Just Ride It

Hello Friends. It would seem we all made it through another work week. Congrats. If you’re still feeling a little tense – up here in Canada our election is about to wrap up, and in the States’, well, it’s the States – I have a couple of options to perhaps ease your woes.

If you’re Canadian and voted already, good for you, your mind is probably clearer than those who haven’t. If you’re still hung up on which box you’re going to check, maybe give one of these a try.

You could hop on your cruiser bike and head to your favorite coffee spot, maybe meet up some with some friends. Take your time getting there, nod and smile at passersby on the way. I suggest you do as my buddy @spoke_n_words likes to say and, “let the breeze blow through your brains nicely.” I can think of no better way to sort out your thoughts.

Or maybe the slow roll ain’t your thing. Maybe getting out and getting the blood flowing is more your style – hopping on your carbon-go-fast-bike and hitting your favorite loop at 80% of your FTP is the best thing to clear your head. Remember what our mutual friend Tim Krabbé said, “On a bike your consciousness is small. The harder you work, the smaller it gets.” Kind of the Road Cyclist’s version of “free your mind, and your ass will follow.” I should think afterwards as you’re sucking down your powdered drink mix of choice, things might seem a bit clearer, or at the very least your head and pores will be.

Don’t let The Politics – mess you up kids, look past to the Big Picture. There’s no partisan way to ride a bike – it’s all the same action – corrective action. The bike is a simple machine that solves complex problems. You just have to ride it.

Mill Street Free Library

There are two free mini-libraries on my route to-from work. Today I stopped for the first time to hit one up. This one on Mill Street – hence ‘The Mill Street Free Library’ – only went up a week or two ago. It’s very well constructed, and I noticed as I opened it up and was sticking my face in it to browse how nice the freshly sawn wood smelled. My score? ‘The Odd Sea’ by Frederick Reiken. Once home I got half-way through it before bedtime. It’s very good. I have some books at home to drop here next time I’m by. Then I’ll have to check out the other free library on my route.

Coffeeneuring 2019 Control #2

Coffeeneuring 2019 Control # 2: Headed out to one of my favorite #coffeeoutside spots and set up a ‘coffee shop without walls’ for Control #2. Fixed myself up a nice coffee black. Gas station cream cheese and chocolate chip muffin was only a 6 out of 10 though. Did manage to drop a bunch of existential angst on this trip thus making it a legit Corrective Action Bicycle Ride as well. Also, learned that the @porcelainrocket Microwave Pannier holsters work great even without the proprietary drybags just for stuffing extra stuff in. Layers, ground scores, what-have-you. I imagine they would also work great with other dry bags in a ‘multiple-smaller-dry-bag’ configuration as well as with various kinds of totes and other bags or whatever. I believe in the marketing industry this is all referred to as ‘added value’. I’mma call it rad.