!

Road Find # 10 - Zip Ties

As a rode through Huntington Park, my eyes caught site of not one, but a pair of ...

I immediately put my new found treasure to work securing the wayward cable that kept rubbing against and muting my dinger.

A muted dinger ain't worth a ding. Someone else's loss hath made it possible for the world once again to hear the unabated and soothing tone of a brass bell ringing merrily along.

A Homeward Bound Detour

Last week on my ride home, I met up with a business associate and good friend, Harry, who was in town for a conference. We went for a pleasant, easy paced ride of 20 miles. We finished just as the sun was setting...

...and in the parking of The Crab Shack where we enjoyed hand made crab cakes and cold beer.

The sun was long gone when we finally walked out. It was a beautiful evening - mild temps - a light breeze - cloudless skies - and a sliver of moonlight. I switched on my lights and rode home slowly, enjoying my first ride of the season enveloped in darkness.

Pee Poor Locking Job

I pulled up to the bike rack and took note of a Breezer Uptown bike that I hadn't seen before. It was a bike designed for city riding / commuting. It sported fenders, bigger tires, cargo rack, chain guard, kickstand and lights front and back powered by a dyno-hub. It even had an integrated rear wheel lock...

That's what really caught my eye and caused me to take a closer look...

Do you notice anything missing? Aside from the wheel lock, that was engaged, there is not another lock to be seen.

Sure, a thief couldn't just take the bike and ride off on it. However, there would be nothing to keep them from picking it up and throwing it in the trunk or truck. Once home, a couple swipes of the hacksaw would put an end to the wheel lock and they would have themselves a really nice city riding / commuting bike.