May or Godzilla!?

 May 8, 2021

Happy spring!

I hope it is going well for you.  I have been enjoying watching the maple tree seed helicopters flying gracefully downwards to the earth.  It seems like it was only a month ago when the first leaves started showing up on these bushes, 

and a month before that when things were blanketed with snow. 

Now it is May and there is a May-or-al election coming up here in Omaha.  The incumbent is Mayor Jean Stothert, who has not been on my good side for a number of reasons, including the following:

·     removal of bike parking areas in downtown Benson

·     handling of protests related to the shooting death of James Scurlock (police seem to have used rubber bullets unnecessarily to intimidate peaceful protestors, there were mass arrests, and Mayor Jean did seem concerned, but mostly only after the bad publicity started to emerge)

Mayoral candidate RJ Neary is a staunch advocate for the following items that I also feel strongly about:

·     developing infrastructure to improve opportunities for bicycling, walking, and buses

·     addressing racial inequality

So that was an easy decision.  

 

Another easy decision: some spring cleaning.

Maybe your bathroom is outdated, dilapidated, and prone to clogging and leaking?  Out with the old and in with the new!

 

We also got a new tree planted, 

which will hopefully work out better than the last one, which appeared to have contracted a bad case of cedar-Hawthorne rust (at least that’s what I think it was), so I cut it down a year or two ago and had a great time removing the stump last weekend.

 

It can be rainy this time of year, but that’s not going to dampen my enthusiasm for bicycle commuting (unless it’s too rainy) because I’ve got some newish Banjo Brothers panniers that should keep all my onboard items dry!

 

There’s a removable liner that appears to be responsible for the dryness factor.

 

Another way to stay dry is by sitting around inside and playing Godzilla monopoly, which has been a favorite pastime of Snot Jr. these days.  

I have to admit I find it pretty enjoyable most of the time too. Capitalism is powerfully alluring to many, but I won’t let it control me (dons tinfoil beanie with helicopter blades for improving air flow to brain)!  May your all be genuine and focused on what matters the most to you! 

Godzilla!     

 

-BSO

 

 

Winter Ox & Free

 January 5, 2021

Mon cheri frères et sœurs,

Bonne année!  How has your year been?   I believe you.  And I believe in you !

What have I become!?  Indeed, what has become of me?  Well, I am mostly working from home these days, so I haven’t been out and about on my hobby horse 2-wheeled bastarde stallion nearly as much as usual.  But I did manage to get out today to enjoy some mild ice and snow bumps.  But before I get to that event, let me mention a few recent highlights of my year in review/recap/recollections:

1.   I am proud to report that Snot Jr. is now a relatively proficient 2-wheeler !  This was quite a relief to me since bicycling hither and thither with the occasional yon is one of my primary self-defining activities.  So now if, God-forbid, I should die, at least young Snot Jr. will be able to spin about and wreck (as he likes to say) havoc upon the neighborhood gentry.  You may call me pathetique if you will, but you will soon be ashamed to learn that many people who are good at other things also self-identify as bicyclers.  Here is a list :

a.    Harrison Ford :

b.   (young) Daniel LaRusso (played here by one Ralphord Macchio) :

2.   Since I am not birolling around as much I now have taken up some bipeding around.  Mostly kind of slow, but also up to slow jogging speed.  It has been great !  Although I don’t consider myself a runner, it has been a good way to get some exercise and has also motivated me into planning on some kind of epic trekking-type expedition with my friend Tyler in the not-too-distant future.

3.   Whilst bipeding I am doing some deep nasal breathing !  It is snot as bad as you might think.  I was inspired by reading an excellent and highly recommended book called Breath by one James Nestor.  It really seems like an important subject I’d like to explore and practice to improve my overall health and well-being.  I especially like the idea of breathing exercises now that my shoulder’s been kind of messed up since leaf-bagging season awhile back.  Whenever I try to do push-ups or standing band rows it seems to mess it up again.  Fortunately it is not painful, but I think I will stick to some vigorous breathing and other cardio-based routines for the foreseeable future.  If you are curious, Mr. Nestor was kind enough to put some awesome breathing exercise videos on his website.

4.   As you have probably not noticed, I’ve been attending to my obsolete blogging habit even less-frequently than hithertofore.  I offer no further explanation upon this matter, but I do think that I should get to one of my favorite annual events which I frequently like to bombastically expound upon in a blithefully ignorant manner of presidential magnitude.  The Chinese New Year is just around the corner and we will be celebrating the Year of the Yin Metal Bat Ox!  And yes, I realize it’s not for another month and one week, but I am unlikely to get around to any further blogging prior to its indefatiguable arrival.  Here is more information about the metal ox.  And here is a metal ox of a bicycle :

As I mentioned dying in item 1, I must confess that I was slightly afeared for my life today as the roads and sidewalks contained quite a bit of ice and a bunch of those big furrows pushed up by those plows and then frozen/thawed/frozen, etc.  That is one of the dangerous aspects of wanting to go for a bike ride really bad because you haven’t been out on a bike ride for a long time so you aren’t exactly in the winter bicycling groove.  The parts that were kind of scary for me were when I was riding on streets where the shoulder was too snowy for ye bastarde and me and the sidewalks were also buried.  Of course I am well lit up and survival prevailed and it was great!  But if I get a chance, I will try to avoid riding in similar conditions next time (unless I am immersed in the winter cycling groove).

On the ride home it was nearly 40 degrees and delightful!  Although that was enough, I was also comforted by Mr. and Mrs. Neon Claus perched up in a tall tree looking out upon the residential roads in a protective manner.  

Sorry for the bad night photo.  As with my winter bicycling, my nighttime photoing is also a bit very much on the rusty side of the fence.

Until next year, hard work and deliberate planning are sure to seal yourself an ox of a deal!  And if ya don't believe me then just go ox the seal!

Plodding purposefully onwards!

-BSO

Independently Muggy and Restless

July 2, 2020

Sincerest salutations from the summery midwestern part of US.

I hope that you are doing well.  It seems like a lot of people are getting outside to public lakes and other public recreational venues to enjoy the summery weather.  Possibly also because there aren’t as many options as there used to be for summer fun.  

Snot Jr. and I had a nice time out on our inflatable 2-person kayak, Floatie, on Zorinsky Lake a weekend or so ago.  We went over to the west side where we saw a couple of basking reptiles but did not get quite close enough for a good photo

and got away from some of the grumpy fishermen in a 16-foot Lund (or similar) who were being territorial near the aqua underpass (i.e., bridge?).  I have no idea where I might have gotten this complex/neurosis, but I tend to bristle just a bit when someone in a larger, motorized vehicle comments on the legality of the actions of someone in a smaller, human-powered vehicle. If I don’t physically bump into your ridiculous-for-the-midwest aqua-vehicle or have a stereo cranked with my sweet paddling playlist, then I don’t feel your commentary is warranted.  Well, I guess maybe many of us are more irritable than usual these days.  This place is like a tinderbox and a lot of people are setting off some fireworks and/or smoking something.  

In the meantime, I have been riding my bicycle at slightly different times than usual.  I noticed a few things that I might not have noticed during my former usual bicycling schedule.  Here is a communal swallow colony nesting site under the overpass I frequently ride under.  

I’d never even noticed them over there before!

Also, here’s some commentary about the weather we’ve been experiencing lately.

And the mulberries are plentiful and delicious and there weren’t any other foragers out there to compete with.  

Yum!

Well, the headset fix on ye Olde Bastarde lasted quite awhile (approximately 12.5 months), but now the upper adjustable cup is cracked and the grease is kind of oozing out.  

So I will see if I can track down a replacement part.  It looks like Universal Cycle has a $12 (+$6.50) threaded headset that might work. If that doesn’t work, I think my next option may be getting new headset cups pressed into place, which involves using a couple tools that I do not have (a headset cup remover and a headset cup press). So I guess I might just take that down to ye olde bike shop and politely request that they take care of it.  

Here is an exciting story about a Harvard University ornithology professor who is bicycling across the U.S. and who is also acting as a kind of diplomat/spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter movement.  He appears to be riding a Surley (possibly a Long Haul Trucker?) and you can even follow his journey on his Twitter account:  @ScottVEdwards1

Awesome! 

Well, that bring us to the close of this edition of BSO.  Wishing you and your friend(s) a happy Independence Day and/or weekend/weekday.

Love,

BSO

  

Colonic War

21 June 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Daze of Summer!  Here at last!  And there was much rejoicing!  My dad and I were able to get out for a nice spin and I even gave myself some credit by deigning to affiliate myself with the virtual Rollin’ to Colon 2020, which has been an enjoyable Father’s Day tradition for Dad and I for neigh unto a decade or so.

We hit a bit of the Chalco Hills trail, enjoyed the rolling hills of Highway 370, and then the recreational ease of the West Papio Trail and just a bit o' ye olde Keystoner.  

The weather was glorious and the only sadness I witnessed was a young lad who toppled from his noble steed in a decidedly inglorious manner. Fortunately shortly after the event he appeared to be receiving some excellent guidance about resilience and the rough and tumble nature of the bicycling experience from his mom. 

To prepare for this event I partook of a supplement whose recent expiration date inspired me to give it a go.  It was called Total War, and I think I got it as a reward for participating in a gravel ride a while back.  It was not bad tasting.  Kind of bananay.  I was and continue to me mildly wired, but not jittery as I sometimes become after consuming caffeinated substances.  It may or may not have allowed me to keep up with my inspirational 73-year old dad as we enjoyed a pleasant recreational bicycle outing.  

I knew I would get dropped like a bag of underipe grapes if I was not bringing my A or B+ game to this event, especially after staying up later than usual the night before in order to enjoy a smart, dramatic zombie film!  

Speaking of total war, I would be remiss in not mentioning what the hell is going on with the police violence against black Americans!?  It needs to stop.  As you may be aware, there are many organizations that support progress towards fairness and justice.  Also, I exhort you to choose your political representatives with care in order to try to help.  In some parts of the US, bike rides have been effective ways to spread the message that this shit ain’t right and we gotta stop it.  

One love.

BSO

Recreational Fun and a Pint!

April 26, 2020

Dear Family,

I hope that you are doing alright and that your health is good.  

I went for another recreation bicycle outing today and it was a blast!  I rode past an olden, hilarious trailer with the Clark Erection Co. moniker, still quite legible but faded, emblazoned gloriously upon its broad side.  It was right across the creek from a large Pink Construction Co. conex storage unit. Ahhh.  All is right with the world.  Sure I could have taken some photos, but then it wouldn’t have felt so intimate.

It was nice and warm so I had a hard time withdrawing, I mean turning around to head back.  I found that a fairly large group of people were out on a memorial/remembrance walk for Payton Lester, a boy who had a very short life.  Due to the COVID-19-asaurus, I did not find out any additional details about the young fellow, although I liked the "Payton is my Hero" t-shirts they were sporting.  As I was out on the Keystone Trail heading south, I found that the trail was closed at Capehart Road, 

so I rambled about for awhile.  I took a neighborhood recreational trail

and 25^thStreet south until I reached Fairview Road, headed east, then headed back north on Fort Crook Road.  The City of Bellevue had fairly recently decided it didn’t want some of its bike lanes, and I found some evidence of this along Fort Crook Road, which had a few parts with not much of a shoulder.  

Ouch.  Why you do me like that?

Be that as it may, at least the signs were still erect.  

I was happy to see a pretty good bike lane on Capehart Road as I headed back west to the Keystone Trail.  

On my way home I noticed a lone bicycler sitting out on a picnic table behind the strip mall that contains both Kros Strain and Pint9 breweries.  He was drinking a tall boy and so I quickly interrogated him and found that I could get some beer to go from either store!  

I quickly availed myself of this option and had a pint whilst chit-chatting with Phil for awhile.  He informed me that in the Des Moines, Iowa area he once rode for 150 miles (in one day!?) just on paved multi-use trails and that he never used the same trail twice!  I was mightily impressed.  While, it turns out the Des Moines area claims 550 miles of bike routes (although about 170 miles are shared with automobiles, hopefully they don't get any ideas from Bellevue!)!  And now that BRAN has been cancelled, maybe I’ll just head out to DesMoines and ride around on some sweet trails for 2 or more days and see what kind of trailside breweries are available.  

Well, that is a brief summary of my day.  I hope yours has been equally or more satisfying.  Many blessings from the middle of (US o’) America.  

Love,

BSO

PS:  Here is an optional bike-related video for your enjoyment and/or bafflement

Maiden West Papio

April 11, 2020

Greetings!  

What have you been up to? Eh?  Must have a bad connection.  Anyway, if you are like me you are deciding which long-term radon monitoring device to purchase and enjoying a refreshing Angry Orchard cider. Please fill me in on your doings at your earliest convenience.

How are you and the COVID-19-asaurus getting along?  I hope you are staying healthy and keeping your distance.  I am fortunate to be working from home now.  It is nice for the most part.  I’ve got a comfortable place in the basement.  Just me, a pinch of radon, and lots of Yerba Mate.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Mate, it’s a South American green tea that Mrs. Snot bought for me awhile back.  I think it’s pronounced like (check)mate, but maybe it’s more like a pirate matey!?  In either case, my sweat pants and shirt are comfy and so are the slippers so the Yerba Mate is probably the only kind of mate that'll be happening around here for awhile, ya know what I mean?  Heh.  Along with this comfort; however, I have not been riding my bike to and from work as usual.  This has been mildly disconcerting.  The vast majority of my bicycling over the years has been commuting.  This has resulted in the following:

·     I’m not usually very interested in epic bike vacations because I get enough riding as part of my usual routine.

·      I also do not do much recreational bicycling unless I am getting ready for some kind of longer charity ride.

·      I don’t want new bikes often because they’re just going to get all trashed from commuting.

So those are my usual values.  But lately things have changed and so I have been out for 2 recreational bike rides in the past 2 weeks!  I might have even been on 3, but I initially could not locate the right way to get onto the West Papio Trail east of downtown Millard (pronounced Me-lard, accento en el lard).  After this minor fiasco, I took some time to check the beautiful online map created by the helpful folks at MAPA.

It showed me the way to the promised land occupied by the WPT.  And now, here is a video recap of how a person can get there (mostly as a reminder for me for the next time I can’t remember how to get there due to my usual lack of recreational bicycling.

It is a great trail! I went past Olympia Cycle, where I purchase the bike eventually known as The Old Bastard.  The trail people left some remnants of ye old railroad and a few informational signs that I enjoyed extensively.  

Hell Creek used to contribute to some hellacious floods!

All that pavement gets the creeks a-flowin' more than in yesteryears!

There was also a nice bench where I sat briefly whilst enjoying my Clif bar.  

This is at the trident-shaped confluence of Hells Creek, the West Papio Creek, and the South Papio Creek.  

Diabolically fascinating, eh?!  There was also a nice memorial.

There were people out there walking, jogging, bicycling, even roller-blading!  

Families picnicking!  

It was glorious and I highly recommend you get out for some recreational bicycling at your earliest convenience.  

I have also been using my formerly valuable time to catch up on important cinematic experiences (e.g., I watched Black Snake Moan with Christina Ricci last night).  Previously I watched The Farewell, with Awkwafina, which was also enjoyable, in less of a puerile, B-movie way.  I may also eventually watch Parasite and Can You Ever Forgive Me?.  So those are some of my big plans.  I’m still working on that GarageBand thing. I’ll get back to you soon.  How about you?  Give me a call and let’s catch up!  Hello in there.

Love,

BSO

Steamboating out and aboat

April 4, 2020

Hello friends.  

I hope you are doing well.  I am sitting at home by myself, as is my wont these days.  I am working from home and Mrs. Snot and Snot Jr. are experiencing an extended stay over at the in-laws.  Because I am working from home I have not been doing much bicycling.  However, prior to the rise of the COVID-19-asaurus I was quite fortunate to get out to a place called Steamboat Springs, CO for some lovely skiing.  It was great, as you may or may not be able to tell by perusing this recap video:

Do you know why it is called Steamboat Springs?  Well, I was told it is because the hot springs sometimes make a sound like a steamboat whistle!  Awesome, right!?  In Steamboat Springs I learned a couple things:  I should not be using my telemark skis all day at a mountain resort because it is too much damn work!  Maybe they are too long (179 cm) or maybe telemarking is just naturally more strenuous. I’m not sure.  What I am sure about is that it didn’t help that I hadn’t skied for approximately 1.5 years prior to this expedition.  Anyway, my legs (quads in particular) became quite fatigued on day 1, shortly after lunch time.  So I took the rest of the day off.  I probably would have done better if I had been doing these exercises that I have belatedly been studying intently.  

Then the next day I rented some regular, shorter alpine skis (150 cm).  Oh man!  That was such a relief!  Way easier to keep in control and turn quickly.  Me and my friend Rich were able to elevate our game from all green to greens and blues!  We even made it up to the iconic Buddy’s Run where we patted Buddy’s bust’s head in what we were enthusiastically informed by the local cognizati was an obligatory act of respect and guaranteed good luck.  Here is some background on Buddy Werner.  I didn't know anything about him until me and Rich made it out to Steamboat Springs for our ski trip.

Well, I appreciate it Buddy. I really enjoyed my time out there on the slopes.  Rich and I plan on actually taking a skiing lesson some day, which will hopefully allow us to ski some of the harder routes if/when we make it out to some snowy slopes again in the future.  The town was pretty nice too.  Plenty of great food, beers, and hospitable folks.  We were there on a Thursday (not too busy at all) and a Friday (which was warmer and still not overwhelmingly busy).  I think a lot of resorts are now closed due to the COVID-19-asuarus threat. I also recently became aware that ye olde’ BRAN (Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska, 40th edition) has been cancelled!  Woe is me.  Well I guess I’ll have to find something else to do for summer fun.  

Apart from the ski trip.  I also had a brake issue that took way longer to fix than it should have.  

A little tension-bar that helped push the cantilever back away from the rim after braking snapped!  It was a Cane Creek SCX-5 and it was good while it lasted, although I'm a little bummed it broke.  It seems like they're not around much anymore, so I was able to replace with a generic Shimano anti, that isn't quite as easy to adjust but should work alright.  And of course it happened during a rainy spell.  So I was riding my other bike, the one without the back fender, most of the time when it was soggy last month.  Here is how that went:

soggy seat o' the pants!

I eventually had to chop off one of the cantilevers with an oscillating power tool and kind of file and sand down the pivot on that side so that I could put another cantilever on.  It was kind of a minor ordeal.  But now I've got le Bastarde (avec accentes, sil vous plait) back in working condition again and I appreciate him a bit more than hitherto for.  Isn't life like that?  I never used to consider pandemics and their potential effects on us and those we come into contact with, kind of like having a rear fender during the rainy season.  Now I've got to consider whether I want to risk contacting and potentially spreading COVIDinos around, kind of like walking around with a soggy bum and sitting on someone's nice white couch!  Ouch!

So I've been doing some stuff with GarageBand that I'm guessing you will love.  I'll be sure to post it here soon.  Also been contemplating putting a unicycle together.  I'll let you know how all that turns out.  I hope you've been able to spend a bit of extra time doing some things that are out of your usual routine.  Stay safe.  Stay positive.  I will share your load/road.  I just might have a (bike) problem that you'll understand.  Be sure to use me (or someone else) as a lifeline if necessary.

Love, 

BSO