Signs of the times

Another couple of signs spotted along the side of the road on Hamline Avenue.

Peace is always a laudable goal.  There will be differing opinions of what that other sign even means.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood, a nice day for a bicycle ride.

Fair food

New tires turned out to be a good thing.  It is always a bit of an adventure, new tires do not look like tires that have been on there a while.  But this set has now officially been broken in.

With the Fair not being held this year there is quite a bit of this going on.

Not quite as interesting as the corner of FF and U.

Those with a good sense of geography or a mapping app will know that getting to that spot for a photo means that the new distance achieved on the milestone ride is now the new standard distance.  It is too early to make a pronouncement but I have done that distance I think three times now and it no longer feels like a stretch.  So that's good.  On the way back I rode through a neighborhood where I used to go all the time but which I have not seen for at least a couple of years.  It looked pretty much the same as the last time I was there.

Food stand operators are trying to dull the sting of the loss of income that will come with the Fair not being held.  There is, among other things, a Facebook group where people can post the locations of Fair food.  I was briefly a member but it is too popular.  There are several postings every day and it was more information than was useful to me.  Apparently Facebook advertising isn't enough and this operator has resorted to old fashioned methods, putting up a sign.

Ooops almost

I did ride yesterday but it was a bit late and a lot overcast and I just didn't get any what I thought were good photo opportunities.

I am on the new bicycle and one thing I did not mention in the shake down summary is that I was slightly concerned by the state of the tires.  The bike had been in a stand on the concrete floor of the basement and the rubber of the tires didn't seem quite right, it felt vaguely dry.

But I pumped them up, they held air, everything seemed fine, I rode them a couple of times.

One thing about riding a bicycle is that it is inevitable that you become quite familiar with your front tire.  There it is going round and round right in front of your face.  Towards the end of yesterday's ride I started to notice that the tire didn't seem right, it just wasn't round enough.  It seemed slightly out of focus.

I decided that maybe six years unused was too long.  I had a set of new tires still in their packaging.  I have a new tire tool that I had never used, I decided to take the safe route and install the new tires.  Here's what I found.

There is another one nearly as bad down by the red spoke.

So the new tire tool was OK without being anything like a major improvement.  I got the tires off and discarded them.  I examined and briefly considered retaining the tubes.  The rear tube was pretty good, a tube that had never been patched.  The front had three patches.  I almost always have at least a couple of tubes around still in their original package and I just decided that in for a penny in for a pound (British content) and went with all new.

While I was at it I did some clean up on the drive train, removing an alarming amount of caked on crud from the rear derailer pulley wheels.

Bicycle content.

Shake down ride

That's a really great bicycle and it seems a shame to not be riding it.  But not a single part, or for that matter the frame, is designed for 25,000 miles.  That's enough.

And besides, I was not exactly caught without transportation.  Here is the odometer reading after the ride on the bicycle I rode today.

I have zeros in the log for that bicycle for the last five years and that means it is probably nearly six years since I have ridden it.

It was in the basement.  When I last rode it the bar tape was silver and had deteriorated just behind the right hood to a state where the handlebar was not adequately covered.  I replaced the bar tape with Cinelli padded cork (my tape of choice) in the traditional color for bicycle bar tape, black.  The tape was previously silver to match the saddle.  I lubed up the chain (once every six years is probably a minimum), and pumped the tires.

Anybody want to say nice bike?

Because it is.

But six years is a long time and I was pretty sure I needed a short ride to make sure everything was still functioning.  I recall when Wireless wanted her junior high bike for adult city riding.  I took it down from the rafters of the garage, pumped the tires and lubed the chain, coasted down the driveway, turned the pedals and nothing happened.  That's a story for another time.

It was way too hot today, no ride seemed possible.

But after dinner I started to get the itch and around 7:45 I headed out for my first evening ride in even longer ago than the last time I rode this bike.

I was thinking I would coast around the cul de sac a time or two but a couple of things happened.

I know I mention this every time I switch from some other bicycle to this one.  Every bicycle I own is startlingly light to anyone unfamiliar with the  upper end of the bicycle manufacturing spectrum.   But this one?  This  one  is hellaciously light.  Ever for some used to ultralights, this thing weighs NOTHING AT ALL.  As soon as I was on it I wanted to ride it a bit.

I didn't even have bicycle  clothes on, I forgot my gloves, I only had one bottle with me.

I got home just before 9pm.

Pretty dark.

This is a great, great bicycle.

Back on the road again.

I am not sure I have any photos of this grouping in twilight.

So, 25,000 miles on FirstLOOK, 14,024 on New LOOK and 10,444 on my Independent Fabrication Crown Jewel Special Edition Custom Build, a three bicycle total of 49,468.  It is still quite a ways off but I think I can see where this is going.

Once around

I had a very significant ride today.

It was my longest ride of the year so far.  All of my rides are shorter now but this one was almost long enough to make it to the Port Sheldon Party Store and back.  That will be a big deal if I get any miles near the PSPS this summer.

The reason why it was longer is because I needed a couple of extra miles for a milestone.  Here is a LOOK at my odometer after I arrived home and before I moved that bicycle into permanent retirement.

One time around the planet.

That's going to be enough for that bicycle.  Here is what it looked like when it first arrived at my house.

It was a little bit too warm today and I was riding a little bit farther than I have been riding so a bit past half of my planned mileage I paused and sought out some shade for a little sit down.  A nice lady walking her dog paused and asked if I was okay.

*sigh*

I replied that I was and thanked her for her concern.  She continued, asking if I needed any water.  I showed her my two water bottles.

*sigh* again.

Well, it was a hot day, and that lady's old dog looked like it was overheating and could have used some water.

We had some silvicultural excitement in our back yard this morning.

Our large cottonwood occasionally throws a branch that it is no longer using to the ground.  This one today came down on the ash tree.

TOPWLH just so happens to have already scheduled some men to come out and check on some of the other trees.  They can take care of this bit in the course of their other already scheduled business we are both sure.

One time around the planet.  Imagine that.

After the tulips

If early June isn't going to be pleasant it might well be hard to find a time that is.  Today was sunny and nice, a wonderful day for early summer.

Too windy, but . . . not as windy as Auckland.

I rode over to Lake Como to check on the social distancing,   I went to the less busy side of the lake and actually everyone was doing fairly well.

Well, at least the kayakers were doing pretty well.

On the way home I swung past the tulip yard.  Here is what is now growing in the midst of the tulip wreckage.

I am not certain if those are planted deliberately or if they are a native weed.  Most of that other stuff, including some thistles and nettles, looks pretty weedy.

A nice day for a ride, no one suspected me of overheating.

Consequences

I was taking a little sit down in a nice shady spot near the back entrance to a local strip mall.  See, nice shady spot.

Nice bike?

Anyway, I experienced a consequence of the undeniable fact that I am easily identified on sight as being at least somewhat past my best if used by date.

I was just sitting there admiring my bike when the nice lady from the house across the street frame right of the photo came to the edge of her yard and having successfully attracted my attention inquired if I was overheated.

I thanked her for her concern but said, no, I am fine, just taking a little sit down.

*sigh*

It was 80, not that hot, but windy, but not that windy.  Overall, a fine day for a ride.

I was riding down the next street over when I discovered this.

We have had some recent thunder but I don't think we have had anything that even vaguely qualifies as severe weather.  Still a large part of that tree has given up and slumped to the ground.  Someone should inquire if it is overheated.

Discerning viewers may note that that's Al's house.  You can tell because the driveway goes around to a garage in the back of the house, a very unusual design for the suburbs.  That's the way Al wanted it.  They don't live there anymore but probably they planted the tree too.