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Pschew! It is hard to imagine anything more disappointing than doing some light bicycle maintenance and then not being able to actually ride the bicycle in question. After the over the weekend tire swapping November relented today and allowed me to get out there and actually wear a little rubber off the newly remounted tire. Actually, it was one of the nicest days for bicycling that we have had here lately. I have the gear but today I didn't even have to don every single piece of it.

The leaf removal crew didn't arrive this morning. I saw them out and about in this general area of the city while I was riding but the pile of leaves is still out front. We have always taken the approach of anything that you can rake up goes in the pile. What that means is that there are lots of sticks, particularly sticks from the cottonwood tree in the leaf pile. Sometimes there will be a small residue of a few sticks left after the removal crew leaves but for the most part the powerful large diameter vacuum they are using accepts the sticks.

I was thinking of that when I turned the corner and came across this.

That seems to me to be too ambitious even for the large diameter vacuum. Plus, they really should have a few more leaves in the pile for disguise to get the leaf guys started.

Maybe not.

I usually ride past this spot on that street that you can see at the top of the hill.

They cleared all the brush up there (there was a lot) and from up there it looked to me very similar to the view when the men were installing wee wall. The retaining wall being installed to allow this new construction is made of the same interlocking panels that we watched get pounded into the beach during that high water episode on Lake Michigan several years ago and the installation technique is the same, pounding.

I have been thinking about assigning a letter grade to my still not quite over effort to reach my bicycle annual mileage goal. I don't think this is an endeavor calling for grading on a curve so I will have to accept something based on a percentage. The question for today is should I adopt a grading system where 60 percent is passing or should I be more rigorous and demand 70 percent to pass. This is significant because on a 60 pass scale 90 percent would get me an A. On the 70 pass scale I would need a 92 for that coveted marker. Please note that passing HAS been achieved on either scale (long ago, in fact), what we are quibbling about here is what should be required for an A.

On the one hand, this isn't the big leagues here, I am riding at a rate that can probably be charitably described as remedial. 60 percent pass seems about right for remedial. On the other hand, come on, 60 percent as passing? Too soft, it seems to me.

Today the thumb went down.