Cathartes aura

Went out for a leisurely ride during lunch. I didn't like the way this guy looked at me.

I've never been that close to a Turkey Buzzard (some of you might call it a Turkey Vulture). I rode to within four yards of him and he just hopped to the side a bit. A slight twinge of the heebie-jeebies and I was on my way. Sorry for the blurry phone photo.

Heeding my own advice

Ask my kids, ask the scouts; when I'm taking new riders out for a ride and we enter a parking lot I explain that this is the most dangerous part of the ride. And so it was today.

I was riding through a parking lot on the way to my bank and noticed a jeep driving through empty spaces 20 or so yards away. I remembered my advice to new riders and told myself "keep an eye on her."

I'd lost track of the Jeep for a moment. The driver saw an open spot by a store's front door through a gap in a row of parked cars and gunned it at the last minute. She must have caught a glimpse of me and slammed on the brakes. The Jeep's front bumper was, I kid not, 18 inches from my leg.

I know I'm not permitted to add a 27th verse to Psalm 136 so I'll just create my own mini psalm here:

He kept the jeep from hitting me,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Oh, yeah, about that hill...

Yesterday our church had a picnic and I convinced my wife and one of the boys to ride our bikes rather than drive the 3 miles to the park. What I didn't tell them was that the hill going up Lamar from 95th to 91st is a bit of a challenge for someone rather new to cycling. Oops. They did well, although as I tried to chat with my wife 3/4 of the way up she made it clear that she was not in the mood to talk.

Our pasta salad, Mexican dip and chips all fit into my panniers. We all enjoyed the ride (especially the ride back DOWN the hill).

That's not paint

The other day I noticed some reddish splotches on my rear tire. I figured I'd ridden through some paint or something. When out riding with CAT over the holiday weekend, those splotches got bigger and more frequent. I took a closer look and it appears it is time for me to order another set of Michelin Transworld City tires.



CAT asked me how many miles I thought I got out of them and I guessed 5,000. I checked my spreadsheet (I know, I know) and it turns out they've given me 4,973 miles. Sure, I didn't get 8,500+ like Noah, but these tires were inexpensive and I'm more than happy to order another pair. The front tire isn't in that bad of shape and I may root around in the attic to see if I've got another former front tire up there that could get me by for a while. In the mean time I will get back on the Mendota and enjoy the change.

Note to self: with this next set, rotate the tires at around 3,000 miles.