Drizzly and lovin' it!

December 13, 2011

It was unseasonably warm, but slightly soggy today.  Here is a photo of what you would see if you were a camera lodged inside my skull's nasal cavity.

This snow family will probably not last long in these conditions.

Melting off one by one.

That reminds me of my friend, mentor and former co-worker. Here's where his bike used to sit.

And here's a bucket of some unidentified fluid that I believe might have been wash-water stored after he meticulously sprayed down his ride on especially mucky days.

Sigh. It was really great having a fellow bicycling commuter around. Maybe I can find a cardboard cutout to put in his old bike parking area, but I know it wouldn't be quite the same. Luckily for me, there are many online bicycle commuting-oriented websites to peruse. Two of my favorites are http://www.bikecommuters.com/ and http://www.ecovelo.info/
Bike Commuters is a little more straightforward and fun. Ecovelo is a little prettier and fluffier, much like my new mittens shown here.

craftjuice.com

To further opinionate, Bike Commuters is kind of like going to the bar and catching a band, whereas Ecovelo is like watching a documentary or foreign film of some sort at Film Streams.  I have also recently (as in just now) learned that Ecovelo is closing its site!  Yet another loss to the bicycling commaraderie I was once privy to.  So, please feel free to send me your picturesque, possibly slightly oversaturated bicycle/landscape images instead.  I will be sure to feature them prominently and write a haiku for each bicycle represented (within reason, of course).

Speaking of bicycling and movies, I was able to kick back and enjoy a film featuring bicycles entitled Super 8. If you haven't seen this movie, I should probably post this SPOILER ALERT. This movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, and may as well be called E.T. or E.T.Two. It is a retake on the theme promulgated by the beloved 80s movie with a cute and misunderstood alien making friends with kids on bicycles. The alien even causes bicycles to fly and flies of on a bicycle-like spaceship at the end of the movie.
Although you may not realize it J.J. Abrams has directed the most recent Star Trek movie and created the TV series Alias.  J.J. Abrams is also an avid cyclist, as he demonstrated by gifting Alias star Jennifer Garner with a bicycle nearly as pretty as my new mittens.



ratrodbikes.com

 Since winter technically begins in about a week or so, I hear many (imaginary) people asking, "So what do aliens have to teach us about winter bicycling?" Well, here is what I have discovered about this topic.
Aliens don't like talking about bicycles, they prefer to communicate telepathically. But first they must establish a connection via touch. So go get touched by an alien and you'll be sure to pick up some great bicycling tips, you may even be able to ..... (dare I say it) fly! Whooo-hoooo!