On riding solo

God, I love this space heater. It's a Quartzar, and it cranks. The neat part is I think it has an actual tube of quartz or glass which glows red hot. The thing is like sitting next to the fire. Amazingly, it doesn't make the lights go dim, so maybe it's more efficient.

I passed out in my chair for maybe an hour with the thing going full blast. My brain was no match for the calming effect of today's ride, and the final blow was the tryptophan produced by a turkey sandwich.

I have been doing some volunteer work teaching young immigrant men the art of bike repair and building. The past couple days have been fun, and they ask me good questions sometimes, some of which I don't know the answer to. They are hacking away on a shoestring budget, which is always the case here. But slowly they are making headway.

It's incredibly dirty work. Storage dust is incredibly nasty stuff, and it gets in your nose and lungs. It seems to be impossible to get out of your hands also with repeated washings. Ideally, gloves and a dust mask are really what you need, but that of course would be silly. We were singing "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley to the CD Player.

Doing this work allowed my legs to recover a little more, and I also got four of my bikes running better, which is pretty cool.

There is something about solo riding that to me is essential to being a cyclist. You leave the house when you want, eat what you want, stop when you want, and let your thoughts wander as you watch the pavement whizz by under your wheels.

You can think what you want.

Sherms' post about the road conditions is accurate. I do believe yes, the roads are in worse shape. I did see many potholes, cracks, etc. I wonder if they will pick up the garbage strewn along route 10.

As a car passed me with a bumper sticker that said: "How many lives per gallon"? , I thought about making an artsy- fartsy political statement. If you have been following this blog you may have read posts about the "Bud Light guy" , who heaves Bud light cans out his car window all over the routes I have posted. (It's not me, I swear).

I figure all these cans can be put to good use to make a bizarre form of American road-art. I have also noticed Keystone-Light cans now, but consider those a cheap Knock-off. But they look similar.

If you find a can, stop, pick it up, and crush it flat in the bottom of a pothole. Instead of hauling it all the way to the redemption center, this valuable piece of aluminum will now add some color to an otherwise dark menacing space, so fellow cyclists may see it better. They will remember where the holes are, you see, because of this curious phenomenon.

The highway guys will be like: "...???..." and surely it will get on channel 3 news, who loves to highlight anything weird.

"I'm Rachel Lutzger, alarmed motorists are noticing a very strange phenomenon now in Avon, Simsbury, and now this is moving toward West Hartford. WHY are beer cans beind stuffed into potholes????"

Weird looking but conservative motorist guy being interviewed:

"I suspect It's a new "green" road repair thing, as well as being a subtle and somewhat twisted M.A.D.D. anti DUI political statement".

Lady:
"Its those jerks from Plainville. They go down to Fisher Meadows and smoke pot!!!"

I don't think it's vandalism, because technically, the can was already there in the first place, and by CT law, is now property of the town. In West Hartford, if you remove it, you could be fined.

I do have to research though, if you are crushing a beer can it then becomes "defacing public property"

So if you are eating your lunch at roadside, make strange sculptures with sticks and all the wine bottles, similar to the Tibetan rock piles you see in the rivers made by kayakers to appease the river-gods. Us cyclists are saying a prayer to allow for safe passage through the Portal.

I noticed route 10 had huge wine bottles. Good wine too! I mean, this wasn't Gallo jugs...Jeez.

Yeah, so everybody is "green" now. I saw a billboard today for a "green" Real Estate company.

"Yes, we only sell energy efficient, off grid housing to unemployed people". I'm sure we can get anyone approved for a loan!!!" Call Steve at 860-555-5555.

I kinda doubt that. Being "green" means just attaching that label in front of your logo or company name to get your phone to ring.

The cans also don't weigh anything, much easier than lugging a 50 lb. bag of asphalt on your bike rack. They are also usually three feet from the pothole...

On to other subjects...

Today's near-death experiences:

Riding slowly through condo complex ,woman on right walking pug with a retractable leash. She is pretty attractive, funky fake red hair, and talking on her cell phone. She doesn't hear the three sharp warning blasts of my whistle from 100 feet away, the pug doesn't even turn his head.

Stupidly, Rob figures, "Ok, the dog is either a mellow dog or he's old..."

Dog suddenly freaks out and darts across my path, dumb-ass lady doesn't hit the brake on the leash. There is now a 15 foot trip- wire in the road.

I have plenty of time to brake, ten feet back. I am ready for this, but should have warned them again. My hands were on the levers. Dog looks back at me like he's checking to see if I have hit his trip wire, growls, barks.

Lady: "oh don't blow your whistle at him"
Rob: "well don't talk on your cell phone"
Lady: (no answer)

I should have said "Ma'am, I whistled three times to warn you back there . Since you were on the phone, you obviously didn't hear me. You may want to consider not doing that next time, and please use the brake feature on your leash. If I come through here and your dog bites me, I will mace him and call the police. Maybe even Carter Mario. Have a great day!!!"

But sometimes it's just too much effort, and you can only blurt out a quick one when your adrenaline is pumping a little. A quick exit makes you feel better as well.

Some riders have asked me about taking the bike path on route 10 to avoid the traffic. My answer to that is this:

Go ahead and split off from the group and do that if you want. But if you want to get to Avon without it taking an additional 2 hours stay on route 10. You have a choice of dealing with the Bud Light guy on Route 10 or the pug-mom on the bike path.

I elect for the Bud Light guy. I think he only comes out at night.

If you see a gigantic flotilla of SUV's in your mirror, stop for a minute and let them all pass. Look for some cans for a sculpture to stave off the monotony. Do not, however, let them see you actually holding the Bud Light can.

Then continue.

Later on, I forgot to blow my stupid geekenheim whistle at a squirrel eating a nut by the roadside on the right. So he took the cue from the Pug and darted across my front wheel.

Why they choose the most dangerous escape route is beyond me. These things are always good for an "endo" if they get caught in your front wheel. (see pic in margin at right).

I saw a cool quarry where they once mined brownstone for buildings.

Apparently brownstone has lots of dinosaur footprints. I would not recommend searching for them here, you'll see what I mean.

I found a cool house foundation, a chimney, at the top of the ridge above Mountain Rd. It's in Penwood State Park, so it's fair game sometime for a hike up there. I bet the view is awesome.

Tariffville is a middle class community of small prefabbed post WWII homes , but the backstreets have a certain funk to them. I asked a nice countrified looking lady for directions, her kids were happily building a huge smoky bonfire in the fire pit in the backyard. One kid happily waved a huge flaming tree branch. Of course this was 20 feet from the wooden house.

Do that in West Hartford and 5 cop cars and three fire trucks will show up in ten seconds.

I went to a garage sale, saw nothing cool, (bikes) but got some free car wax (for bikes!!!) , some free zip-ties (ditto) and some free Lexel Super-Elastic Sealant. It says "Sticks to just about anything!!!" I dug that. Glue that actually sticks to stuff is cool with me. I'll try it!!!

Sooper-Dooper glue.

The guy did have an electric windshield scraper (car lighter plug in) . Probably made by Ronco.
I thought this was amusing, but so totally not green...

The rest of the ride was ok but it was COLD. It just wasn't fair seeing green grass, sunlight, and feeling the cold air.

At the dreaded Albany Ave crossing, where N. Steele becomes Steele, an old lady slammed her Honda civic into the back of a trailer, ten seconds after I passed through. Amazingly, the back of the trailer hit her grille, and not her windshield. The air bag went off , she was fine, broken ankle, maybe.

I directed traffic for a few minutes till the cops came. I must have looked dorky as hell in spandex, but I had neon green on, and flashy lights. I figured I could freak everybody out enough to make them slow down till the cops came.

Virtually all the onlookers were smoking cigarettes.

I was amazed at how West Hartford motorists impatiently stomped on the gas at the light to pass the steaming, smoking wreck. One guy honked at the fire truck. I had to motion for them to slow the hell down with a menacing glare. I should have bummed a cigarette and a Bud Light for effect.

The cops took forever to get there. The fire truck and ambulance even beat them. I think they get Sundays off.

It's not a bad idea if you ever get in an accident to get your car, uh, off the road, so you don't cause a secondary collision.

All in all, a decent spin, and some time to process some stuff while thinking about all the wierd things that happen on the road as well.

Peace out
Prayers to those in combat