Good Idea
Rocky Hillside
05/10/11
05/08/11
Our Bags Are Packed (And There's A Heck Of A Lot Of Them)
Image by Rupert Taylor-Price. Some rights reserved.
Gerty and I have our bags packed for a "shakedown cruise." We're preparing for our first self-supported tour together. (And Gerty's first tour ever.)
Seemed pretty simple. Get some panniers, shift the backpacking gear from packs to panniers, toss in some tools, and take off.
Not so fast! There are six bags not two. We had no idea how to arrange things between the bags (aside from keeping pairs of bags roughly equal in weight.) And, it was touch and go whether every thing would fit.
I thought I would experience a wave of satisfaction once everything was stashed away in the panniers. That "I have everything that I need right here on my back" feeling.
So far no sign of such satisfaction. More a feeling of discouragement -- how can we have so much stuff? I like to have room to just toss stuff sacks into my backpack and start walking.
Our panniers have no room for a granola bar. They look ready to pop. Repacking tomorrow morning may require a trash compacter.
Why do we have so much stuff? Traveling in a civilized place just requires more things than sitting around in the wilderness. We have a little computer, a set of minimally respectable clothes, and -- gasp -- deodorant.
And, we don't really have that much stuff. We have about 64 pounds of stuff packed for two of us. Even adding in a couple extra liters of water we'd only be at 68 pounds, which isn't ghastly. I was aiming for 60 pounds, so we're not wildly off. We've certainly backpacked with more.
Perhaps it just looks and feels like more because we have six bike bags (three sets of panniers), and if we were backpacking we'd have only two backpacks.
05/01/11
Pound Rocks, Gerty!
Gerty and I are planning a tour. Each time one of us places something in the "to be packed" pile, the other asks "Are you sure you couldn't find something lighter?" or "Do you really need that?" or, most often, "WTF! I'm not carrying that just so you can . . . ."
So, I was delighted to find a fellow who plans - PLANS - on hauling rocks around in his panniers. Should be fun to follow along. (If I have time during the divorce proceedings.)
Our new Budget Plan Will Make Us Rich
Image by dotpolka. Some rights reserved.
Since the government's budget is just like our household budget (if you don't believe me, just ask our idiotic senators), we've developed a plan to cope, should our household income drop because I lose a job.
Though it might make sense to go back to work, jobs are not something our household can or should have anything to do with. And, in any case, we have a better solution.
We're instituting food vouchers for our home. Food is essential so this is a responsible change to ensure the continued availability of food.
The food vouchers won't keep pace with inflation, but this is a feature not a bug. Our declining purchasing power will result in lower food prices and save money. After all, if we don't balance our household budget now, eventually we won't have money for food.
We will then take the money we save and give it to our rich neighbors. Although they have plenty, we owe it to them because they have more than we do.
And in a few years, we'll be much richer.
04/26/11
Me, Too.
From a comment at Washington Monthly:
"I would rather have the Postal Service run my health insurance than have EXXON, AT&T, or GE run it, wouldn't you?"
I would.
Nothing So Fun As Brown Paper, Markers, And Hours of Useless Nattering
Sent by a friend. My response would be "just kill me now":
This 1.5 days of goal setting should be very fun and interesting. We will be brainstorming, listing, and ranking all our goals for this project. After we get all our goals on paper we will list all our potential risks for this project, and then we will connect the risks and goals so as to help direct [the organization] on where exactly we will need to focus our attention to make this project a reality. To be successful we will need creative thinking, collaboration, and a breadth of expertise.
I wonder why people continue to do these things. My private theory remains that these events give the illusion of progress without anyone having to do anything.
I start thinking of chewing off my arm, when the facilitator comes up with ever more abstract summaries to garner "agreement," records them, and congratulates everyone on the incredible process. I try to exit without insulting anybody. It usually works because everyone else is distracted admiring the meaningless pabulum they've created. "We shall creatively pursue appropriate, strategic opportunities in pursuit of goals supporting our mission." or some such.
04/22/11
Organized Cross-State Rides List
Bis is still the best place to go if you are considering an organized ride in the U.S. this summer.
Gerty and I have been over there the last couple days discussing the possibilities.
04/21/11
About
Rocky Hillside
In the dark of the moon, in the flying snow, in the dead of winter,
war spreading, families dying, the world in danger,
I walk the rocky hillside, sowing clover.
-- Wendell Berry
Location
Edging away from the edge of American space
Links
Riders & Writers
- Biking Bis
News and comments about tours, touring, & racing. Good things not seen elsewhere.
- Commute By Bike
Many reviews, a DIY project or two, and some fun posts about biking.
- Cycle-licious
A great, active blog.
- FatBoyBiking
The struggles of a fat guy on his way to middle age and the classic battle of the bulge. Against him, the entire agricultural and food production system, American Midwestern attitudes towards food and eating and a lifetime of sloth and drunkenness. His only weapon, his bike.
- Freewheeling Spirit
An exhilarating cycling blog. Formerly the authoritative site for Danish handball news and the bike porn contest (my entry was rejected), Freewheeling is a site I check out ever day.
- Lovely Bicycle!
Wonderful writing from a "bicycle obsessionist."
- Martino's Bike Lane Diary
Sharp-witted cycling advocacy and photos
- The Bicycle Story
Kent Peterson is Issaquah’s Favorite Car-Free, Ultra Long-Distance Racing, Techie-Turned Mechanic
- Urban Velo
It's a magazine, newsletter, blog, and the mind boggles to think what else.
- Urbana-Champaign Bicycle Commute
Charming, "fresh" writing about biking in University of Illinois Land.
- Yehuda Moon
Rick Smith's bikey comic.
Colorado
- Bicycle Colorado
Wrapped up effort to get a "share the road" vanity automobile license plate. In February 2008, failed to raise the maximum fine for running over a cyclist while the driver was failing to yield. (Bicycle Colorado was pushing for $1,000. Radical.)
- Bike Denver
Positive trajectory in doubt, trending back to ass-kiss mode. Too bad.
- City of Denver's Bike Program
Denver shows why it's behind the curve. (I really didn't think this page could get worse . . . Wrong again.)
- Cycle Analyst
The most experienced mechanics in town and the most complete collection of tools and parts in the West. No place like it.
- Denver Critical Mass - YahooGroups
Last Friday of the month. Meet at Civic Center Park at the Seal Fountain pool between 5:30 and 6:00 pm.
- Denver Cruiser Ride
The Denver Cruisers meet at the The Ginn Mill at 2041 Larimer Street every wednesday at 6:30pm, until September 30th.
- Denver Local
Adventures in Local Living
Biking, Walking, and Public Transit in Denver, Colorado - Derailer Bicycle Collective
A free, non-profit, collectively run community bicycle shop on the west side of Denver.
- Kickstand Magazine
The world's first and only cruiser magazine has it's home right here in Denver. Aren't we the lucky ones!
- Rocky Hillside on Google+
- The Bike Depot
A east side (Park Hill) non-profit bike place that encourages folks to build and fix their own bikes and gives them the tools and help to actually do it. Nice dedicated folks who seem to know what they are doing. (As befits a foundation-funded operation, the website description is opaque and baffling, but I've been there and it's a good place.)
- Track Shack
Friendly, competent, and cool.
Cycling Advocacy
- Bicycle Fixation
A large collection of articles and links on cycling and sustainability.
- Bike Portland
To inform and inspire. And it does.
- C.I.C.L.E.
(Cyclists Inciting Change thru Live Exchange) dynamic site promoting cycling as a viable and sustainable transportation choice.
- Cycling Cartoons
"Explaining" cycling in cartoons. Works for me.
- Driven To Distraction
The NYTimes series on irresponsible, multitasking drivers.
- StreetsBlog
The blog of the New York Streets Renaissance - advocacy in action - and as everyone knows, it happens in NYC first.
- Time's Up!
grassroots group that uses direct action and education to push for a sustainable NYC.
- WashCycle
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Writers
- Gezellig Girl
Though it's about cooking and food, I love the writing - snappy and downright . . . rollicking. Read this.
- The Paris Review
The Paris Review is a literary magazine featuring original writing, art, and in-depth interviews with famous writers. And its website is a collection of literary curiosities, fiction, and essays.
Tourists
- A Bikeable Feast
"I want to learn about sustainable agriculture, as much as I possibly can. . . . I plan to hop on my bike and head north, following the growing season in a giant loop around the country, stopping to learn and work . . . I imagine this will take about a year, maybe longer."
- A Honeymoon to Remember
"[They] built the bikes, sold the house, got married, quit a job," and are cycling around Asia. They finished their tour in May 2010.
- crazyguyonabike
THE place for cycle tourists. If you are planning, dreaming, or riding a tour . . . .
- reCycling the World
David Byrne cycled around in the world in 1975. Now retired, he's doing it again. Why? "I can think of nothing better to do."
- The Touring Store
The best, most knowledgeable, compulsive person to talk to about panniers and racks is Wayne. Has any business, internet or brick and mortar, ever know so much and been so helpful about this stuff? His prices are great, too.
Bike Ogling
- Bikes For The Rest Of Us
- Rides A Bike
Movie stars and their self-propelled vehicles.
Japan
- Finding Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Japan.
- More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan
Interesting photos and descriptions of Japan. No bikes.
- Tokyo By Bike
Bicycles and cycling in Japan from someone quite opinionated about Japanese cyclists and commuters.
- TravelJapanBlog
No cycling here but a collection of glimpses of Asia, mainly Japan -- from baseball beer girls to beaches.
Bike Tech
- Mike Sherman's Gear Calculator
Calculates gearing in several useful ways and provides extra info like required deraileur capacity.
- Zinn's Fit Calculator
Lennard's Zinn's bike fit calculator. The link goes to the Road version.
Gardening
- Front Ranger Gardener
Gardening in Denver from the staff Horticulturist with the Colorado State University Extension office in Denver. Good stuff.
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