What Tha?!

Today, while riding down 7th Avenue I busted Alley Bulka, the notorious Wackee Nanny of Birmingham, with a giant sack of starbucks riding shotgun. For shame Alley, for shame......

Recycle America

This is where your recycling ends up if you live in Birmingham. I used to have a theory that Birmingham had stopped recycling and they were just collecting our recyclables and dumping them in the landfill. I defended this theory by pointing out that Birmingham had gotten rid of the recyclable sorting trucks and had begun collecting with the classic garbage compacting trucks seen here. My thinking was that they were avoiding the negative publicity of ending a recycling program by continuing to pick up, even if they were just dumping them. As long as people got to separate their garbage, and as long as they saw it get picked up, they would assume the city was taking them to be recycled.Well, I was wrong, another conspiracy theory shot full of holes. I've actually seen the trucks lining up to enter Recycle America every Wednesday. Usually there are a lot more of them, lined up all the way down the street. This just happened to be the day my camera battery wasn't dead. Incidentally this is also the spot where, if you take a picture of the garbage trucks, the giant in the first truck leans out and says you don't have his permission to take his picture.

uhhghhh

I must be close to some record on flat tires. It seems like once a week I'm getting a flat. It's effecting me to the point that it causes me to second guess getting on my bike at all. Mornings where I'm running late I find myself wondering if today is gonna be flat tire day and if I want to deal with the hassle. Since it's dark these days (and cold) when I'm riding home, I'm really not looking forward to the inevitable tire change in the dark and cold. I've received a bit of advice about avoiding flats. Such as, making sure your tires are properly inflated. I don't think it could make a whole lot of difference when you are picking up nails left and right. I've thought about trying to take the bigger, busy roads, hoping it might be better. My thinking is that with more traffic, it is less likely that there will be debris, ie nails, in the street. I've also thought about those Slime inner tubes that self seal when you get a flat. However, I have my doubts how they would perform against a three inch nail. Alternately, I figure at this rate I will pick up all the nails, and the problem will eventually go away.

Super Tuesday

dia de los Muertos

Here's a shot of my tall bike and my cruiser getting dressed up for day of the dead this year. I just gave the tall bike a quick spray with some festive colors , pimped 'em with some fringe and found some drunk esqueletos to ride them.

Road Kill

I was trying to make good time on my way home from work yesterday. I heard the whistle of that 5:00 train that is forever trying to block my way home. I thought I would beat the train on 41st street, but it won. Since it was moving slow, I spun around real quick to try and beat it to the 43rd street crossing. As I turned down 1st avenue, I heard the distinct sound of my tire being impaled and then the dreaded slow hiss. I found a cozy spot just next to the recycling plant and began to unpack and disassemble. The first thing I noticed was the flattened cat, just noticeable in the background of the picture of my bike upside down. I hoped this was not some kind of omen, and kept working. The next thing I noticed was the ridiculous size of the nail that was embedded in my tire. It was buried all the way up to the head, so I didn't notice until I pulled it out, that it was roughly 3" long. I pressed on. After I got everything changed, and the tire inflated, I pulled the pump off and ripped the top of the presta valve off. I don't know what that part is called, but it is the little thing you screw down so that the air won't come out. With it came part of the little metal part that keeps the little screw down thing connected to the rest of the valve. I thought, or maybe said out loud, several things I don't remember. It wasn't actually leaking, or at least I couldn't hear it, so I screwed the cap on it, packed up and hit the road while there was still air in the tire. I made it to the 43rd street crossing, and yes, the friggin' train was stopped there blocking my route. I finally made it home, and by the end of the evening, all the air had leaked out of the tire. I couldn't bring myself to change it again, so I'm on four wheels today. Oh yeah, and I found a golf ball while I was changing the tube.

Be there or be square

lip balm

It's amazing how evasive lip balm can be. I have no idea how many tubes, pucks, and canisters of lip balm I've purchased in my life, but I'm pretty sure I've never made it to the bottom of one of them. I must have looked around the house for a half hour searching for one before I finally gave up. Where do they go? I thought about the alternatives I could apply before leaving the house today, as my lips were really chapped. I've used olive oil before, but it doesn't help for very long. I thought about buttering my lips, and I'm fairly confident it would have been an effective technique, but I just couldn't do it. So, poor me, off to brave the wind and new cold weather on my way to work, where I KNOW there is lip balm in my desk.

Donkey Diet update #4 - I don't want to talk about it

up roughly a pound from last week. Of course that's after gorging myself on Mexican food last night. We'll call it 206. Although, I fidgeted with the scale for several minutes and justified that 205.75 was correct. But then a voice in my head exclaimed "Get a hold of yourself man!, yer dickering over a quarter of a pound." So I hung my head, slouched my shoulders, and declared "it shall be 206." Then, ignoring all the looks I was getting while standing on the scale and talking to myself in the men's room of the YMCA, I stepped down, and began a period of deep introspection.

company

My bike spends a lot of lonely days out on the bike rack at the Dr. Pepper showrooms. There used to be another bike that would spend the day, but it hasn't been seen in a while and I could tell my bike was starting to get a little blue. So, I was glad to see it had some company today. I'm sure once all the other bikes see these folks hanging out, this rack will become THE rack to be at during business hours, and there will be no more lonely days for my bike. I could tell it was really coveting the baskets on this new bike. We had a talk, and it was decided, one day you can have baskets too, I promise.

Jumping choo choo

I had to hop through the choo choo again today. Apparently this is a 5 something train that stops and dumps a load at Recycle America. I'm glad they are participating in the act of recycling, put they block my route home. I think that this train actually blocks three consecutive intersections while it's stopped, so it's a pretty long ride to get around it. It stops for close to 30 minutes as well, although I believe it's a bit different each time, but it's a long wait no matter what. Dependng on what cars actually stop in front of you, it can make hopping through hard or easy. Today luckily it was about as easy a climb over as it could be. I didn't realize how off balance I would be with the bike in one hand and climbing over with my other. Half way up I had to toss the bike onto my shoulder, which is really uncomfortable, and use both hands to pull myself up. Next time, I think it is probably better to just place the bike up on the walkway, and then climb up. I don't mind this whole climbing over the trains thing. It's kind of exhilirating and fun. But - a) it's against the law and b) probably not a really safe thing to do. So, my goal is to find a way around this train or start regularly hitting the crossing either before or after it gets there. I'm smarter than the choo choo.

and you think the stock marked burst.....

I was running late today when I realized I had a flat. The first thing that occurred to me was that this is the first flat I've had on my front tire. The other four flats I've had were all on my rear tire. The second thing that occurred to me was that I was going to be really late for work. I looked at the clock and decided my best option was to take a mulligan and drive in to work. It's kind of strange driving to work when it's not in your normal routine. It seems like you have to spend so much more time reacting to elements that you don't feel connected to, because they're outside of your car. I don't usually ride my bike in the lane of traffic so I speed up or slow down as I see fit. Some times I just dope along, other times I feel like launching off a couple of bumps in the road. Driving a car you are just in line with everyone else. They break, so you break. You break, so they break. They break again, you give them the finger. They speed up, you slam on your breaks, they give you the finger. 

September Critical Mass

Critical Mass in Birmingham was 18 strong this month. We rode for roughly an hour Downtown > UAB > 5 Points > Highland Avenue > Bottle tree. A couple of people bailed along the way. Those who were remaining went to Bottletree to watch Pedal - a documentary about bike messengers.I split to go watch the presidential debate. Next month critical mass falls on Halloween so I'm hoping there will be a really big turn out for a super spooky ride in costume. Totally unrelated is the picture here of Sloss Furnace taken from 4th Avenue on my way home.

Brocycle > Critical Mass

Another Birmingham bike blog. Looks like these guys have been around for a bit more than a year, check it out when you get a chance http://www.brocycle.com/. Also don't forget that tonight is the Critical Mass ride. Meet at Lynn Park at 6:00 followed by after party at Bottletree and after after party with pizza and beer for the Obama vs. McCain debate.

Donkey Diet update #3 (Like taking candy from a baby)

I'm down another 3 pounds this week - 205. My fellow donkey diet participant remained the same, so I take home the prize. My plan was to post a photo of the poem I was given after the first week's win, but (as seen in yesterday's post) my camera is dead and I haven't charged it yet. So here is a scan of the poem instead. Actually I've never tried to do a color scan of anything before, so it's nice to know what it looks like. Now that this is up. I'm owed a poem AND a drawing for this week. When all is said and done I expect I will have quite a little collection of poems and artwork.

dead battery

What a drag, camera battery dead again when I want to take a picture. I was sitting in traffic and the morning sun was casting my shadow across the "left turn only" arrow in the turning lane. It looked fantastic in the early morning sun. Then, not only did I get stuck for a ridiculous amount of time waiting for a train, but another train started coming the other direction behind me, so I ended up in a train sandwich with no camera. oh well, just a couple of photo ops down the turlet. I suppose I need to charge it more often.

altura de bicicleta

I spoke to my mom this weekend. After reading my blog she asked "what's a tall bike?" Well, der, I thought to myself, it's a bike of somewhat larger than normal, or recommended, stature. After explaining what a tall bike was to my mom, I decided it was time to get moving on my project again. So, here's what I have after working on it this weekend. note: welding in sandals can give you a condition I now refer to as "hot foot." I plan to avoid this in the future. There's still a whole bunch of work to be done here, but the tall bike is ridable at this point. No breaks of any kind yet either, so it's not really a good idea to ride it yet. Here's what I have left: connect the two neck tubes. Install a hand break (the lever is already on the handle bars, I just need to go get a long cable) or preferably, find a coaster or fixed gear real wheel. Either lop off the two support tubes on the back, or use them to mount some sort of flourish. Weld the neck to the forks (they are just stuck together right now). Then take it all apart, sand blast it, paint it, re-assemble and ride. My original goal was to have it out for critical mass next week, but that doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Maybe October.

Big Daddy Patch

well it's now obvious to me why you should not continue to ride after finding a nail embedded in your tire. After patching the obvious nail hole, I inflated the tube only to hear air pouring out from another spot. There were 6 0r 7 additional exit wounds directly across from entry wound. I was able to get them all covered with the super size patch in my kit, but I imagine this tube's days are numbered.

Donkey Diet update #2 Carne Asada!!!!!

Week two, I dropped another 2, so did my competitor, so it's a tie. I'm at 208. Nobody owes nobody nothing this week. However we did adopt the skins game rule. Double down for next week. Loser owes the winner a poem AND a small drawing. Although, I still don't have a poem from my first win. I suppose if I really put my mind to this thing I could drop some pounds pretty quick. My dinners last week went like this: Thursday: Mexican food and margaritas Friday: chez fon fon grilled ham and cheese and fries Saturday: greek festival lamb kabobs and beers Sunday: mexican food and margaritas monday: veggie spaghetti with my honey bunny Tuesday: Music snop trivia night > tacos and beer Wednesday: Todd's birthday > Mexican food and margaritas I feel a little weird after going through that exercise. I obviously have a taco problem.

initiation

I think of today as a hazing ritual all bike riders must go through at some point. I ran over a nail today after leaving the ABC store with a birthday present for Todd. It's amazing how denial immediately kicks in. There was the very distinct sound of air coming out of the tire. However, I kept thinking through all the things it could be other than a flat in progress. I stopped and saw a nail fully embedded in my tire, heard the air escaping, and decided to see how far I could get before it went flat. About 10 more feet. So I looked for the nicest patch of grass and started the process of changing the tube. Luckily a while back I started carrying a spare tube and a pump with me, so I was actually prepared. The only bummer was that my camera battery had died. It would have made a great photo. The tube, the tire with the nail sticking out of it, bike upside down, and Todd's bottle of Patron sitting in the middle of it all on this little patch of grass. Anyway the change went off without a hitch. It couldn't have been a nicer sunnier day and I kept thinking how lucky I was that it wasn't a crappy rainy day. One guy on a bike, Steve, stopped by to see if I needed anything. Customer of Lucy's. Just a bunch of good eggs there at Lucy's, I swear. Thanks for stopping.

Donkey Diet update #1

The donkey diet has now turned into the donkey diet competition. A challenge has been brought before me. Who can lose the most weight by December 25 (two days before D-day). We are checking progress every Thursday. The loser for the week, not the one who lost the most weight but the loser of the contest for the week, must write the other a poem and post it on the winners blog. I won the first week, having lost 2 pounds as compared to their 1. So, you can look for their poem posted here in the coming days. At that point you will also know who the challenger is.

Banksy, Banksy, Banksy

Now that all the dust and fuss has settled over Banksy hitting the gas station in East Birmingham, I thought I would take a moment here to post up one of the stencils I pass almost daily. This has been up for a pretty long time on 1st avenue south under the 24th street bridge. So here is one of our very own to make some fuss over. Best part is no one has covered it up or stolen it yet.

YAY!

Okay, alright, okay, okay. I haven't written anything for a bit. There's good reason for that. I haven't been on my bike for about two weeks, until today. Looking back over the last two weeks it's seems like there are a lot of good excuses, but in the end they are just excuses. So I'll just say YAY for being back on my bike. One important update is that we have booked a trip to the Grand Canyon for December 26th through the 31st. As part of our adventure, we are taking a mule trip down to the bottom of the Canyon, spending the night and riding out the next day. We are super excited and I think it's going to be an outstanding trip. So why is this an important update? They won't let you get on the mule if you weigh over 200 lbs, fully dressed, in winter gear. Apparently they weigh you before you get on the mule, so there is no sucking in your stomach and sneaking past. Problem is, I weigh about 210 right now with nothing on. I figure I need to get to about 190 or less to be safe with several layers on, plus boots. So - Ta Da - today starts the "donkey diet." Not sure what this is going to entail, other than losing 20 pounds. It seems like good fodder for some funny posts. Maybe I'll make myself some list of rules and post them here. Post script - I hate diets, especially ones that restrict you to or from certain categories of food, or food that tastes good.

Bare Hands Gallery

Today I'm taking a half day of volunteer duty at Bare Hands Gallery. Being as it's Saturday, and less trafficky, I rode straight down 1st Avenue North. It's pretty much a straight shot from my house to Bare Hands. Don't forget to visit http://www.barehandsgallery.org/ and for the love of god don't forget that November 2nd is Dia de los Muertos numero seis, featuring Flaco Jimenez. Craig Legg is having the first Day of the Dead workshop today making paper mache masks in preparation for the big day. There are workshops going on every saturday from now through October so come down and get involved.

Peanut Crib

I did end up having things in order so I was able to ride to work on Thursday. Today I rolled on over to the Peanut Depot, aka The Peanut Crib. A stop on Morris ave for freshly roasted cajun peanuts has become a fairly regular stop for me. It's a whole lot easier to make the stop by bike instead of with a car. Except for getting my timbers shivered on the cobblestones of Morris Avenue. I'm not sure how long this place has been here, but definitely a long time. I like all the old men that come in with a dollar bill in their hand to get a "dollar bag." I usually stock up with a 2 pounder to "share" with the office. What that really means is, I sit it out in a public area, then commence to eating the whole thing myself.

Mon, Wed, Fri

Tuesday was a day off from riding 'cause of all the rain. My general rule of thumb has become not to ride if it's raining when I'm ready to leave. If it's not, I'm on two wheels. It was time to filler up, so $60 later I was at Lucy's for my coffee. Looks like tomorrow I'm driving as well because my Argon is empty again (I think I left the valve open a bit), so I'm off to Airgas in the am. They don't open until 8:00. I might try make it there and back in time to still ride to work, we'll see. Anyway, I felt like taking a different route home today. I zig zagged my way over to 43rd and headed down the dirt road next to the railroad tracks. It's definitely not the fast or easy way home, but it's definitely an interesting diversion from the same old streets. There are several sets of tracks, most with paths in between, and I've explored where I end up depending on which track I ride between. This time the road ended where the two sets of tracks I was riding between come together in a V. Cool thing is, it was right next to a whole bunch of abandoned buildings. I stopped and explored briefly, but I could clearly hear someone clunking around inside one of the buildings. Great stuff. Old abandoned delivery trucks, rusted equipment, and junk galore. It definitely looked like someone or some people had made this their semi permanent hangout. I snapped a few photos and then decided to head on. I definitely have it marked for further exploration some day. I had to carry my bike the last 100 feet or so down the tracks, but it looked like one track over I could have ridden all the way through. Maybe next time.

The Terminal

Big thanks to Andre for plastering my blog, and incidentally, my artwork on the Terminal. If you haven't checked out the Terminal, make sure you do: http://bhamterminal.com/. It's a great way to keep in touch with what's going on in Birmingham. Also a great place to watch the Parliament house demo if you missed it. Not as big a loss to Birmingham as the The Train Terminal, but still enough to make me scratch my head and say "why'd they do that for?" Thanks again Andre.

Tall Bikes

I'm just back from New Orleans and find myself really eager to get back on the tall bike project that got shoved aside a few months ago. New orleans has a way of inspiring people. Last time I started a tall bike project I decided I didn't just want a tall bike, but something totally original. So I ended up staggering the frames so that the neck tube of the top one was about half way down the top tube of the bottom frame. I got it all working, and then got bored with modifying the handle bars and never finished. Since it was my first project I was really eager to get it put together, so I didn't paint the frames or worry too much about aesthetics. I just wanted to get it rolling. So, when we were down in NO we saw a few tall bikes rolling around and it inspired me to get back on track with finishing this and then making just a regular old tall bike. Here's the problem. I had two frames sitting around waiting to be tall biked. When I got bored with the weird bike project I borrowed a chop saw from my buddy Johnny, chopped the frames into 2 inch pieces, and welded them into a sort of Buddhist design thing. So I'm back on the hunt for some bicycle frames. If anyone has any, I promise to make a bicycle of sorts out of them instead of chopping them up, I promise.

hop on

I saw this at the bike through lane at the bank. I snapped a picture while I was in line and pondered a bit what it actually was supposed to mean. I probably over thought this a bit. But since the car in front of me was obviously opening up some sort of retirement account, I had some time to kill. Since there isn't actually a bike through lane at the bank, it isn't promoting a bike through lane. While the lack of a designated bike lane doesn't create any real issues for biking through to make deposits, you do have to suck on the exhaust from the car that is usually in front of you. Not that I expect banks to start putting in bike lanes. I suppose the sign is intended to mean "hop on" doing business with Regions Bank. But they don't actually say anything about why. I guess they would argue that their egregious fees are slightly less reprehensible than their competitors, although most likely still quite high. I also guess they put the green bike in there to infer that "we're green" so obviously you should bank here. Whatever it means, it's a bike on a poster, so it gets points there. Groovy lookin' bike too, and better than a Hummer on a poster.

Brian rides bikes

Now what are the chances that there would be another blog out there about riding a bike written by a guy named Brian, spelled properly with an i not a y? Pretty good I imagine since there is one: http://brianridesbikes.blogspot.com/ He's been doing his for a couple of years it looks like. So I emailed this guy (Brian) and told him I had started something similar to his and half expected him to respond with something like "hey slack ass go come up with your own idea." But he was totally cool and gave my blog some props on his blog, so here go some props back to him and a link to his blog. It looks mighty cool and he updates regularly so make sure you check it out when you get a chance. It looks like he's planning some radical bike trip adventure to New Orleans, so some of y'all in New Orleans might could offer him a beer or something on his ride through.

abandoned building

In my book (blog) there's not much more fun than exploring abandoned buildings and places. These pics are from that I assume is an abandoned metal fabrication shop. It's right on the corner of 43rd street and Powell avenue. I can ride right up into it, but quickly dismounted 'cause I was clearly in danger of getting a flat tire. There are some ancient metal working machines and welders, all of which look like they are deteriorated well beyond the point where they could be restored. Someone has been cleaning the place out and intentionally leaving these behind, so they must have some plans for them. I also noticed in the very corner it looks like someone is using the place to do some work. I got the feeling that the clock was ticking on someone calling the cops on me, so I took a few quick photos and split. There was all kinds of great scrap steel on the ground. Lots of old wood too. I may have to make a run back there to ask someone if I could gather some of it up for a project. Who I might ask I have no idea. I always feel like there is a fine line as to whether it's stealing or not to just take scrap metal. I suppose if they are planning on selling it as scrap then it would be stealing. If they were just gonna throw it in a dumpster then I guess it would be fine. If it walks like garbage and quacks like garbage, then I call it garbage. Whatever that means.

A new start

It's hard to believe it's August. After only riding three days last week, I feel I really need to make it a full week on the bike. Mostly due to the fact that my car is sitting outside on empty, so next time I drive it means $67.14 less in my pocket. My tire is fixed from last week, I've got my week of clothes and food stuffs stashed at work. I have my new pump and a spare tube on board, so I'm feelin' pretty on top of things. It was a pretty uneventful day back and forth accept the fact that I got stopped by an unusually long train on my way home. There is always the option of turning back and taking Crestwood Blvd when I get stuck like that. However, I've come to enjoy the forced downtime of watching the train roll past. All the graffiti, and all the little instructions on the cars like "oil doors here", "no pressure release device", "close valves completely." It's also interesting noting how old some of the cars are, how some are newer, company names, chemical names, srap cars, tanker cars, cattle cars, boxcars. I've taken notice that all the boxcar doors always have little metal zip tie locks on them. I keep hoping that one will pass that's open with a bunch of hobos in it. You know, doing hobo shit. Playing banjos, eating pork and beans, sharpening their knives all with a little campfire in the middle.

Blow Out

3 flats in two months. About a mile and a half into my ride to work I heard that dismal hiss that can only mean I'm gonna be a walkin' soon. It happened just as I was bump bumpin' over the railroad tracks on 43rd street. As soon as I realized I was hearing it, and after I did the ridiculous look around to see if there was another place it could be coming from, it turned into a full on shooosh and my front tire went completely flat. It immediately occurred to me that I had stashed a tube at work, and had a patch kit and pump at home, but at the moment I was pretty much out of luck. Luckily - a cell phone call got me a ride home from Shawnie and I drove on into work. Lesson learned. I made a trip to Bob's bikes at lunch. The same girl was behind the counter that told me to buy two spare tubes and keep one with me at all times. I offered my story before she could notice I was back for my second tube so soon. I bought a little carry with you kind of pump as well.

Flash Flood

Today I left work as thunderstorms were brewing. I looked at the little blip on the radar and decided that if I got caught in it, I would enjoy the rain on a 97 degree day. I made the strategic error of taking 1st avenue south instead of my normal route. About 1/4 of a mile in the faucet came on full blast,as did the wind. The rain was so heavy and the wind so hard, I could hardly see where I was going. My handlebars were shimmying in the wind and in no time 1st avenue was like a river and I was riding in 2 inches of water. I hit the first set of railroad tracks and my front tire slid. I got it corrected and looked over my shoulder to see 4 cars in line, waiting to run me over when I fall. I think it was hailing at one point. Either that or the rain was blowing so hard it felt like hail. I ducked up under an old loading dock to wait some of it out. Once I got up there fire engines were racing up and down 1st avenue, and there was the smell of burning plastic in the air. After 15 minutes or so it looked like the worst had past, so I waited for a point when there were no cars, and rolled back down onto the road. Almost immediately it was the same story. Shit blowing everywhere, rain blasting, wind howling, and cars on my ass. I made it to Mazer's on the corner of 41st and 1st avenue and ducked up under the side of their building. 41st and 1st avenue were both completely flooded at this point. Maybe a foot deep in some places. There was a train stopped on the tracks north of 1st ave, so cars that were headed north on 41st were stuck in what was a quickly deepening lagoon. There was a tractor trailer either stuck in each direction on 41st, or just stopped with no where to go. A 55 gallon steel drum came floating down 41st, made a right on 1st avenue and continued out of site down 1st avenue. There were some really massive cracks of thunder, so I decided leaning up against the metal siding was a bad idea, and I headed into Mazer's. I sat and watched the Mayhem for another 25 minutes or so. The guys at the recycling place across the street were plowing the water away from the entrance with back hoes and sending waves of water down the street and into the stuck cars. Finally the rain seemed to slow and the thunder took a break so I headed out. I had to ride through water deep enough so my feet were totally submerged on the down stroke. The water was moving fast enough where I thought there was a pretty good chance it was gonna take me for a swim. I made it across 41st, and although the rain was a lot lighter, the road was still a river. When I got to my normal turn, there was train stopped on the tracks, an even bigger river roaring through, a car stuck between the flood and the stopped train, and traffic being diverted from Crestwood blvd into the flood here, leaving them nowhere to go. I sat and watched for a few minutes and saw that the train was starting to creep along. I weaved through the water, past mr. stuck car, past the crossing barrier and waited on top of the drainage ditch for the train to finish crossing. The drainage ditch is usually about six feet to the bottom and nothing but stagnant muck at the bottom. It was roaring through and lapping at the top of the street. I decided I would take a few pictures. As I reached for my camera I saw a small tsunami coming down the creek and got out of the way in time to miss the wave crossing the road. I decided that this was how people die in flash floods, and the urgency to get on with my ride took on a different tone. Never did get a picture of that. Much of the same on the way home. Stalled cars, flooded roads, power lines and tree branches down. It took me a total of about an hour to make it home. No power at the house when I got there. and Lucy was pissed. I give today an A+ I hope it rains again tomorrow.

Thor

No riding today. Lucy needed me to run some errands and pick up some things for the shop this morning, so I needed the car. Luckily, my now much neglected car wouldn't start, so I had the pleasure of driving Thor, our little red pick up. I took the opportunity to lug a bunch of stuff back and forth to work. Among the stuff being lugged is our first movie from Blockbuster online, Raise the Red Lantern. So we got that going for us.

Birmingham Critical Mass

The Birmingham Critical Mass ride was tonight starting from Lynn park. About 19 people showed up and we zig zagged around downtown, up to 5 points, around Highland Ave, and up into Forest Park. It's a great event and I hope it starts to grow. For anyone who doesn't know about it, you can check it out by googling critical mass. There are a bunch of different sites, I'm not sure there is actually an "official" one. The Birmingham ride has a facebook page (critical mass Birmingham) so you can check that out to, I posted some pictures from the ride there. I almost didn't make to the ride, due to a blow out on Richard Arrington Blvd at Lunch time. I didn't have an extra tube or patch kit or anything so it took a bunch of running around to get it fixed I was particularly filthy from changing the tire, but I got it done and made it. On the way to the ride I passed Dee and her mom sitting outside Our Place having margaritas, so I stopped and had a beer with them before heading to Lynn park. The whole ride lasted an hour or so. The group started dwindling almost from the start until there were just four of us left. There was talk of going to the Bottletree or Little Savannah for beer, which sounded good, but I had to split. I really like the idea of this thing growing into a much bigger group and invading some bar at the end of the ride. We'll see.

Thief

It turns out that my Obama stuff wasn't stolen after all. A certain person took it to keep it from being rained on. They decided to torture me for the evening by not telling me about it until the next day. OK, you got me. Nice one. Sorry for the foul language yesterday. However, thieves do suck. Especially the one that managed to steal the Jones Valley Urban Farm tractor. You can take the language from yesterday and direct it at that person or persons, and throw in a few more lines about going to hell etc.., just for good measure. Sorry about the tractor guys, that really sucks.

Scooters and thieves

I received my Barack Obama support pack in the mail today. It has a yard sign and some buttons and stickers and stuff. It's worth noting that I'm not usually the support pack buyin' type. However, I find myself really excited about Barack Obama, and equally embarrassed and ashamed of the last eight years. It wasn't possible for me to haul all this crap home on my bike, so I asked my friend Shawnie if I could leave it on her scooter at work so she could bring it home later. An hour later when she returned it had been stolen. Not that it was a terribly bright idea to just leave it on her scooter, but it was tucked into the pocket under the handle bars. Plus I figured - who is gonna steal some buttons, stickers, and a yard sign? What are you going to do with this stuff? Sell it on the corner? Pawn it? Would you really display it in your yard? How meaningful, to display a stolen sign on behalf of our candidate. I suppose someone may have just decided to take it and destroy it. At least the money went where it was supposed to go. I'll just leave it as - Fuck You, Fuck You, Fuck You and as Frank Zappa would say "yer an asshole, yer an asshole." and... Todd got his scooter today. After work I pedaled out to 1st avenue north and waited for him to ride by. I waited for like an hour. I sort of know how it feels to be a prostitute on 1st avenue north now. At least the part before you get in the car. A LOT of people stare at you when you are just standing in the street with sunglasses on. Todd finally came by like lighning bolt, the proud new owner of a martini olive green (coicidence?) hog.

99 degrees

They said it was going to 99 degrees today. Bring it I say. I really would take blazing heat over cold any day. I was really hoping to get a picture of a digital thermometer sign saying it was 100. I like to sweat and I don't mind stinking, to a certain point. My shoes in the office are actually starting to stink quite bad. I think they are ruined. I was thinking of sending out an email asking for everyone to just let me know if the shoes stink. How do you word something like that? Plus, asking someone if your shoes stink is really like making a confession about your shoes stinking. It's sort of like asking someone to smell your finger. You won't get an honest answer. well, I realized I don't think I know where any of those things are, the digital thermometer signs, at least not on my route. Instead I ended up with a picture of a steak knife I found. Not quite treasure, but surely not trash either. It does make one wonder why a steak knife is lying in the middle of 5th avenue. Not that there would be some great story behind it, but everything has a story. It could have been some meals on wheels disaster. It could have been a premeditated murder, with a last minute change of heart, ending with a knife tossed out the window.

short cut the long way

The man in this photo is randy brown. ex-birminghamian, rabid map enthusiast, and one of only a very few known people who know the lyrics to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Randy was in town this weekend. After I rode to the farmers market, we rendezvoused and rode back to the house. After a few rounds of pull the dirty sack (conjures a strange image, I know) we got stuck at the same railroad crossing that I get stuck at 2 or 3 times each week. I explained how I thought maybe the gravel road next to the tracks might possibly finally come out at SMI. So down the road we went. It probably took 3 times as long as riding on the road due to the intermittent patches of sand. At times it was easier to ride in the tracks themselves, which isn't real easy. But, in the end, lo and behold the "road" does come out at SMI. So I now have a way around the trains, I cannot be stopped.

Sunrise

I left my bike at work on Thursday night. We were going out for drinks and dinner and I could cram the bike into Lucy's car without taking the back wheel off. I decided it would be too much of a pain in the ass, so I just locked it up and figured I would just ride in with Lucy in the am. Much safer than going out for drinks and dinner and then trying to navigate home in the dark. So before light I rode in with Lucy, picked up the bike and headed to Lucy's for coffee. I wasn't under any time constraints so I meandered around and took my time. It's hard to believe it's July, it's just not very hot out yet. With my thermos full, I turned back to work for a super early day with hopes of getting done with my work as early as I was starting. This dream was later crushed, but I did get some pictures of the sun rising up.

Trophy Shop

I rode past the trophy shop near the corner of 7th and 22nd. It was earlier than usual and the sun was blasting through the window and reflecting off all of the trophies. It was also casting weird shadows against the back wall. I couldn't quite capture it through the window. But now I know it's there and may give it another shot.

Sunburn

Despite horrible sunburn from the tubing trip on Sunday, I managed to force myself to ride my bike. I'm glad, it's a much better way to start the day than driving to work. Especially on Mondays. I got caught by a train, again, on my way home. It's a part of my day of come to enjoy. It's great to just sit there and watch the train rumble by. Actually today the train was stopped and there were only a few cars to one side, so I thought about going around. In the end I sat there for a few minutes and then heard the sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss of the air coming out of the brakes. Then the very slow creaking, and finally the train pulling away. Always a good opportunity to grab a photo or a couple.

Brian Dean Woodwork

I finally saw Brian's van outside his shop on 41st street today, so I popped in for a howdy do. Good to see Brian. He was working on a super looking entertainment center. It is narrower then your normal entertainment center to accommodate a flat screen TV. Genius I say. So we get to chatting it about going fishing or canoeing and tubing and decide that this weekend would be just a great weekend to hit the river. He has to get Ariel and I have to head home, so we leave it as "you call me or I'll call you or something" and I get back on my bike. Ya see this is the thing that's great about riding your bike. Chances are I never would have stopped if I was driving. By the time I would have noticed his van, I probably would have been half way down the street. and now we have tubin' plans. I should have taken a picture of his shop for today. I'll get one later and post it up (done).

PBR

Lucy sent me a text message asking if I want to meet at the Bottletree for a PBR after work. Does a bear shit in the woods?

$67.14

Although Lucy would not necessarily agree, it's been 36 days since I've gotten gas. Ironically, I'm not riding my bike today. I have to visit the dentist to have my crown finished. I figured I would work in a haircut, dog food run, and fill up the old gas tank all in one fell swoop. Well, the 67 goddamn 14 goddamn cents sealed my commitment to driving as little as possible. I stopped at the first click too. I didn't even top it off. It's funny, I never used to pay attention to the price of gas. Sometimes I would pick where I filled up based on how many people were there. More often then not the place I chose, based on less people, would be the more expensive place. I always figure the time and hassle was worth the few extra pennies. So, I've got the car parked waiting for an important mission.