spokesNspin

I went grocery shopping last night.  I spent about double what I normally spend!  Ouch! But at least grocery shopping provides an opportunity for education and entertainment.

For example, if you are having trouble deciding on which candidate would make the better president, just check out the magazines at the cash register.  They are about as relevant as what the candidates are saying.

I had no idea that Hillary was gay.  And not only does Barack attend a radical anti-American church, his playing around “explodes” his marriage. 

The best entertainment was when I wanted lunch meat from the deli.

Clerk: Can I help you?(I had been standing there for 5 minutes looking like a lonely puppy.)

Me: Yes. I would like about 8 ounces of that lunch meat please.

Clerk: I am sorry sir.  We only sell it by the quarter pound, half pound etc.

Me:( Now looking a little perplexed) I believe 8 ounces is half a pound.

Classic Car-1942 Packard for sale along my bike route. Yowza! Ain’t she a beaut!

Classic Blonde Bombshell.  Vava Voom & Yowza.

Anonymous 17 year old modeling the classic geezer look. Aaaaaack!

I am finally “back in the saddle again”.  That would be literally and figuratively.

On Saturday, I drove with my daughter Liz 80 miles out into the country so we could get some real road bike riding away from the congestion of the city.  We met with a bike club for a 60 mile ride in the Shenandoah Valley.  

Here is a direct quote from the bike club web site.  ”The terrain is fairly mild, tandem friendly (but not “flat” or boring).”  Let me just say here that granny gears and screaming legs do not fit the description.  But the ride was still enjoyable in a masochistic sort of way.

It has been a few years since I have been on some decent roads for riding with a group who would challenge me.  I was also interested in seeing how Liz would do since I hadn’t ridden with her on a challenging group ride in a couple of years. 

She is certainly a stronger rider than she was two years ago.

I, on the other hand, am not. At one point, a faster group of cyclists passed us in a pace line.  Is there anything more elegant than pace line?  The sad thing was, two years and twenty pounds ago I could have hung with the big dogs.  Not so on Saturday. 

I did accomplish one of my life time bike goals on Saturday.  It has been my goal to some day cycle coast to coast across the United States.  I accomplished that on Saturday.

And it was probably a record time.

My blog is taking a break for few days.   You may have already noticed that.

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but being a servant at the public trough does sometimes require putting in extra time on weekends and after normal business hours.

That is where I am now. 

The trail was crowded last night when I left for home. I use a warning bell to let walkers and other cyclists know that I am behind them. Most people are appreciative of the use of a cheery bell as a warning device. I have found it much more effective than calling out “on your left” as you pass. My opinion on that useless term will be reserved for a later post.

Last night I was behind a woman who was not giving any warning to pedestrians so, I used my bell. She didn’t like it and told me so in a rather unpleasant manner. I explained that I wasn’t trying to get her out of the way. I was warning the walkers that we were coming up behind them.

She said something else nasty to me. I told her that giving a warning to walkers was the considerate thing to do. She told me she would say something to them if it was needed. I told her that using a bell was better.  People can not distinguish between a cyclist calling out and all the other traffic and crowd noise.

She got very nasty and yelled very loudly. I should have just followed her and kept dinging my bell.

I assume she had a bad day.  Her broom was probably in the shop and riding a bicycle is not how she likes to get around.