White Men Can't Pump

At least one white man. Dig and water, water and dig. Ride, ride, ride. Try to pump, but got no rhythm. So anyway, if I build it will you come?

Stubborn Critters

With the rain letting up a bit, May is turning out kind of nice.


My neighbor (ok, his brother actually) usually buys a couple of steers every year to raise on his pasture. This year there are three steers. Angus, I think. Anyways, they were vocal about their being seperated from the herd/Mom/whatever, and have repeatedly escaped confinement since Monday. Funny for me. Frustrating for Jake, his brother, and friends who've had to round up the fey beasties. I've tried to help some. I hope I've been more help than hindrance.

I've been able to see a lot of the action, because I've been out on the pump track. Not riding, but digging, watering, weeding and grooming. Did I mention that this is a lot of work? Tonight I'll be trying to pump the whole circuit. We'll see.

Had the first crabs of the season on Sunday. Love 'em, but hate to shell 'em. I did a grill full of burgers and brats for those who felt the same way. Good folks, good times.

On Memorial Day I managed to get out for a ride and cross a few more roads off the Fixing Frederick list. Yea!

More Rain

Of course, the rain meant that the pump track plans we had for last night were out. Just a bit too muddy. Lovely day today though. All through my walk at lunch I imagined how the breeze and sunshine we drying thing out, and made grand plans for a bit of shovel work this evening. All stayed sunny until I hit the driveway, and the heavens opened up. Not a long time, but long enough to make it too muddy again. Sigh. It was at least clear enough by 6:30 for those doing the Ride of Silence. Since the Mrs. had an engagement I had to skip this one out.

Rain

Strangely enough, a lunchtime walk in the rain with a leaky umbrella, while listening to a mix of Hungarian folk music and 'Everything But the Girl' can leave you feeling refreshed. Drippy, but refreshed.

Bike to Work (in the rain) Day

A little damp this morning. I guess I should expect it. A light drizzle leaving the house, but a hard, cold, driving rain by Mt. Pleasant. Rain two of the last three annual BtW days, and last year was cold. Still, it was a good time. I caught up to Phil coming up East St. He almost bought it when his rear wheel hit the train tracks which were covered by water. He fishtailed and did a startling hop slide to stay up. Glad he didn't break his arm again. Most of the rest of the usual suspects were there, and several new faces, in spite of the rain. We even dragged County Commissioner Kai Hagen out. TBE was, of course, there with some goodies, and the Transit folks did a great job. Swag shirts, water bottles, bagels, coffee and energy bars. I even won a cool little Timbuktu messenger bag (if Danielle was a little less loyal to TBE, it would have been hers, but she couldn't wear a big City Bikes logo around :^O ) in the raffle. Then it was off to the office to dry out.

Worth your while.

Cycling writing at it's finest. Give it a read.

Commuter Clinic - May 12

Bike to Work Day is coming up on Friday, May 16th. If you are in the Frederick area and interested in riding your bike to work, but hesitant or unsure about what's involved in bike commuting, come out to The Bicycle Escape at 6:30 pm on Monday, May 12th, and find out. Tips and tricks of transportational cycling, and the good scoop on local conditions. Hope to see you there.

Clipper City

One of the SSOFT sponsors is Clipper City Brewery, located locally in Baltimore. The other day some of the Outlaws and friends got together and rode over to do a tour. I have been neglecting the Fixed Quickbeam lately, so I took it. Gears have made me weak. That's all I have to say about that. The tour was very interesting. I kind of knew the general steps involved in making beer, and have helped homebrewing friends in making a batch or two, but it was really cool to see it on a larger scale. It was even better to have the tour given by the boss, Hugh Sisson, who shared his extensive knowledge and love of the craft with us. Test tastings to prime the pump before the production floor walk through, and more tasting after were excellent. I enjoyed hearing about what steps were needed to achieve a specific taste, and a short discussion about which elements went better with which foods. After the tour we rode back to out starting point and enjoyed Jay's hospitality with more beer (Clipper City, of course) and some excellent pizzas. I was coming back closest to Frederick, so I gave SSO a lift part way back home, since his lovely bride was heading to a riding event over on the Eastern Shore. I dropped him in New Market, where we both remarked that the forecast thunderstorms had not shown up. Once he was on his way and I was heading towards Libertytown, I could of course see those clouds moving in from the west. I'm pretty sure that he beat the rain home. Whoops.

I took a couple of pics. So did Joe and Steve.