Bicycling

I’m A Citizen

100_0242.jpgAfter a mere 6 weeks my membership card arrived in the mail yesterday. After today’s split with Texas and the Yankee’s loss to Oakland the FRS magic number for clinching the American League East crown is 101.

Also yesterday I had a chance to see if the new tires helped make the speedometer more accurate, short answer no. The borrowed GPS unit showed 66MPH when the speedo indicated 70. GPS said 37 when the speedometer read 40. Looks like when the speed limit on the Interstate says 70 and I want to go 75, I’m still going to have to get the speedometer to read 80MPH.

Trunk Lid Update – I finally used some calipers to measure the trunk lid gaps on Friday. The left side moved in the correct direction by .013 and right by only .007, but it looks much straighter to the naked eye.

Paid bills via tandem this morning. Went 15 miles to accomplish it too, first time we have been in double digits since New Year’s Day.

Behind the Scenes – Updated to Word Press 2.0.3

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 198

Snack Attack

About 9:30PM, when the FRS were safely ahead of the dreaded Yankees and Donna bouncing around on the couch because of cabin fever I decided that now would be a good time to go get that snack she asked for earlier. Her taste buds are all out of whack the last couple of days. Yesterday she would drink nothing but hot chocolate and earlier today it was pink lemonade. Tonight she wanted a Frosty from Wendy’s or one of those dollar “sundaes” from McDonald’s.

So we climbed on the tandem, fired up the lights and wound our way through neighborhoods taking the long way to Mickey D’s that is about a mile and a half from home. At 99 cents it is hard to beat a cup full of creamy soft-serve vanilla ice cream with hot fudge on top. With tax it set us back a whole $1.06. Donna left the 4 cents change as a tip for the barista.

7 miles.

Night Ride

We didn’t even get 8 miles in tonight.

I charged up the big battery for the bicycle lights this afternoon, took the lights off of my commuting bike and mounted them on the tandem. The battery charger said the battery was fully charged when we left the house and 8:30PM in the fast fading twilight. After about 5 miles the headlight was looking a little dim, so we turned around and headed home the most direct way possible. We just barely made it back with the headlight still burning.

We haven’t used those lights in about 5 years, so the battery was really dead. I wonder if after a second full charge it will last a little longer?

Evening Ride

Spring is gone and summer is here. Today it was in the lower 90’s and there was a rumble of thunder this afternoon. There is more of the same expected for the next 10 days according to the Weather Channel, but local wisdom says it should be expected for the next 100 days.

When the sun was getting low in the sky and the temperature had dropped to the lower 80’s, Donna and I hopped on the tandem and went for a little 9 mile ride around town. By the time we got home it was pretty well dark. Might take the high powered headlights of one of the commuting bikes, along with a flashing tail light, and put it on the tandem for these evening rides.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 162

My Sunday Was More Boring Than Yours

The only thing besides the weekly grocery shopping trip to interrupt hanging out on the couch all day was an early morning tandem ride. We went another 8 or so miles, but this time included a stop for breakfast. Because we were too early for a muffin at the New Moon Cafe and the only true bagel place in town folded their tent we ended up at the ABC. We both had a bagel and judged their quality to be just about half way between a store bought one and one from the defunct Best Bagels.

There was an older gentleman a couple people ahead of us that got one too, but we didn’t ask him how he liked his. We sat outside in the patio area and watched as that same gentleman got back in his car to leave. He reopened hid drivers door and poured the contents of a nearly full old Atlanta Bread Company coffee cup onto the ground in the parking lot. We marveled as to why he wouldn’t have just gone back inside the shop and thrown it out. After the cup was empty he got back out of the car and did head back inside. Now we really wondered why he didn’t just throw it away in the store. Then with a flash of realization it dawned on us what he was doing, when he ordered his bagel he didnt get a drink, now he was refilling and old ABC cup with fresh coffee.

Because we did get out on the roads early we encountered very little automobile traffic. On the way home from breakfast there were a few more cars out, probably on their way to early services at church. I am always amazed at these good Christians on their way to worship the deity of their choice are the least courteous drivers on the road. This morning we were on a section of very lightly traveled 4-lane road when a nicely dressed person in a pickup squeezed by us as close as he could. I’m guessing he was a catholic, because after he accidentally ran us over and killed us all he had to do was to go to confession and be absolved from his sins. That way his conscience would have been clear as he sat down to watch the Braves on TV later that afternoon.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 151

A Day Late

Forgot to mention that we went for a small bike ride yesterday. We took the tandem out, cruised some neighborhoods and ended up going about 8-1/2 miles at about 3/4 speed. Donna was feeling pretty good when I got home from work and we didn’t want to burn up all her energy. The tandem is perfect for her right now, she can get in some needed exercise and not have to worry about that whole steering, shifting, braking stuff.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 142

Mobile Bill Pay & Long Distance Lunch

Forget automatic debit, forget paying online, we do things the old fashioned way – with a check. But then we throw in a twist, we ride our bicycles around town and put those checks in the drop box at the cable company, the power company and the city (for water & sewage.) We tacked on a few extra miles by exploring some of the rapidly expanding sub-divisions on the southside of town and ended up going a little over twelve miles on the tandem.

In celebration of having our Miata back we decided to go to Maurice’s BBQ for lunch. Big deal you say, BBQ, well the closest Maurice’s is in Lexington, SC about 50 miles away. It was in the upper 70s with a bright blue sky and some fluffy white clouds for contrast, a day that was tailor-made for a convertible drive. One hundred mile trip at 25 MPG and with gas at $3 a gallon we spent twelve dollars to get a $14 lunch. You can bet the trip was worth every penny.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 127