currently reading

Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia
by Mark Jenkins, 1992.

don't you sit on my blue (faux) suede saddle

Mindful Mule has a new saddle. "It's a small world" or more specifically it's a "Mundialita." Just like the old one but blue which means Mindful is now officially the bluest mule around - exhibiting just about every blue shade in the spectrum. Kinda like Paul Bunion's Ox, I suppose... 

Unbalanced

I rode about five miles the other night with no seat or seat post… and it was rather enlightening. Most notable was that without a seat a bicycle, or my bicycle, anyway, feels extremely unbalanced. This is primarily due to the method that I use to carry my stuff - all in a right side basket. And on that night I was heavily loaded. But that's not unusual. I regularly ride around for dozens of miles with heavy right-sided loads. But I've rarely noticed this sensation… Now, though, the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, and, even though "a" seat is back on, I can't help but notice this imbalance almost constantly, even when unloaded. It took me a while to figure out what my original seat height was, though, and I, at first, installed it too low, but as it got higher and higher the perception of balance slowly returned. So, I guess, the seat really does a lot more than just providing a place to set your butt - it also seems to act as a, what would you call it? a rudder, I suppose. Soon we'll be hammering away again as usual and this whole "incident" will be forgotten…

all day bike path

Although I don't do a lot of bike path riding I spent most of the day yesterday on a path following two rivers through the area. It was particularly nice to just spin and spin and spin for long periods of time without having to stop for cross traffic or deal with cars in any way. It really allows you to cover a lot of ground with significantly less effort than riding on the street. And even though these rivers have long ago been cemented into their chutes it was great to follow their waters all the way to the sea and then look back and see the distant snow capped peaks providing the flow from far off in the hazy sky.