Old Gear and Cheap Beer

OK boys so here it is -- the long awaited official announcement of the "Old Gear and Cheap Beer" mountain bike rally this Saturday. It is on home turf and is a totally low-brow event...so if you can swizzle a beer and balance a bike then no excuses!

Biking With Your Clothes On

So today we did that "other" Philly bike ride. You know, the one where they actually wear clothes. I am still trying to sort that other one out in my head. I mean, I acknowledge that our cultural view on nakedness is a little puritanical and I am all about "letting it all hang out," but I also find that clothing offers some very practical benefits when riding. How those guys survived the potholes and frost heaved streets of Philly is beyond me. But I digress...

Today's ride was well attended, Sara estimates 3000 (3001 if you count Mayor Nutter). The rollout from the Art Museum steps was awesome as always, cruising down the Avenue of the Arts with nary a car to be seen...followed by 10 miles through the neighborhoods of Philly and the Waterfront (hats off to Vince Fumo as we passed the Maritime Museum), then another 10 through Fairmont Park and Boathouse Row before we returned to the Art Museum for pizza, hot dogs, pictures, and music. We were home before noon with a full day of riding under our belts and an entire afternoon to bask in the sun and replenish our electrolytes (Tanqueray is an electrolyte, right?).

I will close with a quote Sara picked up from the "Inspirational Knot" booth at today's ride (it's a booth where you jot your own inspirational message on a ribbon, toss it into a bowl, and then pluck one from the bowl for yourself). Sara's (the one she plucked) reads as follows:

"A strong body makes the mind strong"

-- Thomas Jefferson

Technology I Hope to Never Use

The mobile version of Google Maps has a feature called lattitude. Latitude tracks the location of your friends using the GPS in their phones and displays this graphically and real time on a Google map. I presume this is so you can find your drinking buddies at any hour of the day or night.

I use it to give Ruth peace of mind when I bike alone. You see, one of her fears is of me crashing deep in the woods and lying there paralyzed, unable to reach the phone (not unreasonable given my early track record). So I just turn the Lattitude feature on, throw the Blackberry in my Camelback, and voila - we have a real-time mountain-biking husband tracker. She can see my location real time on her Google Maps webpage...and I am free to paralyze myself with peace of mind that I will be found, eventually.

Chris

Dirty Little Secret

So here it is. My dirty little secret is out of the box, literally.

Now if you read this blog then you know I am prone to an occasional offhand comment at the expense of road riders. Well now I am a part time road rider.

But here's the deal.

If you ever catch me shaving my legs or wearing purple spandex, then you are encouraged to kick your car door open as you pass me on Creek Road and/or chuck your 72oz big gulp at me. No hard feelings.

...and I do reserve the right to continue ribbing road riders. In fact since I am now one of "them" I can do it with a clean(er) conscience. Stay tuned.

Chris

Philly Naked Bike Ride

Alas we did miss this year's Philly Naked Bike Ride but at least we punched the last ticket of the summer riding season with a spin on the east side of the lake today. Three of us cleaned the new 70' causeway and got a sneak peek at the new teeter-totter going in near the top of the hill. It is a monster, probably 12' long and perched on downed tree with the fulcrum almost waist high. This is one in a series of Bonus Loop upgrades being made in the runup to the 2009 Old Gear and Cheap Beer event. Details are still sketchy but my understanding is that nude bike riding is not planned (that's probably a good thing). It looks like it will be Saturday the 19th. More to come.

And now begins the best riding season of the entire year. Admittedly, early summer is pretty awesome but that's primarily because it comes after a long cold winter followed by a wet muddy spring. In reality, fall riding is the best with the cool temps still suitable for shorts, low humidity which means sweating actually works, and soon the unique colors, sounds, and smells of autumn. Get dressed and get out there!

Chris

Pulse Quickener

This is an image that is sure to quicken the pulse of any bike lover. Lucky me because it is an image I have seen twice in 11 months!

My daughter texted this picture to me this afternoon after the UPS man sped away. How the heck am I supposed to concentrate at work after receiving a message like that?

Tomorrow we open the box and all hell breaks loose.

Chris

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a bicycle, must be in want of another one."

-- anonymous

Capital Improvement

I think the "Old Gear and Cheap Beer" minions are at work preparing for the big day. Still under construction, I would estimate this bridge to be at least 3x as long as the Sole Trail bridge and maybe 2 inches narrower! I see some broken deraileur hangers in the future, yet another reason to ride a single speed.