a midway bikelog

There’s a very cool little bookmarklet from Erik Rothoff that turns any web page into an Asteroids game. I’m using it for newspaper comment pages.

• Steer with the arrow-keys.
• Shoot with space.
• To activate click the bookmark once on your webpage of choice.
• Can’t see your remaining enemies? Then press and hold B

Click here to give it a try.

This past Saturday, i joined with three stout compatriots Jim, Josh, and Ken to revisit the course of this spring’s Almanzo 100 race in the Gentleman’s Ride. It’s the same 100-mile gravel course as before, but completely unsupported and more casual. Rather than an individual race format as with the Almanzo, the Gentleman’s Ride is a team event, and though standings are recorded, not necessarily a race. It’s also a chance for organizer extraordinaire Chris Skogen to join in on the fun and ride the course. Our team, named while on an earlier century ride through Wisconsin, was 4-Foot Meat Rope.

We watched the weather carefully in the days leading up to the event. Southern Minnesota had three days of torrential rains causing record flooding in many areas. Fortunately, the host town of Spring Valley was not among the washed out, and fears of slogging through 100 miles of toothpaste-like gravel were unfounded. The blustery winds on Friday did a great job drying out the course, and the roads were in fine shape.

Because he can, Jim decided to ride the 120 miles down to the race on Friday, while the rest of us fools woke up for the early drive down, though catching a fantastic sunrise on the way. We departed from the high school parking lot into a uniformly gray day, never above the mid-50s with sporadic drizzle for the first couple of hours. It was a great day to be on a bike. There are pictures here that i took, but they really don’t do the scenery justice, it’s a beautiful place to ride.

40 miles in we made a lunch stop at the grocery store in Preston, which featured some surprisingly delicious egg rolls. Two other teams were also there, and the townsfolk made only polite conversation with the 12 of us that we were sprawled out on the store sidewalk next to a pile of bikes, eating deli food.

Another 24 miles on brought us to the checkpoint at historic Forestville. Unlike the Almanzo there was no drop bag service this time around, so we were surprised to see not only a table staffed with friendly helpful bike folks, they also had lots of friendly bananas and helpful beer to share. So we spent a few extra minutes finishing a beer lingering before getting back on the road.

There’s one water crossing on the Almanzo route, and with the week of all-time flood-causing rain, we knew it would be a bit wetter than the below-the-knee creek i rode through this spring. Indeed, Chris had told the riders at the pre-ride meeting about an optional detour that would be marked and available for those preferring to stay dry. Our team had no issues with such obstacles, so naturally we assessed the situation and forged ahead.

The water was cold and moving at approximately the speed of sound, and the rocky bottom was covered with piranhas, but we all managed to make it across with at least half of our bodies dry. Once past the water, it was just 20 miles to go – hardly enough time to dry a pair of soaked cotton cargo pants, but just the right amount of time to catch a beautiful sunset just as we arrived back in town.

We weren’t the fastest team on the course, but also not the slowest, and we all finished together. It had been a long day, but we made just one last stop to refuel at the A&W before heading back north and home.

Just when i’m happy to be leaving Flash behind for everything on the internet, i see something very very cool. Goodbye, next 20 minutes of your life.

This excellent article covers New York cycling, but the rules and ideas apply pretty much everywhere outside of Amsterdam. I don’t know if i’d say that most cyclists are traffic scofflaws, but perhaps my usual riding companions are unusually polite (and not stupid).

Bikes can and should behave much more like cars than pedestrians. They should ride on the road, not the sidewalk. They should stop at lights, and pedestrians should be able to trust them to do so. They should use lights at night. And — of course, duh — they should ride in the right direction on one-way streets. None of this is a question of being polite; it’s the law. But in stark contrast to motorists, nearly all of whom follow nearly all the rules, most cyclists seem to treat the rules of the road as strictly optional. They’re still in the human-powered mindset of pedestrians, who feel pretty much completely unconstrained by rules.

Pretty much what i’ve been trying to say here: follow the rules of the road, look out for each other, don’t be an ass.