circuitous routing coming back around again to the same old common themes with one more time around an internal smile that comes with the subtle satisfaction successfully completing a round trip I’m a big fan of barking up the wrong tree sending laser focused misdirected energy with astounding attention to detail only to learn later they were all the wrong details
not obedient just independent alone self-contained entertained unrestrained stacking rocks, riding bikes, building forts, lighting fires kicking pine cones, licking ice-cream cones slurping Slurpees until the brain freeze pinball, bubblegum, penny candy, pump cheese the babysitter smells weird smoking cigarettes watching soap operas Monday through Friday her macaroni tastes funny her tuna sandwiches aren’t as good as mom’s potato salad, dill pickles, baked beans, hot dogs the dog is so hot he’s not moving, panting ice cubes melting in his water bowl garden hose spewing plasticky bathwater warm the lawn yellowing drying dying crunching prickly on tenderfeet they’ll toughen up by Labor day then it’s back to shoes and socks and school
"Pump Cheese" circa 2008
nine years later and/or 39 years later that back-to-school feeling in the pit of my stomach has a little different meaning
with the flat bar and the seat slammed back on a setback post below it was delusional thinking I could get from here to there efficiently on this really heavy rig with huge tires so here and now I put on this giant handlebar above and squishier saddle and completely given up or given in to the idea of taking a slower slow ride and pushing this thing up the hill to get home. in this latest iteration the bike is 100% Bike Works parts all the way down to the bar plugs and cable ends every single little thing on this bike is now from Bike Works.
that's a Campy derailleur more than a full bubble off plumb.
on day 3 of RAGBRAI on the way to Clear Lake Tony's non drive side crank fell off and the bolt was long gone and when he tried to give it a go with just one crank just that first one big crank with his right leg was enough to suck the derailleur into the wheel and end his day waiting for the sag wagon. the derailleur hanger needs more than a little tweak it needs to be replaced. but luckily Tony knows the Daltex guy.
if you're looking for a Campy non drive crank bolt in or around Clear Lake Iowa in late July it might be hard to find even with Amazon Prime
of the few photos I took on RAGBRAI 97% of them involve beer bloody marys coozies beer gardens gas station parking lots bars and beer. this is the "liquid century" on a beautiful golf course parked next to Team Bud
there were some bikes on RAGBRAI too and the Hardees aporkalypse burrito features ham, bacon and sausage as well as eggs and two kinds of cheese
I haven't seen so many pilderwasser t-shirts and jerseys in one place since 2009 westside invite
this big bull was in Postville. I learned a little about Postville in the New York Times years back and it then I got to ride through it a few days ago and it's not the average Iowa town and as a pass-through town they only had 6 kybos
on another beautiful golf course sleeping just off the fairway where a handy bush next to the tent is worth two birds
I heard that more spd sandals are sold in Iowa than the other 49 states combined
back on RAGBRAI after a 6 year hiatus like a born again virgin but not making all those rookie mistakes
every time I felt tired out there on the bike I thought of Jimbo pulling his daughter across Iowa and I felt a little better about dragging myself to the next town
I gave this DANK coozie to Jimbo 10 years ago and a short time later someone hose-clamped it to the bus mirror to hold up a flag for a parade in Grinnell that flag broke off many years ago and this year I reclaimed the coozie and put it back to work taken out of context and put back in
the largest greatest bike ride party in the world involves a lot of interstate travel support vehicles busses RVs cars trucks ATVs airline tickets school busses police cars ambulances fire trucks street sweepers kybo suction trucks traffic signs and a shit load of empty beer cans but...
what if you saw this on instafacetwittgram? attention spans are getting shorter and shorter but that's not what they want you to think from point A to point B what's the point. it takes longer to upload/download a photo to this site than most people spend reading complete sentences in an entire day.
I see dog walkers. I see lawn & garden workers. I see house cleaners. I see over loaded mass transit. I see immediate delivery gratification professionals. I see new jobs and new people moving to Seattle to take those new jobs. What I don't see is a place for those new people to live. I see the median house price passing $750,000. I see 1 BR apartments renting for more than we make in months. I see horseshit.
I see parking where there is no parking.
I see the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the twilight zone
I know a guy that knows Ben Rainbow who knows a thing or two about Rohloff hubs and getting this neo-retro Davidson set up just right for Hillman City.
when I used to sit around looking out the window wondering what to do in a cheap and affordable studio apartment on Capitol Hill riding my bike to work in 17 minutes and home from work in 21 minutes I carried a notebook and recent New Yorkers to write and read because I had nothing better to do as Seattle kind of came to a stand still where even construction projects halted and filled in the excavations and legal messengers had to buy more six packs to fill the gaps these are some words from those days ca 2010 because they're all still true and now in retrospect I can't believe how much "free" time I used to have
I’ll find you near the intersection where expectations meet reality, but we’ll both need to wait in line for a while. Together. Separately. For complete instructions and rules of entry send SASE to PO Box 123.
Do you feel that? That’s not a subwoofer. That is 442 cubic inches of displacement. Muscle. Original flavor long-cut between the cheek n gum. Liquid smoke in the eye a poke. As if meeting in the loading dock makes sense. By design.
If and only if. If then. If only. Migratory six-pack rings wrapped around your finger. An environmental impact statement stated in terms like simplicity, utility and out-of-pocket. Out on a limb like the kitten in the poster on the ceiling at the dentist. You’re huffing so much gas, the kitten begins to speak Spanish and you understand completely.
Paperback reading walker. Walker reading paperback. I’m watching where you’re going, so you don’t have to. Warm shampoo. Cold Turkey. Fingerprints on the glass, compounded daily. Toothpaste splatter pattern on the mirror in normal distribution with standard deviation and occasional outliers. Fat-free vegan organic truck stop. Barstool etiquette. Free refills.
Cauliflower party platter. Roundhouse. Circle to the left counterclockwise here as well as in the southern hemisphere. Losing steam. Solar powered artificial color. 67% majority. Authority....
