September 30th - New Pumpkin Ale

I love Pumpkin Ale. I actually just went and grabbed one out of the refrigerator. Boy it tastes good, almost like drinking the finest of pumpkin pies, but it quenches your thirst too. Amazing stuff. This particular brand is Smuttynose Brewing Company, and it is brewed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I only bought 1-six pack today, but it is so good I may just have to buy a whole case.

Today was my first true day off in a long time. I am starting to mop-up some loose ends that have been piling up over the past few days (daze) and weeks. One item was getting orders packed and shipped to customers (my wife and I have a side business, we buy and sell used books, the family started this business back in the late 1960's). I had 8 orders today, and one was shipped in a huge 16 inch by 12 inch by 12 inch box, this size is a little too large to strap on my bike rack, so I hitched up the Burley trailer. With the trailer loaded, I was off to the Post Office on my e-bike. When I arrived at the Post Office, one of the Clerk's was on a break and saw me roll up all encumbered with parcels and she said she was amazed one could do what I was doing. Actually, it isn't all that hard to do.

After finishing business at the Post Office, a rather tired looking new Mom with a double stroller packed with a set of twins and a 3 year old pulling at her shirt tail approached me and asked how safe the trailer was in traffic. [I started wondering, was this person about to do herself and her family in, or was this person looking for alternative transportation and a little excercise, fortunately I found out it was the exercise she was looking for.] I spent a good 20 minutes explaining how safe the Burley product was, how to find low traffic routes, to walk in cross walks and on sidewalks if traffic is too dangerous, and the benefits my family has had using a bike and trailer for more than recreation. The mom then looked at her husband after I explained a 3 year old and a couple days worth of groceries can fit into the trailer at the same time - I guess this guy now knows what is coming.

I left the Post Office and went to the local grocery store. This store is awesome, they have the largest selection of micro-brewed and imported beers, ales, ports, etc. A full 25 feet of refrigerator wall space is dedicated to their beer display, and no two of the same beers are next to each other on any shelf - this is not a Budweiser-only store. Wyck beer, pumpkin ale, Jamakin, Austrian, Norwiegn, beers with corks, bottles wrapped in paper, ....... just an awesome selection [and just 29 minutes from mid-town Manhattan]. Here is where I bought my six-pack of Pumpkin Ale (which I still continue to sip).

Well on the way home, I passed by a neighbor who had also just made a beer run, but in her mini van. Well she thought I had a child in the trailer, and was floored in wild hysteria to find out all I had was a 6-pack and bag of pretzles. She too hadn't realized that there is more than just children that can fit into a bicycle trailer.

I am almost finished with my Pumpkin Ale, boy it tastes darn good. Tomorrow, Friday, is likely the last day I will be riding my e-bike for a few days. I know I have one errand to run mid-day, round trip will be 14 miles. I really need to overhaul the bike. All the bearings need to be regreased. The cables are so stretched that no simple adjustment keeps set for any period of time. My derailuers need to be scrubbed clean of road grime, and it's about time I true my rear wheel. I also need to work up a solution for better mounting my flashers for riding in the dark.

Lots to do before returning to work next Thursday.

September 28 - Last day (in rotation).

What an interesting 6 weeks. I have returned from a nice vacation in San Francisco, my friend lost her house in Gulfport, locally gasoline has spiked to $3.65 per gallon, my monthly mortgage has increase by $500 per month to cover increases in taxes, my natural gas bill went up $100 per month, and I think I may have driven my car only a handfull of times. At work there were well over 200 incidents I was involved with that required regulatory compliance (acidents, spills, close-calls, employee issues, etc.). My time was sure filled with interesting events.

As for today, I drove. Seeing that I will be away from the office for more than a week, I needed to bring home a load of work clothes and reference materials I will need while I am not there. The load was too big for the bike trailer.

I still haven't count my bike commute days, this will wait until I get back to work (my spreadsheet) to figure it all out. I feel like I rode 40+ days. In the end I rode more than the begining. Gasoline prices did make a difference for me. Why should I pay high prices for gasoline when I really don't need it?

During my week off, I will do local commuting on my e-bike (groceries, beer, post office, bank, etc.). I also plan to get a load of fire wood and top soil so the truck will be used a little too. Of course there are ball games, play dates, etc. and the mini-van will get a good work out too. I hope to sell the truck, that will happen hopefully sooner rather than later.

I am also looking forward to breaking down my e-bike and doing an overhaul to get things tighter and smoother. I will need new cables, brake pads, grease, and elbow grease and I am sure the ride will be smooth and set for the fall and early winter.

A note on winter. I am thinking of taking the motor off the bike to keep the grime induced deterioration to a minimum.

Regardless, I will be peddling often during the next 7 days. The additions to the blog may be less timely, but keep the faith, I am out here peddling away.

September 27 - One more day to go.

Tomorrow, I finish my 6 week rotation. I rode more this time around than on any other rotation since June. I will now count the days to see if I met the goal I set in June, I feel I must be close to it.

The ride in today started about 6 AM. I encountered several motorist who didn't want to stop at STOP signs on small feeder streets, and only did so after I made my presense known with lights, bell, and shouts (don't shout too much, it doesn't pay to piss-off an idiot who is in semi-control of several thousands of pounds of steel - need I say more). I am thinking front-mounted clear/white flasher are in order to be more "Front" visible.

At lunch today with my Manager and Vice President, my manager started a conversation by asking me if I rode my "motor bike" to work today. Well now everyone (like my VP) knows I ride a hybrid ped-electric bike [REMINDER: I work for a (very) large electric utility], I set a goal and I am close to making it, I don't buy much gasoline, I support "green building" initiatives, and that "yes" I am a professional and yes the environment is something I know is important to protect, preserve, and repair if business is to succeed and if we want to continue living in the world as we know it, and finally, I have studied the environment, and I am an environmental scientist.

Oooh. It will be nice to off for a few days to catch up on my sanity (and ride a bit more).

Also, I am thinking of working on my old road bike and getting it back on the road for winter. What do you think?

Google News Alert: Bicycle - A really cool feature

If you haven't discovered by now, Google news has a great feature called New Alerts. This feature allows users, like me, to have a digest of articles - with links to full text news articles - emailed to me daily on subjects I choose. Here's the hyperlink to the feature: http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en.

I have chosen the topic "bicycle". Now daily, Google emails me a list of news articles with bicycle in the subject of the article. Every day, I open the email and click the hyperlink, and I have bicycle news [Note: so far the majority of the news is about fatalities and felonies where the perpetrators escape on bicycle, but there is some socio-political news too].

I advocate everyone try the Google news "Alert" feature, it is fun.

September 26th - Monday.....

I was due into work at 7:00 AM, not the usual 6:00 AM. So today I left the house at 6, not my usual 4:45 AM. The hour and fifteen minutes makes a world of difference in the amount of lunatics on the road. I would much rather rider earlier than wait for the rush hour to pick up.

On the reverse, I was riding home in school traffic. The Mom's in mini vans and SUVs are drivers of concern to cyclists. They made being visible and cautious a priority on my ride home. On a funny note, a New York State Trooper driving through town passed me and turned right, just yard in front of me. Perhaps "they" should add bicyclist awareness to the driver's education ciriculum at Trooper School. Had he hit me, there would be an interesting law suit, and some really great bad press. Yet, that is not the type of attention I want.

It is late (Parent's open house at the kid's school tonight), and I have a 4:30 AM wake up it I want to work 6 AM to 2 PM tomorrow. Good night.

September 25 - Bagel run!

Sunday, September 25th. Tradition continues, it is bagel day here at home. It felt good hopping on the bike and motoring to the bagel store, and then on to the grocery store for milk, eggs, and cold cuts. I spent most of Saturday chauffeuring the kids to ball games, play dates, and all sorts of places - the mini van got a good work out too.