Rod Dreher is wringng his hands over the lack of “real men” in many Christian denominations (and pointing out how the Orthodox don’t have these problems). And I’m not sure why. Dreher quotes an article that appears in the Washington Post about this trend in Protestant denominations: “Every Muslim man knows that he is locked […]

Posted on August 3rd, 2007 by admin
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25 miles. Originally, I wanted to venture up a few Dirty Dozen hills, but after climbing Center in Aspinwall, my desire to suffer that much fizzled. I promptly changed plans, and headed out Dorseyville with a plan to ride out Saxonburg to the Red Belt and come home via Freeport Road. North of the turnpike, […]

Posted on July 22nd, 2007 by admin
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Yin and Yang, originally uploaded by anklebiter_pgh. The current stable. The Steamroller has been updated with Albatross bars. The Vigorelli has quite an eclectic mix of parts: Steel frame Carbon fork Carbon cranks (!!!!) Downtube friction shifters Touring wheels Having ridden mostly “heavy” bikes for the past few years, I must admit the Vigorelli is […]

Posted on July 12th, 2007 by admin
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By 8:15 am, there were roughly 30 people gathered outside of Tazza d’Oro (which was CLOSED, meaning more than a few folks went without their morning hit of caffeine), waiting for the ride to start. I had, after driving the course the previous weekend, cut the mileage to just a smidge under 50, partially in […]

Posted on July 5th, 2007 by admin
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Bill Kauffman returns with his essay “Bye, Bye Miss American Empire,” in the latest issue of Orion Magazine. As he has done in the past, Kauffman makes a rather human plea for secession, arguing that the United States has grown too large for its own good, and we have suffered because of it. A few […]

Posted on June 29th, 2007 by admin
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I’ve come to learn that when the weather forecast calls for a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms, that really means there’s a 100% chance that I will rode home in the rain. As I pulled out of the loading dock at the office, I looked over my shoulder, to the west, and noticed the dark […]

Posted on June 28th, 2007 by admin
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Reason‘s Ronald Bailey examines the push for more bio-fuels and decides perhaps it’s not such a great idea. On the surface, using corn as a fuel product seems to be a good idea, but Bailey does a fine dissecting why this is not, in fact, the case. As you might expect, a libertarian like Bailey […]

Posted on June 23rd, 2007 by admin
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Here we go again. I couldn’t resist organizing another ride for BikeFest. The route is here, though it will subject to a change or two after the recce. It is a combination of several rides from Oscar Swan’s book (specifically Wildwood and SR228). It’s about half as hilly as the Iron City Populaire, with the […]

Posted on June 20th, 2007 by admin
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Fine weather around the ‘burgh this weekend. Saturday, after tackling the task of trimming the too-large hedgerow next to our house, I spun out on the Surly in search of dirt roads north of the city. The goal was to recce Old Mill Road between Fox Chapel Road and Route 910. Being who I am, […]

Posted on June 10th, 2007 by admin
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Last night was our first CSA pick-up at Mildreds’ Daughters’ Farm. We upped our subscription to a full share this year, and even this early in the season, we filled a box with produce. The haul included: Several heads of lettuce, and several bags of salad greens Asparagus Sugar snap peas Chard Cilantro Scallions and […]

Posted on June 8th, 2007 by admin
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