Guilt

When I was in kindergarten we still exchanged Christmas gifts among students at school. Public school. You drew a name, and as long as it wasn't your own, you bought that classmate a gift up to an agreed upon amount. That year the gift exchange was a roaring success. I made out like a bandit - getting the Matchbox car of my dreams. A Ferrari.

There was, however, one classmate who was not so fortunate. A waif of a girl named Tammy was sick at home and wasn't there to receive her gift. Even worse, the teacher asked a certain young man to courier the present to Tammy's house on his way home from school. Me.

As I trudged through the snow with my friend Tim, it occurred to us that we didn't really need to deliver the gift. After all, who would know? (Remember this is kindergarten, not graduate school.) So we ditched the festively wrapped present in a snow bank and commenced a running snowball fight the remaining few blocks to home.

Fast forward one week. My mother calls me from my room to the kitchen.

"I just talked with your teacher. Weren't you supposed to have delivered a Christmas present to a certain someone last week?"

"Uh ..."

"Think real hard before you answer that question, young man."

"Uh ..."

"Let me show something."

She led me by the hand down the hallway to the coat closet. From behind the knit caps and scarves on the top shelf she produced an unopened box of 64 Crayola crayons. The box with the built-in sharpener! I had been coveting this cache of color for the past year, almost drooling every time I saw them on the shelf at the local dime store.

"This was going to be a present for you," she announced. "Instead, you'll be wrapping it up and taking it to Tammy."

My heart sank and my limbs became remarkably heavy, as if gravity had increased tenfold - just the way my Our Solar System picture book had described conditions on the planet Jupiter. It was my first encounter with the weight of guilt. I cried. It was a hard lesson. I'm sure it was tough on Mom, too.

I've felt guilt a time or two (perhaps more) since then. It comes on my whenever I do the thing I know I shouldn't - or don't do the thing I know I should.

Felt that old pang again today. I racked the bike to the front of the 77X and rode the bus home, and all the way to the park and ride my heart kept saying "you should be pedaling."

Amazing how far tough love and a box of 64 crayons can reach.

(Footnote: For you fact checkers - the Our Solar System picture book was wrong. The gravity on Jupiter is estimated to be about 2.5 times that of the earth. However, since Jupiter doesn't have a solid surface, you wouldn't have anything to stand on to experience this gravitational difference. Meaning you also couldn't pedal a bike on Jupiter.)

Trail completed

Up early this morning. I really like that part of the day. Everything's still waking up. Sat on the front porch, sipping some java and reading James Lee Burke's Rain Gods. Classic Jimmy Lee.

Church. Lunch. Time to do a little riding. Explored some of the surrounding neighborhoods and then figured I'd check to see if they'd finished paving the McDowell Creek Greenway.

Hate to to admit this, but I was surprised to find that they had indeed paved the remaining quarter mile stretch past the pond and over the spillway bridge behind the neighborhood. This means that the entire 1.5 mile greenway from Sam Furr Road to Westmoreland is now complete. I guess for some reason I figured that because it was a county government project and all ... well, you get the picture.



After a spin on the greenway it was time to head to the grocery store for tonight's grillin' bits. I think they're getting used to seeing the "bicycle guy" at the Harris Teeter on Saturday and Sunday. The lady at the self check-out is asking me how the riding has been going. I tell her it's going great and that it burns calories so I can drink the beer that I'm packing into my grocery pannier. She smiles and checks my I.D.. I tell her it also keeps me looking young so that she'll have to keep checking my age.

She smiles, and I can almost read her thoughts. "Sure it does honey, you keep believing that."

Lazy Saturday

It's hot and humid. Overcast, cloudy, raining. All within an an hour's time. The air conditioner is running constantly and Gracie, the 15 1/2 year-old brittany, is sound asleep on the cool tile of the bathroom floor. Her nose twitches and her paws begin to dance as she dreams of a long-ago quail hunt near Andover, KS. Gracie's 12 years younger, I've dropped two birds in the brush, and she's working a blind retrieve.

Lazy Saturday.

Not much riding today. Did run to REI to pick up a pair of Keen Commuter Bike Sandals. These have been bouncing around in my head all week. Resisted temptation last weekend, but gave in today. Got 'em home and found the extra pair of SH-51 SPD cleats I'd stashed in my "bike junk" drawer. Easy install.

Rode around the neighborhood on the 7.3 FX to test out the feel of the sandals. Like 'em. Comfy, cool, and kewl. Easy on the foot and easy off, but a word of warning - at least with the SH-51 SPDs - it ain't the same popping out of the pedals. Because these sandals are a little more flexible than a traditional bike or MTB shoe, you gotta twist a little more before the cleats pop out of the pedals. Lean up against something and practice clipping in and out before you go for a ride and find yourself falling over at a stop because you can't unclip.

Off the bike, the Keens are a comfortable walk-around, with the cleats recessed sufficiently that you don't sound like you're wearing tap shoes. I'll probably wear these for most of my warm weather weekend errand and recreational rides - using the MTB shoes for colder weather and office commutes.

Well, guess I need to find a cool patch of bathroom tile for my afternoon nap.

Air you can wear

Easy pace this morning on the bike commute into work. About an hour and 20 minutes. Roughly 7 minutes slower than average.

Chalk it up to the drag coefficient of the thick Carolina air, or as we call it around here: "air you can wear."

Unlike the past couple of summers, we've had a good share of rain and humidity. Add the August heat and you've got a thick, soupy atmosphere that clings to you like an amorous frog. Not so bad that it causes condensation on your glasses, but it definitely impairs evaporative cooling on a ride.

All-in-all, still a nice morning for a ride into work. Really liking my Novara Transfer panniers from REI. Good size for the commute - carries my computer, papers, big hairy u-lock, clothing (underwear, t-shirt, socks and tie for work, change of cycling clothes for commute home), and miscellaneous trinkets. I keep a dark suit, two shirts, black shoes and a shave kit at the office.

Also liking my Novara 'Round Town Bike Panniers for weekend grocery and farmers market runs. Holding up well, and carry just enough stuff for the Saturday night grilling session. That includes a six pack of malted beverage.

Greenway!

Was talking with my neighbors upon returning home from the farmers market this morning. Still on my bike, so they asked me where I'd been. When I told them, they asked if I'd used the new greenway as a cut-through to Westmoreland Road instead of traveling the more trafficked Catawba Ave.

Did you say "Greenway?!"

Went inside, made my salsa with fresh goods from the market and figured I'd check out this "greenway" in the afternoon when I made a quick bike run to the store to get chips.

Let me say that I did know that they were re-working the path and bridge that goes around the pond back behind our neighborhood. And I had noticed the entrance to a nicely paved path coming out a wooded area near the Birkdale Village Shopping center and onto Sam Furr Road. But I hadn't be 2+2 together.

Now I have. It's the Upper McDowell Creek Greenway. It's only 1.5 miles long and it's not yet fully completed. But I'm loving what's been done and what's left to be completed. Even bitter, it's connected to my neighborhood and is easy to access. Zoomed it on the way to the store. Took a few pictures.

Not a long trail, but a relief from dodging traffic and something I'll add to a nice evening or morning ride.

Also took the time to go to the Mecklenburg County Greenway site to see what else is out there that I may have missed. Turns out there are a lot of planned trails, but very few developed. However, once this is fully developed it will be much easier and safer to get around these parts on foot and on bike.

Slowing it down at the Davidson farmers market

Nice little ride this morning to the farmers market in nearby Davidson, NC. Quaint college town about 5.5 miles from my front door. Grab some java from Summit Coffee, listen to some bluegrass music, and forage for Saturday night dinner fixings. Fresh sweet corn, red potatoes, and the makings for salsa cruda - tomato, onion, jalapenos, tomatillos, cilantro.




Also met up with my buddy, Dan Rosenbaum, for breakfast at one of my favorite eateries, Toast, before saddling up and rolling home.

I really appreciate these kind of mornings. Slowing it down and enjoying life. The world seems a little bigger, perhaps a little less complicated. Pedal, eat, relax, watch, listen, pedal some more. Ahhhhhhhh ......

Time to make some salsa and thaw some venison for the grill tonight.

Older

Another year. A pretty good one, but still I'm getting ... Older.

Finding that they keep going by faster with each spin around the sun. Never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do ... wait a minute ... that's an old Jim Croce song! Well, you get my drift.

I did, however, follow my yearnings today at lunch.




Don't know how long it's been since I slammed down a McD's double cheeseburger and small fries. Tasted great. 670 artery-clogging calories for just $2.35.

The world slowed down for 15 minutes of gastronomic guilty pleasure. Felt like a kid again. May have to make this a new birthday week tradition.

Stop and smell the people

Thanks to Melanie B. (a Facebook friend) who posted the link to a blog called "Stop and Smell The People." Local broadcast journalist Mike Redding blogging like Charles K. Some nicely done stuff here.

http://stopandsmellthepeople.com/

Makes me want to slow down and enjoy my life and the people in it.

When work weeks attack

Past two days have been so packed that I've been commuting on the bus to a) get to the office earlier than I can make it via bicycle, or b) so I can sleep in from working late and still get to the office at a decent time to get some work done before the onslaught of meetings begin.

When work weeks attack. Like a big dog just took a bite out of my front tire.

Back in the saddle

Almost a year. Bad boy!

Not that I haven't been cycling. Just haven't been commuting to work on two wheels.

When we last left off, I was digesting the bike-friendliness of the platforms of the top candidates for president. Well, we know how that turned out. No need to go any further.

Recently picked up a new commuter rig for the ride to work. A Trek 7.3FX. Outfitted with a rear rack and panniers to carry my stuff. Get's the computer and work gear off my back. Still gotta figure out how to lighten the load.

Since last writing, I've changed jobs - same company, but different building. They don't allow bikes in the building, but they do have a bike rack in the parking garage - under cover and near the attendant's booth. Have secured the 7.3 with a Kryptonite U-Lock and an attached cable running through the vitals. Have a second cable lock on the thing for window dressing.

So this morning ...

17.3 miles in 1 hour 13 minutes. Don't feel like I pushed it too hard. Just right.

Am also making it my new habit to do my weekend grocery store runs on the bike. Do the big grocery run in middle of the week in the car and pick up fresh food for grilling on the weekends with the bike. The grocery bag panniers I picked up from REI are plenty big for the task - large enough to pick up a six pack of something tasty to enjoy while preparing the meal.

That's all for today. Feels good to be back in the saddle.