Bell me sometime

September 5, 2012

It is September now, which means lots of people out and about, enjoying our nice outdoor weather.  This means more human interaction for me when I am out bicycling.  Why just today I spoke to one or two cheerful pedestrians and a man in a pickup truck gave me a friendly honk.  Kids played in the street and I gave them a gregarious ring of my bell.  One of them even requested an encore, which I did not provide.  (As Screech would say, "Always leave 'em wanting more bell.")

Here is a photo of my handlebar array.

Here is a poor photo of my poor, thumbed gloves.

As the discerning amongst us might perceive, the thumb on the left/bell-side glove has nearly worn clean through, whereas the righty is still intact.  The right side of the bar contains a somewhat gratuitous faux shifter setup, which I occasionally employ, but I don't want to start relying on it.  The bell, on the other (left) hand has pretty much become a necessary ingredient for bicycling enjoyment.

Bell-ringing is a motion that is important for many bicyclers.  Another one is pedaling.  I recently perused a Bicycling magazine online article about an efficient pedal stroke.  I have started practicing it and found it to impart an enjoyable feeling to my feet.  It kind of feels like my foot is flopping forward as I complete the downstroke.  Like walking in flippers.  I like to think of it as the "flipper stroke."  I will undoubtedly now become a mega-efficient, bell-ringing bicycling juggernaut.  Look out!

Speaking of bicycling juggernauts, this weekend is the Nebraska Bike MS Ride, a two-day bicycling event that starts and ends each day at Bellevue University.  It looks like there are a wide variety of distance options available.  There will likely be some hills involved.  Some bell ringing.  Yeah!

And as far as my ongoing love affair with corporation-sponsored events and warranties, I have recently signed up for the Corporate Cup run, which takes place on Sunday, September 16th.  I plan on running and/or walking the more casual 2-mile route.  This will be my first foray into corporate running, but they say it's good to mix things up a bit to keep a love affair strong.

There are some other running events of note upon the temporal horizon.

Exhibit A - Hawk Watch Run at Hitchcock Nature Center on October 20.

Exhibit B - Beer and Bagel Run at Quarry Oaks Golf Course on November 4.

Hope to see you there.  I'll be the one ringing his own bell.

Speaking of bell-ringing, I hear there's some politicking going on.  President Billy

Go outside, Bill!  Ring!  Outside!  (photo courtesy of stridersports.com)

 is cycling down to North Carolina to cheer for current Prezzy Bar (pronounced "Bear" and/or "BAAAR!!).

Photo courtesy of http://www.streets.mn

 Hands on the bells, Mr. Presidents.  Hands on the bells.