Saturday, June 30, 2012

Wembley Stadium near London 1975. Didn't land it.  No surprise really since his bike has no rear suspension and his fork is like seven maybe.

Friday, June 29, 2012




Thursday, June 28, 2012


Thursday, June 21, 2012


Friday, June 15, 2012


Next weekend.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

This weekend is the annual traditional archery shoot at the Rapids Archery Club and my gang is going on Father's Day as we usually do - a walk through the woods and dunes with stops to test our skill on challengingly-placed, three-dimensional targets.  It's  a traditional archery shoot so "old fashioned" longbows and recurves only, no sights, no stabilizers, no compound bows, and no bawdy redneck douches. This is the soul crowd, the low-key nature-lovers, the lone hunters, those who enjoy the connection to history and understand the difficulty of getting close enough to an animal to get off an instinctive - draw and shoot in one motion - shot.  I don't hunt but I understand the differences between pulling a longbow and pulling a trigger.

I'll shoot archery my whole life for the same reason I'll ride a snowboard forever.  After a period of focus and practice years ago - even though I've only strung it up a couple times since we hiked the courses last year,  by the third round into the garage hay bale tonight I was eighty percent as good as I've ever been.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I have continued to be happy gathering LPs from the internet, one by one, in mint condition only.  It is super-bling in your hands when you open that package.  I recently discovered a set of albums from the same seller and noticed he was in Minneapolis.  Then noticed it was Roadrunner (LandSpeedRecords on eBay) near my house where I had gone a few times before.  Drove there directly and talked to the man about where he got them and could I buy the currently-auctioned items (ok, I'll bid on them then) and bought many pieces - in mint condition - spent hundreds, less than 10 each, some less than 5.   He had purchased an estate sale load and seemed to be concerned that he would be able to sell the mint condition 80s metal vinyl - 50 or so albums.  He was auctioning the best ones according to internet research he told me, but there were still plenty in the rack, near-perfect condition with all inserts.  I just won 6 for a hundred bucks, and I regret not winning several others.  When they're mint - you've got to strike while the iron is hot. They look and feel so good.

Thursday, June 7, 2012


Heft on Wheels

I'm ninety pages into this and loving it, I like Mike's writing and perspective and I can totally relate to his (former  - by the end I'm guessing) lifestyle.  His self-awareness, bi-polar practices, and down-to-earth persona ring absolutely true with me. Some of his anecdotes are so close it's scary.  OK, most of his anecdotes are so close it's scary.  Highly recommended for overweight cycling-loving alcoholics.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Harriet Brewing is cool



Actually rode the bike tonight, the flow of streets and cars, head and tail lights through Riverside and the university bringing back memories of commuting days, god I felt weak, but still pounded those around me of course... My canti's are squealing.

Finally got to Harriet (was tipped off by the band playing my kid's school's outdoor carnival on Friday.) - and had a great time with bands, beer and talking to the brew-master Jason.  Everything is Belgian-oriented which isn't really my preference but still pretty cool.  IPA was good, Double-bock was good, Pilsner not so much.  MILFs? yes please.

Saturday, June 2, 2012


Friday, June 1, 2012