Sunday Afternoon Ride 10-17-10

I had a long, rough week at work, and I'm still recovering. I had to force myself to get on the bike and ride today. I hadn't ridden too far before I started feeling refreshed.

I've been on a roll, book wise. I haven't read too many books over the past few years (I'll explain why sometime in the future).

Over the last couple of weeks I've read two books by John Steinbeck. Nathan (The Friday Cyclotouriste) suggested I read another Steinbeck book, The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Unfortunately it wasn't available at this book store. I ended up grabbing a copy of Into the Wild. I read another Jon Krakauer book, Into Thin Air, several years ago and really enjoyed it.

After the book store I took a quick ride down to the trail. Apparently somebody just had their 40th birthday.

I like riding this short section of dirt trail. There are some very minor obstacles, roots and a few rocks, it's just enough to give me an idea how my bike would handle off-road.

I've always thought that there is much that could be done with this house. I like the double doors, glass, and mid-century modern looking metal work near the entrance. I was surprised to see the for sale sign in the yard. It's way out of my price range, but if there's an open house, I'll be there to check it out.

As I was taking a short break on the trail, a very fit gentleman passed by on his carbon fiber road bike. He slowed, turned back around and asked if I was the Rat Trap Press guy (or something to that effect). Like most cyclists, he probably wouldn't know me from Adam if I was walking through the mall, but he recognized the bike in a flash. I have a hard time remembering faces, but if I'm on a group ride I'll remember somebody by what they're riding. It was nice meeting you Paul. I'll see you out on the trail.

Thanksgiving and Some Random Stuff

While my wife and daughters were busy preparing our Thanksgiving feast, me and my son ( the twelve year old) slipped out for a quick ride. Since we were in a hurry we drove to the our starting point, the southern part of the Trinity Trails. I think this pre-feast ride will be our new tradition. After a short ride we returned home and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. It wasn't long after that someone broke out the Charlie Brown Christmas CD. In this house the Christmas season begins when you're finished eating Thanksgiving dinner.

My son checking out the Trinity River.

Randomness follows:

Courtnee-Globe Experience: Courtnee, aka Sweet Georgia Brown, is the lucky recipient of a free Specialized Globe Live 2 Mixte. Courtnee was contacted by the Globe Project Manager from Specialized and asked to blog for them. I've been following Courtnee's original blog for a while now. She's a nice young lady riding her bike in an area where that's a rarity. If you can, please show her some support by following her new Globe blog.

Courtnee

The Friday Cyclotouriste: This is a blog that I stumbled upon the other day when I was doing a Google search for friction shifters. This guy takes some great photos.

The author's Ebisu equipped with a custom made handlebar bag.

He also has an awesome old Guerciotti.

Bemz: If you need to freshen up that old sofa or chair you picked up at Ikea a few years ago, you can buy a new made to fit slipcover over the internet from Stockholm based Bemz. Here's a link to their blog.

The Indian rope trick: Here's a story I read about a traditional Indian magician who was able pull off a version of the legendary rope trick. His video is the second one below.

My daughter thought this was kind of creepy.