Outsmarted by a 5 year old

Mark has started sleeping in his bed again. Apparently, sleeping in his tent the last nine months was just a cog in his master plan.

On Sunday, I realized that Enzo's mattress was finally past the point of being useful. Instead of spending 50 bucks for a new mattress (it survived Mark for a few years too) we decided to move Mark's bed into Enzo's room. (He wasn't using it, after all) Low and behold, Mark announces that he is going to start sharing the bed with Enzo and that it was his goal all along. 9 months sleeping in a tent so we would move his bed to his brothers room. 12 months ago, we were prepping to move, and Mark couldn't stand his brother and him sharing a room. Now....

I can't really complain though, they are playing together more and its like they are bonding better than they had been. Might be worth it after all.

Pushing myself

I decided to go ahead and test push myself last weekend and made the bike ride down to Tipp City. This worked out to about 38 miles, which made the longest day of riding I have ever done. (yeah, that map says about 37, lets ignore the wrong turn down a cul-de-sac and stopping for food and I had to go fix something at the mall, and I moved the start point to a parking lot for the bike path, though I did ride that section, instead of it starting at my house. No nitpicking, ok?)

I had hoped to have the panniers I ordered in but nope, no such luck. Nashbar is slow to ship it seems. I'll probably send them a grouchy email next week, just because. I decided to go on the ride anyways, even though I forgot to clean my water bottles, instead taking two bottles of Ice Mountain, one held to my rear rack with bungee cords, and the other in one of the bottle cages on the bike. (The other one won't hole bottles of water) Of course, dealing with the cap meant having to stop every time I wanted a drink, but it could have been worse.

Around Troy, I found out that the event ride for Troy was scheduled that day, it was a free ride though, so I did manage to get some water at a rest stop in Tipp City. Missed the watermelon by about 2 minutes though.  I hit the bike shop and looked at all the nice bike I can't afford, got a small rear rack bag, and got it set up. I was able to put my bike lock in it, which was great not to have that thing hanging onto my bike at random places as I ride around, and it better not interferer with the panniers.

I took streets home, rather than the bike path, and aside from a wrong turn onto the aforementioned cul-de-sac, and another where I forgot that going that way involved crossing State Route 55 where it happens to be a divided highway, it wasn't all that bad. I stopped at a Chinese Buffet in Troy, where I know I didn't get enough calories to balance what I used getting there, and headed back to Piqua.

I have to admit, my legs are angry with me today, but it isn't as bad as I expected. Before leaving for the ride, I really thought that hitting Tipp City would be just past what I was ready for, but having logged just under 40 miles in that trip, the little voice in the back of my head is screaming at me for not hitting 40, and demands that next weekend, I will go down the path again and hit Taylorsville Dam. I feel like I should be able to hit 50, and anything below 50 miles next weekend will be a failure. The only downside is that for riding there, I can not pre-map it for use with the GPS on my phone, Google doesn't have much of that area of bike path programed in, so it will be a true adventure.

I will probably sign up for the Tour de Donut this week, because deep down, I know I can't win it outright, but if I can handle the 50 I plan for this weekend, then the 30 mile route will be relatively easy. I finally feel like I am at a point where saying that I want to do GOBA next year is not a pipe dream, and maybe by even TOSRV will be a viable option.

Granted, for those, I think I might like a 'faster' bike, but I did survive doing the 30 mile ride of the Troy Strawberry Festival on a Mongoose Folding Mountain bike, and that was a heavy creature. I know my Schwinn can probably do it, but it might well be pushing that bike to its limits. Actually, I think I would rather have road handlebars, rather than the mountain handlebars I have on the Schwinn, but for some mysterious reason, the parts to convert the handlebars are too prohibitive. If I can come up with the money, I will probably go through Tipp Cyclery simply due to their selection and the prices seem rather reasonable. I might instead go to the one in Troy, they specialize in Trek, and have some nice ones. I don't think I will go with Schwinn, I am not sure I am a big enough fan to go into the even more high end of their line. ( Mine is a bike shop model, not a department store one, but it still isn't a uber high end one.)

I almost begin to wonder if I am having my midlife crises a few years too early.

Disillusioned with the local bike shop

I got my wife an old bike at  a garage sale over the weekend, a 15 speed Murray mountain bike built back in 95. Sure, it has the cheap type of construction on the frame, but it looked like the frame was in great shape. $15 seemed reasonable, of course, I had to buy new tubes and brakes, adjust the rear derailleur, and tighten the kick stand. I did a few test rides on it to make sure it all rides ok, and it is a smooth ride. Much smoother than I expected. Smooth enough that if I didn't have dangley  bits, I would be happy to ride that thing around town.

Next to my mtn bike, in the 'garage'

The only 'problem' I have with the bike is the rear brakes. They don't seem to have the grip that I like, but I can't figure out if I am just being paranoid, or if there is some issue I am overlooking in the 7 or 8 times I have tried to adjust them over the last few days.

I have a theory, in that the rear brake cable is coming from the bottom, instead of the top.

Right now, that is my only idea on why I can't get the brakes as tight as I want them.  My wife thinks they are fine, but I am not convinced she could stop on an incline using the rear brakes. Oh, the front brakes are nice, but the rear ones are driving me insane.

I decided to take it up to the local bike shop, and at least see if they could tell me if I was being paranoid, or if there was a glaring error that I just kept missing, like perhaps the damn wire is in wrong. The only thing they would tell me was that could do a full adjustment to the rear brake, for somewhere between $10 and $15 bucks depending on what it needs done, and it would be ready in a few days. I decided to take it home and keep fiddling with it. The problem with leaving it was two-fold. 1, I hadn't messed with it enough to get frustrated enough that I thought 15 bucks and a few days at the shop was worth it yet. 2, it seemed pretty likely that the only answer I would get in a few days was 'they needed adjusted' and that sure as hell wouldn't help me understand what I was missing. (Unless the cable came back reversed, and then I would be miffed that they couldn't just say, "hey, your cable is upside down" (it was like that when I got it, but then again, it didn't seem to have been ridden much)

Look, I understand that part of the function of the Bike Shop is to make money. This year, it has made its fair share from me. I had my mountain bike serviced this spring, when I got new tires, tubes, pedals, and had them double check the gear settings. It cost me nearly $100, mostly because of the gears, which were ok, but they charged me $40 to check that. (I really think they screwed me there, but I guess I should have been more specific when telling them what I wanted regarding that.) I  also picked up another set of pedals for my hybrid bike (not quite skinny tires, but not mountain bike tires either.) but this time I installed them myself.

I don't expect the bike shop to bend over backwards and move my problems ahead of the line. I really don't. But I do expect them to at least say 'yeah, the brakes don't seem right' or 'they seem ok, but we can double check them' without having to pay ten bucks and wait a few days. I am not asking to have a wheel trued. I just want a second opinion on if the brakes seem ok, because they seem weak to me.  (Being fair, my two bikes have a different brake system, and that alone might be why they seem odd to me.)

I might try this week to reverse the entry point of the brake cable, and see if that works better, otherwise...  I might just take it to an out of town bike shop. I'm still a little ticked at the local one.

ditched

My wife's department was wiped out a few weeks ago, and she has been looking for a new job. No luck so far, but it could be worse. I think. We went to Youngs Dairy Barn yesterday to meet up with her grandma with the kids, which is about an hour away. They picked it because there were other things to do there beside just talking. We get there a few minutes ahead of them, and are waiting when they call and ask us where we are, because they are in the restaurant and can't find us. See, they didn't want to meet us as the food place at Youngs Dairy Barn, they meant the Golden Jersey Inn (at Youngs Dairy) which was a decent walk (in the rain) where we ate, then walked back to the original building, had some ice cream, and then they left. We had no money to play any games, like the large minigolf course.  Even if we had the money, we'd have to have someone occupy Enzo. And the only option there 'had to get going' because they didn't have any spare time. They made us drive an hour to meet them to ditch us at a place that would be fun for the kids if we had money, knowing my wife was no longer working, and they ditched us. Well fuck. I could handle them bringing my wife and the kids souvenirs from their trip to FL, I didn't get anything, but I am used to that crap. Ditching us after making us drive an hour? That's crossing the line.

The day wasn't a total loss, I did get in an 18 mile bike ride, I rode to Troy, then around a subdivision to look at some statues that I saw during the Troy Strawberry Festival Bike Tour this year. (I was able to finish the map with the data from yesterday's ride, hard to recreate with subdivisions, as compared to country roads) There are some really wicked wood carvings on Skylark Drive that made the trip really worth it, especially since most of the ride was during the rain. Still worth it.

I did begin to dig out one of my old bikes, a Huffy. I am thinking of getting a touring bike for next year, something a bit nicer than my Schwinn. Now, I am poor. Not to mention cheap. I thought maybe I could rebuild the huffy into a new, bionic bike. Sadly, I think it only has 20" wheels. Sure, they are the skinny ass wheels, but the body suggested that the dry-rotted tires were mere 20's. Well crap. There goes the 'cheap way' (which actually would have included buying every part except the frame, handlebars, and the fork.) If I buy a new frame and build one from scratch, it will set me back almost 200 just for the frame and fork. Well crap. And new wheels.... holy shit in can, those are expensive!  I just checked two places online, and it would be more than my current bike for the damn wheels.   I just found the sort by price button, but the difference wasn't that much help. I could buy a new Schwinn, the road bikes for 2010 start at $700. Not much of an option, I guess. Perhaps an older model year would be better, but still far out of my range. Well crap. (My current bike is actually rather nice, its a 21 speed Schwinn Voyageur 2007 model. Sure, I have gotten it to over 25mph on flat roads, and crossed 32 on a hill, and I know I can beat both those, but there is a dark part of every rider that screams for speed. The part that smiles when a car can't easily pass you because you are already at the posted speed limit. (And its twice as nice when there isn't a hill involved, and the driver of the car is just confused. I passed a car that was in the middle of the road talking to someone once while I was near 25mph, and you they were shocked. At least, they were for that part of a second I could hear them.)

Still, I know I can go faster. Perhaps if I didn't weight over 230#...... But it does help on the down hill. Perhaps when I get the older bike down to a cost per mile of under 25 cents.... perhaps never. Maybe next year will be a good year. Maybe I will have the money. Maybe pigs will fly, and the hair on my head will just grow back. Yeah, good luck with that one, eh?  

Father's day, a day late

We decided to do Fathers day late this year to avoid the crowds. We went down to Half-Price books where I picked up Mystic: Rite of Passage (Mystic Traveler), The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2), Death Note, Vol. 2, Black Cat, Vol. 2 (Black Cat (Graphic Novels)) (v. 2), and Black Cat, Vol. 3 (Black Cat (Graphic Novels)) (v. 3). I'll probably have them read in a few days, and only Mystic wasn't on my list already.

After there we went to Dunaways in Troy. (They don't seen to have a webpage at the moment.) It was a bit much, but it was a bigger burger than I expected. It wasn't too busy, and they have highchairs. So nice of an Irish pub to have high chairs and a kid's menu.

We then hit Walmart, simply because we needed groceries. While there, a lady too my pic with her cell phone. I heard the click, and I could easily see my kilted backside on the screen of her phone. She disappeared after she realized I had caught her. I wouldn't have cared, but hey. And that is why i set my cameras to not beep.

Touchdown Jesus is dead

Last night, lightning struck Touchdown Jesus (aka Butterball Jesus, Butter Jesus, the adomination next to Traders World, Quicksand Jesus, et al)

It did not survive.

(image from Dayton Daily News)

Don't get me wrong, I had no love for that statue. I thought it was ugly. I did not think it was flammable.

As much as I hated the statue though, deep within me, I am almost torn. On one level, I recognize it was a religious icon, and have to give it some respect. It being destroyed deserves the same sadness as the destruction of The Buddhas of Bamyan. The other side of me, perhaps the part that thinks the remains of the statue looks like a Wicker man which inherently gets burned.

I find myself ultimately siding against the statue. Not because it was ugly, nor that I am not of that faith, but because it was flammable. Now, yes, churches are flammable when made of wood. This happened to be in front of Solid Rock Church. The statue was anything but. A quote from Dayton Daily News:

"Earlier this morning and late Monday night, motorists were stopped along the highway and along Union Road in Monroe to watch the 62-foot King of Kings statue burn. The fire was reported at 11:15 p.m. Monday, June 14. Within minutes, all that was left was the steel frame of the statue at Solid Rock Church, 904 N. Union Road."

Yes, it burned to a steel frame in minutes. Basically, every component beyond the steel frame was flammable. Wood, Styrofoam, Fiberglass and Resin. (Ok, apparently fiberglass itself isn't flammable, but the binder for it is. Or something like that. Either way, it can melt)

If this were the Jesus Statue in Rio, I would be slightly saddened to see it destroyed. But this statue? It appears like it was made to burn like religious flash paper. Here's an idea for you Solid Rock Church - use some damn solid rock next time you want to make statue.

On a side note, the Hustler Hollywood sign across the street was undamaged, to the surprise of some the Church's followers. Sure, it stretches far higher into the sky, and is even uphill from there, but it is made of metal. It probably gets hit a lot. And it probably has some major surge protectors built in, and works as a lightning rod. If it were made of Styrofoam, yeah, it probably would have burned down long ago.

registed for the ride

I decided to hit the used bookstore in Troy today, so I headed there after dropping Mark off at Preschool. It wasn't quite that I wanted to hit the bookstore itself, but rather I wanted to sign up for the Troy Strawberry Festival bike ride. I have about 3 weeks to finish getting ready for it, I'll be doing the 29 mile tour. Both years I did it my bike computers said it was really about 32 miles, but I think 29 is their target distance.

Anyways, the used bookstore in Troy has a unique property: it is part of a pseudo mall. There is an office building containing the Troy Chamber of Commerce, as well as Strawberry Festival office. On the main floor, there is a rear entrance for the book store, as well as a coffee house. On the other side of the bookstore from the coffee shop is a small deli type restaurant. While it doesn't have an entrance to the lobby, it has an ordering window. Handy, especially if it is raining.

I didn't really find anything I was really looking for there, but I did pick up a Jack Higgins book I was missing. I almost stuck some luck, I did find one of the Jon Winters books (Professor Gilbert Cross from Eastern Michigan University is the author, written back in the real early 80's) but it was the second of the series, I am only missing the 3rd of the series, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Beyond that the day was normal until I picked up my cousins daughter who we babysit most weekdays, and at the store getting some supplies she piped up how she has a dad now.

Her dad has been 'absent' since before she was born, though I internally wonder if it really was her dad wanting nothing to do with her, or being run off by her mom. At any rate, her dad is staying with her and her mom for a week or two, and yesterday she was finally told that the visitor was really her dad.

It is odd for me, I've babysat her for about 3 years, in which time I was effective the only make role model in her life. Now her dad is in the picture, and he may well be gone in a few weeks.  But it feels like I have lost part of my purpose, not that I actually officially had it. (De facto vs. de juri) It still makes me feel odd though.