A Rare Political Post

Yes, I don’t write about politics much these days. Part of it is increased apathy toward the political process (to which someone might respond “then do something about it!”), part of it is general weariness with reading about politicals–in fact, I have purged my bookmarks of most of the politically-minded blogs I once read. These […]

Fleeting Memories

Every day, for the last eight months, I have passed by a rather large house on Ellsworth Avenue. It is tucked back from the street, buffered by a low hedgerow and a gently sloping lawn, hidden from its neighbors by a row of pines on the right, and various trees and shrubs on the left. […]

Christmas Ride

After a fine Christmas Eve and morning (well, as good as can be with two sick children), I took advantage of the plentiful sunshine and spun over to Frick Park for a bit of off-road fun. Down to the hollow from the cemetery trail, then up Riverview (all the way up Riverview–not the muddy long […]

Saturday Ride

Mmmmm. Dirt. I have apparently forgotten how much fun it is to ride a mountain bike. I spun over to Frick Park, navigated through the hordes of people in the hollow, and then went up and down, up and down on the singletrack. No clue as to the total distance, and riding time was roughly […]

Heavy Rotation

“The Season of the Shark” Yo La Tengo Do you need someone to hide behind Well I don’t mind Well I don’t mind Do you need to be alone to unwind Well that’s alright That’s alright Sure I know its hard Know that it’s that way for everyone For every one Something go wrong Sing […]

Building Character, Among Other Things

A fine morning for a commute this morning–temperatures hovering just above freezing with pouring rain. And people wonder how I deal with below zero weather. That’s downright pleasant compared to these conditions. At the moment, my clothing is drying all around my cube, including socks and gloves hanging out of desk drawers. Today’s mess again […]

In the Snow

Despite the heavy snow falling, and the rapidly disappearing tarmac (under a blanket of white), I carried the Surly out of the basement and set off on the morning commute. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but I had a slate of meetings that I’d rather not deal with over the phone, and, really, […]

Gearing Down

While we were at the Trek store last night getting a new headset pressed into Jen’s new frame, I decided to pick up a new, larger cog for Surly. While the current 41×17 gearing has been fine, with the colder weather and slush on the roads, I thought it might be worth gearing down a […]

White Flag

I awoke this morning to the sound of muffled tires on pavement. This meant only thing–snow. This little burst of winter has caught me out a bit–I don’t have a winter bike build up yet, and I’ve been considering just using the Surly all winter. So off I went into the snow, our street already […]

Saturday Ride

Sardis-Saltsburg Loop Note: map does not accurately reflect the ride. More below. Call it the Oddball Ride. I meet Dan (recumbent rider) just down the hill from the house, on my Albatross-bar’ed fixed gear (sans basket). I waffled quite a bit about the bike choice, but when I put the Bianchi on the stand to […]