The Blaſphemous Bicycler

It’s a very nice morning to be a bicycle commuter.

I discovered a secret shorcut through a graveyard. It doesn’t really save me any miles, but it keeps me out of traffic for a few blocks.

_{Shortcut through the graveyard}

My goofy route crosses interstate 81 twice.

_{Interstate 81}

This is the spot where I stop to cool down before I go into the office. It’s about a quarter mile away, but it’s all downhill from here and I like the view. You can see the buildings in downtown Harrisburg across the river.

_{The view from my cooldown spot}

Today: 16.5 miles
April: 106 miles
2007: 287 miles

Brandi’s niece turned 2 years old yesterday. She got some cool presents. Among the metric ton of toys and such, was a tricycle, a bubble-cannon, and some sidewalk chalk.

She didn’t really care that she was supposed to be pedaling the trike, so long as someone would push her.

_{Not quite ready for a 2-wheeler yet}

After she got tired of the trike, she got down to business with the bubble cannon.

_{Click for Video!}

Once we were all out of soapy bubble juice, “Uncle Bone” took the sidewalk chalk and began an introductory lesson on the construction of Celtic Knotwork.

She lost interest somewhere during the lecture on runic spells and curses.

_{Uncle Bone can’t remember all the Runes anymore}

Oh well. Enough corrupting the youth for one day.

Today: 18 miles
April: 89.5 miles
2007: 270.5 miles

I did 13 miles in the pouring rain tonight. I was finally able to try out some new rain gear. Rainlegs worked out very well. The XL size is freaking huge; almost too big for me, and I’m a monster.

Velox Seat cover…not so well. It’s a very tight fit on my B17, and it’s got a velvety texture that kind of sticks to your butt. So when you stand up, it tends to come undone. I’m hoping it stretches a bit over time so that won’t happen so much.

I can’t really comment on how waterproof it is, since I tried not to take my butt off it for fear of losing it.

The combination of my old rain jacket and the rainlegs made the entire ride very nice despite the rain. Only the tops of my feet really got wet.

Today: 13 miles
April: 71.5 miles
2007: 252.5 miles

Sometimes I bitch and moan on this blog a bit more than I ought to. Here’s some happy news to balance things out a bit.

Pennsylvania set a national record [Last Thursday] by reaching 350,000 acres of preserved farmland, said Governor Edward G. Rendell. The milestone was reached when the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Board voted to preserve 70 farms, which also happens to be the highest number of farms ever approved at a single meeting.

– PA Dept. of Agriculture Press Release

Rock on, PDA, Rock on!

There are over 600 miles of fire roads and mountain biking trails in the Bald Eagle State Forest.

_{A new sign at one of the Trailheads}

One of the reasons I went to 700c wheels on the Trek was so I could run wider tires for those fire roads. The 37mm Paselas handled the bumpy stuff pretty nicely.

_{Cushy tires on a rocky road}

I came to the woods today not just to ride, but also to seek the Buddha. I was pleased to discover that my Therm-a-Rest Z-seat makes a perfectly serviceable Zabuton, at least if I sit seiza. It did a good job of keeping the twigs and dirt and junk out of my kneecaps. I didn’t have much luck using it in Lotus-style postures, though. When folded, it fits very nicely in a banana bag.

_{A portable Zafu/Zabuton}

In the course of my meditations, I was seeking the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. It was kind of faint, but I think I head the voice of the almighty say “chainstays, my boy. Long fucking chainstays.”

_{Long chainstays are the meaning of the universe}

After receiving this profound wisdom, I scouted out a couple of nice looking camping spots. I would like to do another bike-camping trip this year, and now I have a much better mount than I did for last year’s trip.

_{My trusty steed}

All in all, a very happy day in the woods. I’m now in a much better mood than I was yesterday.

P.S. Happy Earth Day, hippies!

Today: 9 miles
April: 58.5 miles
2007: 239.5 miles