Thursday, September 14 - "Hosed"

What a sad story to tell. Here I am back on the Vespa, doing my Travis Bickle imitation (or Colonel Bill Kilgore) with the Randolph Aviators. I got another flat last night about two blocks from home. Luckily I had a fresh tube and I resolved that I would fly through the procedure this time.

I donned my leather work gloves, picked up my tire levers and gouged away. I had that tire disemboweled in no time. And when I say "in no time", I mean at least 45 minutes.

Then I got all Blair Witch Project on it - I donned my head lamp and reading glasses and gave that tire a thorough tire-oscopy.

You see, I was very suspicious - this was the second flat in a week and I thought there might be something in the tire that was causing the tube punctures. And when I say "I thought there might be something in the tire", I mean that I read on the side of the tube box that I should check the tire for foreign objects or punctures - a step I failed to take the first time.

Well, friends I found the problem - a small slit in the tire itself. So, I'm temporarily off the bike till I can devote another ten hours and five layers of skin toward fixing this.

Tuesday, September 12

Beautiful morning. Beautiful day for a ride behind the trash truck.

Friday, September 8

Another great September morning - 67 degrees, hazy sun. I haven't tangled with the Mother Of All Intersections lately so I took a spin up that way. It looks kind of tame in the photo, but it ain't.

I had to return to my most unfavorite bike shop last night to return one of the two tubes I purchased. The first one I put on had a small hole in it. Well let me tell you, they took that tube back and handed over another one right quick. No arguments or anything.

They guy asked if I had been using any tools to get it on the wheel, and I told him no. I said "No, I just gently laid the tube inside the tire, and gently got one bead of the tire on, and gently put a little air in it, and gently (I kept repeating "gently" to distract him from that fact that my tube re-installation method was not quite correct) listened and heard a gentle 'sssssssssssssssssss', and I gently swore." I'm sure that repeating "gently" over and over conjured up the real picture of what happened: me with the leather work gloves on, cursing and swearing as I gouged away with the plastic tire levers, hot tears of frustration rolling down my bike-grease covered cheeks, while my children whispered nervously to mommy "Is daddy laughing or crying?".

Anyway, the bike shop has definitely come up a notch in my book even if they didn't know the average weight of a Maine beaver.

Thursday, September 7

Beautiful ride in this morning - 68 degrees and sunny.

As you can see, I triumphed over the "Ordeal of the Orb" (as Charlotte Haze calls it). I was able to replace the rear tube in 1.25 hours - a record for me. My thumbs (critical tools for tube/tire replacement, as my friend JW notes) were only moderately sore after the procedure.

Unfortunately, I had to get the tube at a bike shop that I really don't like. I won't name the place, but every time I go in there and ask them a question, they don't know the answer. They hem and haw, and say "I don't really know, Dude." It's infuriating. Take last night, for example. I go in to buy a tube, and I say "What's the average weight of a Maine beaver." And the guy gives me this blank look and tells me he doesn't know. I don't know about you, but I think that if you work in a bike shop you should be able to answer the customer's questions.

Wednesday, September 5

Friends, the mailbag has been full to overflowing recently with questions regarding the bracelet pictured on my left wrist. It does indeed say "DESPAIR". It's the perfect antidote to the ubiquitous cheery yellow LIVESTRONG band. Don't get me wrong; I don't look askance at the sentiment or anything else that's behind Big Yellow, and Lance Armstrong. I just found the dull-gray band with it's dour message very appealing. It's the perfect accessory for biking through Kenmore Square during a snow storm on a February evening.

Speaking of biking, I didn't ride today. The innertube with the slow leak that I have been nursing along for a month finally wheezed out its last 120psi of breath, never to be filled again. If all goes well this evening, I should be back in the saddle in the morning.

Thursday, August 31

Friends, it seems the previous post's picture of a beaver has caused an uproar. I did not intend to pass this rodent off as anything but an image borrowed from the web. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of an actual beaver as it waddled out of the underbrush and slipped into the lake - although saying "slipped into the lake" is giving the creature more credit that it deserves, cause what really happened is that the thing's rump must have been pretty dry, cause although it was trying to get under the water quickly, it definitely had problems trying to submerge its butt. It swam about 12 yards with just it's hind quarters visible.

Anyway, the rigors of camping definitely have taken their toll. I decided I needed a day off the bike and on the Vespa.

Wednesday, August 30

Took a vacation to the Maine woods. Paddled alot. Saw beavers. Didn't ride the bicycle. Now I'm back, and riding the bicylce.

Tuesday, August 15

It was a real wet ride this morning as you can see by the photos. I haven't been on the bike for almost a week and a half, so this morning's weather was a rather rude re-introduction to the commute.

Tuesday, August 1

One of the joys of plein-air commuting is the various sights, sounds, and smells that the cyclist encounters. Today, as I entered into the smooth flow of traffic on Beacon Street on this 90+ degree day, I caught a whiff of something quite foul, and the fetid odor did not diminish as I rode on. Then I noticed that there was a trail of some kind of liquid leading all the way down the center of the right lane on Beacon Street (see photo). I determined that the scent had to be coming from the liquid, and that, most likely, some kind of garbage truck was leaking the maloderous muck as it went about its rounds. It was quite pungent, and several times I was forced by traffic to ride through it. As I came down into Kenmore Square, the stench increased. Finally, outside the Square, I laid eyes (and nose) on the culprit - a big rusty dumpster-on-a-truck contraption. I held my breath and pedaled on by.

Saturday, July 29

Went on the Critcal Mass ride last evening. This happens the last Friday of every month. This was the first time I went and it was unbelievable. The ride starts at Copley and last night there were about 200 or so riders at the beginning. The route (which I gather is not pre-determined) took us downtown, then accross the Mass Ave Bridge, up Mass Ave to Harvard Square (right before Harvard Sq there was a downpour that was about as heavy as I have ever seen, with thunder and lightening and gusting winds. At times you could barely see. It was an awsome sight to see 200 riders going through it all and shouting and yelling), around the Square and down to Mem drive via several side streets, then over the BU Bridge, down Comm Ave, outbound on Beacon St, down Park Drive to Huntington, then down to Copley again, up Newbury St, then Mass ave to Boylston to the Lansdowne St area, then up the Riverway to Longwood. There was one point along Putnam Ave in Cambridge where nobody was talking and all you could hear was a light swish of bicycle tires on wet pavement. It was a startling thing to realize that these 200 people were moving along making barely any noise. At other times a roar would erupt from the group after a particulary bright flash of lightning, or as we passed under bridges.

Thursday, July 27

Great hazy, humid Boston summer morning. I took this first picture by accident as I was going down Comm Ave - it really shows the close quarters that cyclists are in sometimes. Also, here are more detailed pictures of Betty and Tony. I guess saying that Tony was "up to his gunwales in water" was an understatement.

Wednesday, July 26

Although Suicide Vespa Ride doesn't have the same ring to it, I had to take this beautiful machine to work since the weather is so nice - plus I just got the new '07 sticker from the RMV. I'll ride my bicycle through a blizzard (and have done that several times), but getting on the Vesap in cold weather is painful. So, I'm going to take advantage of the beautiful weather while I can.

2nd picture is of me on Mem drive - I'm going 50mph (believe it or not these things do 50) - EVERYONE WAS PASSING ME. That goes to show you, I know first-hand that nobody does 35 on Mem Drive.

Tuesday, July 25

Today I had another opportunity to revel in being car-less in Boston. I had to go to to the RMV downtown to get a sticker for the Vespa, and while sitting in that dreaded edifice (see photo) I recalled the precious moments of my life in past years sitting and waiting, sitting and waiting, and sitting and waiting to renew registrations, get new plates, wrangle with release forms, and other tortures. Since the Vespa qualifies as a "moped", being 50cc, the biennial registration took five minutes and no hassels at all.

My journey to the RMV took my to a part of downtown that I don't ride very often and the smaller streets and more frequest stoplights make it a much easier ride despite more traffic. Cars don't have the opportunity to get up to 45mph downtown like they do on Mem Drive and Beacon and Comm.

I've mentioned Betty, the aluminum canoe before. She's stored on a dock right by the Longfellow Bridge and has "BETTY" stencilled in black on her bow. She was joined recently by another forlorn-looking craft - a red and white skiff with the name "TONY" on it's bows. Tony spends most of his days filled almost to the gunwales with water.

Monday, July 24

I have a belief that during every summer there is one day that is the best day. The 'best day' is 78-80 degrees, absolutely clear, no humidity. And I believe there is only one of these days per summer. Today was definitely the best day. While my view for most of this most perfect day was spent corralled by 4 blue/gray cube walls (yes, 4 walls! Most folks are only lucky enough to have 3 - but I have 4) , I still enjoyed the 40 minutes I had on the bike going to and from the Lazy P Blue-Gray Corral.

I am also occasionally reminded of the advantage of commuting by bicycle - see photo of Mass Ave traffic.

Wednesday, July 19

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday evening it was nearly 100 degrees for the ride home. This morning's ride - 74 degrees.

For all of you who have been boasting to me how much money you're going to make on harvesting river herring from the Charles this summer, I have bad news. There is a ban on harvesting river herring. See the photo of the sign. I know this is quite a blow, but... Seriously, though, who would harvest anything from the Charles River?

Thursday, July 13

Downpour for the morning ride. Fahchahnitly, I am in possession of a fresh pair of rain pants (and I don't mean "Fresh" like the Prince of Bel Aire). My last pair were repaired so often with duct tape that I looked like I was wearing dingy silver pants. They finally gave out sometime at the beginning of 2006. But now I have this great pair of $13 rain pants. I made my stunning debut on the streets of Boston this morning, and let me tell you, I think people were impressed. Look at the color combo of my jacket with the pants. Semi-ripe banana?

Wednesday, July 12

I always like a good contest. Once I kept up with a car whose driver yelled at me at the BU Bridge to "get off the road", all the way to St Paul and Beacon in Brookline. She was scared sh**less, I'm sure. I have a very menacing helmet - it's all black, and quite bulbous (as bike helmets tend to be).

Once I followed a guy who had thrown a half-full (see, I'm optimistic) Burger King milk shake cup at me for at least two miles. I don't mean he was throwing them at me for two miles; I mean I kept up with him for two miles after he hurled the shake at me. Again, I think that my formidable demeanor and helmet had him quite sure that the milk shake was not a good idea. His smirk was definitely a poor attempt to mask his terror.

Today I had a real thrill, though. I raced this street sweeper over the Mass Ave bridge and WON! This was better than watching the Cutters beat the college boys in "Breaking Away"!

Tuesday, July 11

One thing I've learned over two years of bike commuting is that you cannot cower by the edge of the road when riding. You have to claim your rightful space on the road, even when cars honk or people yell at you to get off the road.

If you act like you're not supposed to be there, then drivers and pedestrians will also act like you're not supposed to be there.

I like to leave a good amount of space to my right (see photo).


Beautiful morning. Thunderstorms for the ride home.

Friday, July 7

Wednesday, July 5

Posting has been sporadic lately due to holidays and work reaching a mid-season crescendo. Anyway, wanted to supply these two excellent photos of a POP pop (Father POP, if you will) nearly leading his young ones into the the path of an MBTA bus and then crossing against the light.